Portland to England

Surrey, England: Hello from England! We made it! Here is my first, of hopefully many, reports from a month-long trip-of-a-life-time: England, a cruise around the Baltic Sea and the World Track & Field Championships in Helsinki.

It took nearly 90 minutes to get to the Portland airport due to terrible traffic and we arrived barely-in-time to check-into our Alaska Airlines commuter flight up to Seattle. The plane was sold-out and, though we had seat assignments on our tickets, Alaska had no record of us being on the flight! Luckily, we were able to get on the flight, so we raced to the gate only to learn we had been flagged for "extra security" and were taken over to a special TAS area. Every pocket in my handbag and computer case were opened. I was patted-down and hand-searched (by a female agent). The flight boarded out on the tarmac. We were not seated together, but in a few minutes we were in Seattle and checking-into our international flight at the British Airways lounge.

The BA agent told us the flight to the UK was on time and that our luggage was already on board! Yes! Time for a gin & tonic before the flight.

We boarded to find our "pods" waiting. You can go to their website to confirm my description, but in World Class (or something like that - most people call it Business Class) British Airways have a bizarre seating arrangement. Our seats were connected, but face each-other. Of course, there was some sort of fan-shaped folding privacy screen, so I occasionally had a glimpse of my traveling partner. Instead, I felt I was traveling with the handsome young English boy seated (in his pod) to my left! The pods lay flat, so you really can get a good sleep on the overnight flight. The flight leaves around 7 pm, dinner is served and by around 10 pm, the lights are out and most people sleep all night. Flying time tonight was only 8 hours and 15 minutes. DT slept most of the way, I slept a bit (of course, the pods were constructed for a person much taller than myself and my feet could not reach the footrest! The flight was smooth, and by noon (UK-time) we were headed to Pear Tree Cottage in Shirley's car!

Pear Tree Cottage is so lovely! Since our last visit, Shirley & Martin have redecorated the kitchen and have added a conservatory. I promise photos later. Our goal for the first night was to stay awake until 9 pm! DT and I spent the afternoon with Shirley, catching-up. DT went for a run around the Common to wake-up. When Martin arrived home from work, we had a wonderful meal in the garden. Shirley prepared appetizers and proceeded to serve us a four salads, grilled salmon, grilled lamb chops, steamed potatoes, tiramisu and a huge fruit salad.

Pear Tree Cottage: the patio with the conservatory


A lovely tomato, orange, beet and basil salad

Life is good! Martin and Shirley were our neighbors in Taipei. Their daughters, Emma and Kate, played with Lisa. We try to see each other as often as we can, but it had been six years since our last visit and staying up until 9 pm turned-out to be not much of a problem - we talked for hours!

DT and I slept very well. Our bedroom is in a 400-year-old section of Pear Tree Cottage. I promise photos of their fantastic home later. Though I cannot say we are completely adjusted to the time change, we are ready to enjoy our adventure.