Am Billigsten Flug (the cheapest flight)??

Spring break was fast upon us and we needed to decide if and how we were going to travel. If was not really a question. A friend of a friend of Heather’s generously offered us the use of an apartment in London. There was no way we were going to turn that down and later we will write how gracious our host truly was. First things first. How to get to London? We discovered the joys and challenges of Europe’s cut-rate airlines. Our choice was RyanAir. For $50 we were able to purchase two tickets to London. That included the fuel supplement and the charges for actually checking in bags. We were starting to get an idea how they could afford to offer such cheap tickets. But we hadn’t even begun to fully understand the extent of RyanAir’s entrepreneurial spirit. There are no assigned seats so it is a cattle call from the front and back of the plane. Once you sit down you can buy a beverage or something to eat. Nothing courtesy but we didn’t mind that. After the flight attendants finished selling food and drink, they came through to sell lottery tickets. They then came through with aftershave and perfume for sale. Then they had bus and train tickets for sale. At the end of the flight there was a little time left over for anyone who wanted to discuss the possibility of buying advertising space on the overhead bins. All of this being said, I still felt as though I got better service on RyanAir than the last few times I flew Northwest Airlines.

Our friend Rob was waiting for us at the airport appropriately clad in a Minnesota Vikings t-shirt. Despite my disappointment that he was not also wearing the horns and braids, he did really stick out in a crowd of a couple hundred people. You really start to get a feeling as to the tackiness of the Vikings’ paraphernalia. But I digress. Now I referred to Rob as our friend. I had never met this man before the trip and Heather had met him for a few hours once. By the end of our stay, we would probably do anything for Rob. Not only did he pick us up at the airport (a minimum of 30 minutes drive), he also dropped us off the last day at 4:30 in the morning. Rob then set us up in the apartment he was in the process of selling. We were told it was on the Thames but we didn’t quite grasp that it was right on the Thames. Our balcony was basically 20 feet from the water.

the view from the apartment balcony, at high tide

Rob is the definition of the Renaissance Man. He gave us a tour of London with his version of British history, which I must say is much better than any regular tour guide. Over lunch we however were really treated to Rob’s talent. The conversation ranged from biochemistry, real estate, business consulting, world trade, mystery novels, and the merits of Asian cooking (we were eating Thai food). It turns out Rob does a little computer consulting in between writing novels and consulting books. We are currently reading two of his novels. But I pledge not to give away the ending.

Sorry for no photo here.
We don't know how to make great photos of friend/tourguides anonymous without just ruining the picture.

We should probably mention London. This city is big, intimate, intense, polite, dirty, refined, expensive, quaint, etc . . . We absolutely loved it, despite not being able to eat at a restaurant for under $60. To be a tourist in London is to almost experience cerebral paralysis. Every single block was host to some major event of world history. One has to prioritize the few sites they may manage to see in four days. Heather explained that to me after helping me regain my composure when at Westminster Abbey I broke into hysterics, curled up into the fetal position and screamed repeatedly: “Figgy Pudding, Figgy Pudding, I won’t leave until I get some!!”

one of 100 photos we took of Westminster Abbey

That was embarrassing. So, we hurriedly went to the Millenium Eye, the London ferris wheel to get the view of the city. And hide amongst the tourists every bit as obnoxious as ourselves. In any event, we really want to go back.

See? H is a cheesy tourist. But everyone in our pod was really happy we bought the guide and were willing to share and C is learning it's not so bad to be the one with the map.

this isn't even near the top

Next, we leave for Germany.