Italy, June 2006, via London
--Andrew McGarrell
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Part 1 of 3, London
In June 2006, I went to Italy with a stopover in London. Staying in my family’s house in Umbertide (Umbria, Italy) is my ultimate opportunity for Slow Travel; since I’ve been involved in the group, I’ve tried to be less rushed in the other places I go.
London
I’ll discuss my flights to London at the end of this report, and start by noting that I took a day flight to Europe for the first time. With a scheduled arrival at Heathrow at 10.40 p.m., I was worried about making the last train to Paddington, where I was booked at the Hilton, at 11.47. The flight got in after 11; I was fortunate to be in Business Class and get off the plane early; still it was a long walk to passport control and baggage claim, where I don’t think my Priority tag helped much. Then, through the underground walkway out of the terminal, I was at the Heathrow Express train station at 11.30. Having studied the procedure well in advance, I bought the return ticket (£2 savings over two one-ways) with a credit card from the machine; if time had really been tight I could have gotten to town without sterling cash, but I got cash from the ATM adjacent to the ticket machine. I took the elevator (the word the British agent used ?!) to the platform, where the slower Heathrow Connect train was waiting; I waited for the last Heathrow Express. I got it and it took around 30 minutes rather than the 15 advertised. I was at Paddington after midnight, ready to check-in to the hotel in the station building. At that hour the station lobby was closed, and I needed to go out the side door of the track area. I went past the taxi stand and found the hotel entrance at the front of the building. Indeed, the hotel occupies the whole facade of the building and rail passengers need to enter the station from the side.
I had a Hilton Hhonors award for four nights at this hotel; I chose this rather than other London properties because of the convenience of the connection from Heathrow and for a day trip to Oxford. I had seen some warnings about this hotel on Flyertalk, starting with complaints about service. I got a friendly reception from the young woman working the front desk, but apparently the man working the desk was checking in with my name someone else who had been on my flight. I had sent an e-mail advising them of my late arrival, and apparently this helped. Once they straightened out who I was, I, with the Hhonors status known as “lowly Silver,” got put into a true suite, with a full breakfast buffet, and access to the Executive Lounge.
I found my way to the suite, just over the entrance; the flags of the facade were right outside my window. It was nice, with a booklet giving the history of the hotel, built in the mid-19th century as the Great Western Royal Hotel; it fell into hard times and was grandly restored in 2002. In my suite, the bathroom had a shower stall separate from the tub; the hair dryer was in a drawer in the living room. After a good sleep, I went to the breakfast buffet; I could fill myself with English selections and good croissants. When I have a big breakfast and am traveling alone, I often skip lunch; so, with no charge for my lodging or breakfast or lunch, I could get through this expensive city well.
This included my plan mainly to visit free museums; my first stop this Sunday morning was the British Library, where I had signed up for a tour. This would normally have a charge, but in my reserving e-mail I mentioned being a librarian, and they signed me up for free. Taking advantage of the Paddington being a transit hub, and having charted all my routes in advance at www.journeyplanner.org , I went to the Tube station and bought a Travelcard, which is a better deal than even two single tickets in zones 1-2, from the machine, which seemed to prefer credit cards over cash. I took the Tube to Kings Cross/St. Pancras station. I’d been to St. Pancras train station before and had studied the map of where the new library was in relation to it; I walked through a construction area following the signs to the station area and found a new station concourse well down from the one I remembered; I needed to backtrack to find my way to the library. Later I found out that, although the location seems odd, St. Pancras is being rebuilt as the new terminal for Eurostar trains from the Continent.
The library impressed me as a nice new facility. A young woman had my tour reservation and had me wait a bit; then she took me on the tour alone. It was interesting, although I don’t recall many specifics; I had a look at the reading room, normally open only to researchers, on the day it was closed to them. There were interesting displays of rarities, but I most remember an exhibit on the history of British newspapers, showing how they covered major events in British and world history in the range of styles known to these papers.
Then I took the bus to the British Museum. With longer Sunday hours, there was less of a crush to get in than in past visits; also, new space had opened up with the move of the Library from there. Also the space has changed considerably with the Great Court now covered with a modern roof and becoming the focus point. There was much in the massive collections to occupy me through the afternoon. Then I wandered the area a little; I can’t say that I learned much about changes in the street scene, other than seeing that many pubs advertised soccer viewing. I got to the place I’d chosen for dinner, Carluccio’s, an Italian chain place, at Market Place. I traditionally want pasta for Sunday dinner, and maybe I relied too much on Zagat in making a selection in advance, but I had a decent pasta with mushrooms. Then it was time to get back to the hotel; I got to the Executive Lounge, missing it in a first search for the temporary lounge in a small guestroom. It had a nice selection of snacks, including warm things and alcohol at dinnertime and, after waiting my turn, Internet access. Then I could enjoy my suite, with a choice of televisions to see World Cup soccer.
On Monday, I took advantage of the major museums being open seven days a week, and had a day visiting the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern. Tube to Pimlico and walk: side entrance to the Tate Britain. There was much to see of great British art, especially the large Turners. It was also interesting to see many school groups touring the gallery. When ready, I bought a ticket at the gallery, showing my Travelcard, for the Tate to Tate Boat. I went to that dock and took the boat with that spectacular look at London along the Thames: Parliament and modern construction.
I arrived near the Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre, where I would go later. It was getting to be a hot day and many people were out along the riverfront promenade, and I walked halfway across the Millennium footbridge, then started my visit to the Tate Modern. It was impressive from the outside, a converted factory, and the inside with vast open space accompanying several floors of exhibits. What can I say, a remarkable range of art since 1900 was covered: early Matisse paintings to a film appealing to my geographic interests of a drive around Tirana, Albania, showing the redevelopment of an area with interesting buildings. All this took most of the afternoon.
Now I had some time before the play I had booked at the Globe, which happened to be the time of the World Cup match between the U.S. and the Czech Republic; I would try to see that although I would need to miss Italy’s match. I had asked on SlowTrav about sports pubs in the area and was directed to some good Web sites; I’d printed out a map showing some likely places and wound up at a different pub than my original destination: the Southwark Rooms. This glassed-in place was showing the match and had a dinner menu. It was early for dinner but I sat and had a beer, then a cheeseburger when the kitchen opened, a satisfying meal while the soccer result was not satisfying.
So I made my way to the new Globe. I had passed up the chance to have a tour of the place and would just take a look at it as I went to the play. I figured out where to get the ticket I’d bought online. I had booked a seat in the moderately high price levels rather than try to stand in the Yard after this full day. It was interesting to take a look at the theatre replicating where Shakespeare performed. I was in the back row of the Middle Gallery, where my bench had a back; cushions and portable seat backs could be rented. For this production of Titus Andronicus, a cloth roof was put over this normally open-air theatre. On this hot day, I saw this production of this violent and not well-regarded play. It was very interesting to see what could be done, and I’m glad I saw it. The play extended into the standing spectators’ area; they were directed to move as a platform rolled around. The play, with its ghoulish appeal, made for an intense evening. At the end of the play, I crossed the Millennium Bridge and turned right to catch the Tube at Mansion House; I found that most spectators had turned left and boarded at Blackfriars. The Circle Line got me to Paddington for a good night’s rest.
Oxford
Tuesday was the day for my trip to Oxford. After breakfast, I took advantage of staying right at the station and so not needing to leave for the station early at all. I was taking the first train eligible for the Cheap Day Return fare at 9.21, so I left my room at 9 and expected no problem getting my ticket at the self-service machines. So I went to the station lobby, looked at the machines, and did not see the Cheap Day Return option. I went to the ticket windows, where there was a long queue, risking missing the train as I made the purchase, but I just made it. It was a pleasant enough ride, with a few stops in Greater London. The ticket was not inspected on the train, but the turnstile took it at Oxford station.
There was a walk to the town
centre, where I had booked a tour with the city tourist office.
I’d had some advice to book 
this
in particular because the colleges might have different visiting hours during
final examinations. They located
my reservation; we waited for some stragglers as it was time for the tour to
begin (11 a.m.). It was indeed
useful to learn about the colleges and note the attitude during finals.
In particular, students took the exams in academic attire and wore
carnations color-coded to the stage of finals they were taking.
They wore red carnations for their last exam, and their friends
gathered to festoon them in some way when they finished, covering them with
confetti or water. The tour took
two hours; at the end there were many practical questions for the guide; mine
was about Internet access. She
directed me to one place nearby; I went there and found that it had closed
down; the sign directed me to the bigger place by the bus station at
Gloucester Green.
This was the beginning of things that should have been brief taking extra time. I hadn’t gone online since the previous morning, and there had been some question about my lodging in Rome; I thought there would be a resolution and I should check on it. I made my way indirectly to the Green, got online and found things not resolved. I’d printed out some restaurant possibilities but decided to eat at an Asian noodle place next door. I decided this was the place to send a postcard to my co-workers; I bought a card at the tobacco shop, but they didn’t have overseas stamps; I needed to go the post office. I found the post office in the city centre, and noted that it was apparently privatised and in large part an office supply store. I had the queue to buy my one stamp, and they tried to pitch me a savings account with them. So now it was later than I planned and it was raining. I thought, given my profession, that I should visit the Bodleian Library; it was too late to see anything except the Divinity Chapel, where I’d been on the tour. I thought I should look at Merton College, the courtyard deserted in the rain; then I thought there wasn’t much else to do. I tend to plan an exact itinerary for when I arrive in a place, but then leave things pretty open; I’d seen that most of the colleges had limited hours, and the rain wasn’t good for strolling. If I’d looked more closely at the guidebook, I’d have seen the Ashmolean Museum as a possibility, but I thought I might as well make my way back. This is one case where taking a city bus even on a short ride might have helped; I got to the train station and just missed the 4 p.m. train. I remembered that the trips were every half-hour, but there was another train to London just a few minutes later. I boarded it, then realized that it would make many stops and arrive later than the 4.30 train, so I got off and waited for the later train. I got that train without incident, and spent the evening at the hotel. Having had lunch, I just had the canapes from the Executive Lounge for dinner.
London-Rome
day
It was the day of my flight to Rome; being on a 2.15 p.m. flight meant I didn’t have to leave very early, but I also didn’t want to get very far before checking out of the hotel. I walked nearby to an area I’d heard was interesting, Little Venice. It was interesting to be on walkways where businesspeople were going to work, then find calm canals with many boats docked; in the morning there weren’t many people around except joggers, and at least one very big group of schoolchildren. I made my way back to Paddington. In this expensive city, I had only used credit cards for things booked in advance, the train from Heathrow, and my two Travelcards. I paid cash for my dinners and the train to Oxford. With my free full breakfasts and free museums, I had cash left over and I was ready to do something I almost never do: get cash for my next country (euros) in advance. Determining the best exchange rate was bewildering, with the bureaux de change showing a rate that looked good but commissions of both a percentage and a flat amount. I went to Barclays Bank, which had signs saying no commission, but didn’t post the rate for euros or U.S. dollars. There was one window for changing money, and a wait as the person in front of me was doing a very complicated transaction. I finally got there and changed £60 plus some change for €85, an extra cushion to add to the €40 I had from my previous trip.
I had a last check of e-mail in the Executive Lounge, and checked out of the hotel a little before 11 and got to the Heathrow Express train. In this direction it did go fast. I got off at the Heathrow Central station and found my way to Terminal 1 for my British Airways flight. There was an elevator to the departure level, and my challenge was to find where to check-in for Club (Business) Class. I was there at 11.15 for my 2.15 p.m. flight; I was only seeing counters for Traveller Class; I went to a self-service kiosk and printed my boarding pass, then to a counter to check my bag. The agent there tagged my bag but said I couldn’t check it until 11.45. I sat near the counter; when it was 11.45, I got up and found the sign to the special check-in area for premium-class passengers: one needed to go farther along the front of the terminal to another entrance. So there my bag got checked. The thought crossed my mind whether I should have asked to get onto the 12.40 flight. Sheena and Terry, whom I was to meet at a SlowTrav get-together the next day, were on that flight and said there were empty seats in Club. I asked later on Flyertalk about how likely I would have been to get this change, and my bag going with me if it was standby; it seems that such a change isn’t that familiar on British Airways.
Anyway, there was a privileged security check from this check-in area, which went promptly (this was before the new rules that came along in August), and I had a pleasant time in the Club Lounge, where I could help myself to many food and drink choices. I watched the monitors for my gate announcement, coming at a later time than I’m used to, 40 minutes before departure. It was a relatively close gate. On U.S. airlines there’s been some controversy about boarding in sections, but premium passengers generally board first; I was surprised to find that they called boarding for everyone at once here, at 1.55. The flight was announced as full, but there were empty seats in Club. The door closed at the scheduled time of 2.15; at this busy airport takeoff was at 2.50. There was nice champagne, and an appeal of going at this time is that there was tea service: a scone with clotted cream. I have pleasant memories of the approach: scheduled time 5.40, landing 5.46, at gate 5.50. Since the U.K. is not in Schengen, on this intra-EU flight I arrived at Terminal C, taking the train, and having passport control with no wait. I got my bag after a short wait.