Where in The World is Lew

ZAP back to London and beyond. July 31, 2000 Last month all the meetings that we had in the UK had a dramatic effect on interest in our servers. So without any warning I found myself back on a plane to London. I even found a flight that had a few Envoy Class seats. Getting out of the US was a near disaster. I had booked a evening departure through Philly.(Which is far better than JFK, America's worst Airport) At about 12 noon I checked the FAA system status web page (www.fly.faa.gov) and found that the whole east half of the country (Everything east of Kansas) was more than 2 hours behind schedule. (But of course the transatlantic services were on time) So I rebooked on a flight 2 hours earlier. This rebooking (assuming that the flights were on time) should have had a 4 hour layover. As the afternoon crept along I watched the planes (the one I was scheduled on and any alternatives) that were suppose to make up my flight fall further and further behind. (Watch your own flights on www.trip.com's FLIGHT TRACKER) I watched as all my alternative flights cancelled, one by one. Meanwhile my rebooked flight was being held on the ground in Pittsburgh because of the weather related backups. I was on the phone with my USAirways liaison trying to figure this all out, when she told me "Don't get stuck in Philly, the RNC convention has all the hotel rooms and you cannot get one." So the conclusion was that if the flight from ORF looked like it was going to be leaving later than 8:45p than I should NOT go to Philly since I would miss my 10:10 departure. We finally got a plane at 8:10pm and boarded. Then we sat and waited for ATC (Air traffic control) to give us a release time. They did.... 0001. Yep that's right 12:01a. After a few more minutes USAirways was able to negotiate a immediate release since we could fly to Philly VFR because their was a weather free flight path to Philly. During this delay I met a couple traveling to London trying to connect on the same flight. We landed in Philly and was greeted by another plane in our gate and we held for a gate and then couldn't get a person to move the jetway. 10:02p I'm finally in the airport The flight shows "On time" and I've got to run from terminal C to A 11. I promise the older couple that I will stand in the doorway of the plane until they get on. As I arrive at the gate I hand my boarding card to the agent and she tells me that the first office is ... in Pittsburgh. Soon I see the couple that I met huffing toward the gate. I tell them we are delayed about 2 hours and invite them to the USAirways Club. We visit and surf the net for the next 2 hours and then board the plane. They thanked me profusely for the comforts of the club. Once boarded I realize that this flight in nearly empty. It seems that few people made their connections. Envoy Class was nearly deserted. I now remember that I have 2 Envoy companion upgrades with me. These can only be used when someone else flies with me, I cannot use them for myself. I tossed them in my case before I left thinking "I'll never use these" . Normally even if I meet someone that is on the flight Envoy is booked solid, but tonight it is empty and I have 2 companion upgrades with me. So with a smirk on my face I wander back to coach ask them for their boarding passes. I never told them what I was trying to do. "No promises" is the only thing I say as I head for a gate agent. Soon my "unusable" companion upgrades were converted in 2 Envoy Class seats. I walked back to them in coach and handed them their new boarding passand simply said "Welcome to Envoy Class". I cannot remember being thanked as much. They had a ball.

I was about 2 hours late to Gatwick and completely relieved to find my driver. Off to Ripley to return to the Talbot Hotel. Kim (an old friend and coworker) had arrived in the UK a few days before (For another project). She was going to stay in Woking but elected to stay in Ripley after I showed her pictures of the Talbot. I dropped off my stuff (check in consists of saying hello to the barkeep who hands you a key) and we headed up to London. Kim had never seen St. Paul's so we headed to the Cathedral. I talked Kim into climbing up the dome. She made it up to the Stone Gallery 2/3's of the way up before she pooped out. We headed off to dinner in Soho and then back down on the train to Woking and Ripley.

Sunday was a day to just wander. Kim wanted to take some pictures of Big Ben and the Eye of London. So we spent some time on the banks of the Thames. We then took off to Kensington and visited Kensington Palace and Hyde Park. It was a beautiful day to wander the park and Kensington Gardens. We walked by the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall.

The Albert Memorial

Kim got some serious laughs as she watched me take pictures. As you might imagine some of the angles I shoot, require some unconventional methods. She laughed at me when I shot an abbey in Kensington laying down on the walkway.

Looking through the door of an Abbey in Kensington

We toured Kensington Palace, home of the late Diana. There are still flowers being left there for her. Other than a few mentions on the tour there were no tributes to her on the tour or in the palace.