Travel planning is not for the weak. When I settled on starting and ending in London, part of it was to see a specific show, End of the Rainbow with Jinkx Monsoon as Judy Garland, which opened the weekend before.
When I bought my ticket, I absolutely thought it was going to be an evening show, which was probably just a 24-hour clock confuzzlement, but I didn’t realize the mistake until I was sitting in Berlin planning my day on Thursday. My flight was set to get to Heathrow from Berlin at 12:30, and I then I had to get through border control, pick up checked luggage, get to my hotel, checked in, drop off bags, and into the east side of London via a 90 minute trip on the tube for a 2:30 show. For this to work, the travel goddess was going to need to smile on me, and everything needed to go without a hitch.
Luckily, the plane arrived a little early, and I got through customs and got my bag. Before I left, I decided I would just stay at Heathrow, which would make my life a little easier leaving on Monday, but the most affordable option was a hotel attached to Terminal 4. I was trying to find the quickest route, and while I could have taken the tube, I decided to try a bus, which turned out to be a little faster, if not a bit more difficult with two bags and backpack. I had to hoof it a little bit from the bus stop, but I go to the hotel and checked in without issue. After getting a little refreshed, I left the hotel around 1:00. I was still going to be pushing it to get to the theater.
The Elizabeth line was perfect as usual, but I had to transfer to the Victoria Line, which is one of the older lines. This means the AC is not that great, either, and if I wasn’t sweating before, I most definitely was sweating now. The first few stops were fine, but the line kept delaying almost every stop before the last, as I was tapping my foot at 2:25 and still not there. I was RUNNING to get to the theater by 2:32. Thankfully, the show had not started yet, and the staff at the theater wisked me to what I quickly realized was a front row seat! I have to admit that I was pretty out sorts by then, and I couldn’t get the ticket to come up on my phone. I was trying not to lose it, but I was super close.
So, I made it…barely. I got to see Jinkx Monsoon in a bravura turn as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow, and if all of that excitement is not a great a way to end a wild two weeks of vacation, I don’t know what is!
After the play, I considered finding dinner and maybe a cocktail, but with a 90 minute trip back to the airport, I opted to just go back to the hotel to eat and chill for the rest of the evening. The Food Network was showing Season 1 of the Great British Bake Off, which I don’t think has ever played in the US. It a chill way to wind down the trip.
Earlier in the week, I had changed my flight from a noon departure to 9:45, and I was up fairly early to get ready and transfer to Terminal 3 for my flight. Security was easy, and I grabbed my last breakfast in the Flagship Lounge, even though I was flying home in economy.
One last interesting twist is that while I was waiting for everyone to board, I heard “Nick?!?” It was my friend Scott who was IndyPride president before I took over. He has since moved to Kenya, and it was truly a strange coincidence that we would be on the same flight back to the United States. We got a chance to chit chat more at baggage claim stateside, but we parted ways and I Ubered home so that I could unpack, do laundry, water my plants, re-pack and get ready to leave for a work trip the next day.
Thusly ends the main part of the travel blog for this amazing European trip. I hope you have enjoyed following along with me. I do plan a few more posts on general topics, and I haven’t decided yet if I will continue to do this for all of my work travels, mainly because they are not always that interesting (for instance, I am writing this this from a hotel in St. Louis). I did miss blogging though, and I think I may keep it going.
