Spoiler Alert: We had the most amazing time visiting our friends Damien and Lisa in London and Edinburgh,
and our friends Vivian and Alex in the Scottish Highlands.
However, we genuinely were unsure the trip was going to happen at all.
The night before our ten-hour trip from Miami to London, we lost power at our home in Delray Beach. There wasn't a storm -
we simply lost one leg from Florida Power & Light. Amazingly, electricians from two separate companies arrived the morning of
our trip and diagnosed the issue as an FPL issue. FPL confirmed the diagnosis and sent a team to install a temporary electrical
cable less than an hour before departure. Our stress level was very high.
We reserved a car to take us to Miami International Airport. Unfortunately, they missed the airport exit, resulting in an
extra 20-minute drive time. No worries - we still had a couple of hours to spare, right?
We arrived at the airport and went to the counter to show our passports and obtain our boarding passes (we'd checked in the
prior day with no issue). We were then told we needed a UK Electronic Travel Authorization. At no time during the Virgin Atlantic
check-in process were we told this was a new requirement as of January 2025. We downloaded the app and spent 45 minutes attempting
to get it to work - we continually encountered "service errors". Finally, we went to the website version and were able to pay the
required 16 pounds each. We immediately received an email that stated it would take 3 days for the application to be approved.
Our hearts sunk. Fortunately, it only took 5-10 minutes. Our stress level remained high.
Once we arrived in London, Lisa planned to pick us up. Once again, the travel gremlins surfaced. A major traffic accident
occurred 250 yards ahead of Lisa's car, delaying her over an hour. Fortunately for us, Damien was able to pick us up.
Damien and Lisa are the most amazing hosts. Soon after arriving at their beautiful home, they took us to a nearby pub - within
3 minutes walking distance, no less. As we drank our pints of beer, we wondered repeatedly "why can't we live like this?"
We had a wonderful barbeque dinner that night in Damien and Lisa's backyard. Damien is a pit master, and we enjoyed some of
the best grilled lamb we've ever had.
We went to sleep relatively early that night. We had a 06:00 flight to Edinburgh the next morning.
August 7-11
We returned to London after a wonderful time visiting Alex and Vivian in Scotland.
On Thursday, we enjoyed a traditional chicken and leek pie prepared by Lisa and Damien.
Friday morning, we walked to a nearby coffee shop for coffee (once again, minutes away). Then we walked around the neighborhood woods.
On Friday afternoon, our gracious hosts taught us the game of Pickleball. We loved it! Damien helped us purchase the right paddles
and balls for our current skill level.
Friday night, we went to a fabulous Indian restaurant called Bombay Story in Wokingham.
On Saturday, we visited the town of Guildford.
There were many wonderful sites and stores for shopping.
Saturday night, our resident master chef barbequed an excellent spatchcock chicken. Yum!
Sunday, we traveled to London. While the trains didn't cooperate (two trains were canceled and we had to Uber back from London),
we had a great time visiting Covent Garden and other sites.
For dinner on Sunday, we had a traditional British meal at Hawksmoor:
Sunday Roast. It included Yorkshire pudding, gravy, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and - most importantly - cauliflower cheese. Delicious!
Sunday evening, we saw the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the
BBC Proms at the
Royal Albert Hall. The RAH is an amazing place -
so much history! Visiting it brought Mark back to his childhood and lyrics by the Beatles in the 1967 song A Day in the Life.
Edward Gardner conducted the LPO for this event. The program included Debussy's La mer, Siberlius's The Oceanides and Ravel's song-cycle Sheherazade.
On Monday morning, we had to say goodbye and fly back to South Florida. :)