5 - 6 September - The Joys of Travel

Five days into our trip and I'm already behind. After months of planning and paring down what to take so that we could travel as light as possible, we caught an Uber to SeaTac. Flying Virgin Atlantic Upper Class allowed us to go to the Delta lounge to wait for our flight and enjoy some food and drink. I think my time in analysis must have helped me, because I didn't get my usual travel migraine.

Got on board, had our welcome glass of champagne and settled in for the flight. Flying VA Upper Class is a splurge, but being able to lie flat and actually sleep is a splurge we're willing to take. (It's a lot more affordable when you book the flights 9 months in advance, as I did.) The service on Virgin Atlantic is usually fabulous, but this time we ended up with a flight attendant who was wither having a bad day, was constipated, or just didn't like the look of us. Never broke a smile, was quite impatient and petulant. All the other attendants on board were great, and occasionally we were happy when they wandered by our aisle. Saw 2 wonderful British films while onboard, "Allelujah" with Jennifer Saunders and Judy Dench, and "The Unlikely Pigramage of Harold Fry" with Jim Broadbent. I had read the book, so was a bit worried, since films never seem to live up to the source, but this was really lovely. I don't know if they will be available in the States, but you should check them out if they are.

Got into Heathrow 40 minutes early. Headed to the bus stop per the instructions in the email, only to find that the instructions were completely wrong. Back to the terminal we went, to a completely different bus stop. Of course, our confirmation email couldn't be accessed, so we bought another ticket on the bus for Woking. [Passed the McLaren complex along the way - thrilling for Bruce, who is an F1 fan]. Got to the Woking train station. two hours before our train. If it were Kings Cross or Euston in London, there would be plenty of places to kill time before the train, but this is Woking. Believe me when I say there is virtually nothing around the train station there. A train to Portsmouth (our destination) was due to arrive in 5 minutes. Bruce hustled to the window to ask if we could use our ticket on the earlier train. No, but you can buy a new ticket and get a refund on your other one. Okay. As he was finishing up at the window, the train pulled in. The platform monitor signaled the conductor that we were coming, so they held the train for a couple of minutes while we raced aboard. (Thanks Southwestern Rail!) When we got aboard, I tried to initiate a refund for the first ticket. Yeah, no. No refunds. No conductor checked our tickets for the entire journey, so we probably could have gotten away with using the first tickets, but we're: A) scrupulously honest B) stupid.

Finally got to Portsmouth and took the bus to the ferry. (Are you exhausted yet? We were.) Our reservation was for a ferry that left in 2 hours, but they honored our tickets for the earlier departure (Hurray!) We took a hovercraft - what an amazing vehicle. It can "climb" right up the beach after traversing the water. (There are lots of great hover craft videos on YouTube if you're interested.) Finally we're on the Isle of Wight.