June 26, 2004 - Oslo to London

     It was raining in the morning, so we decided to hunker down, rest and reorganize.  After lunch across the street from our hotel, we took the most expensive taxi ride of our lives.  This was due to the airport being WAY out of town and the fact that Oslo recently lost the honor of World's Most Expensive City to Tokyo and seems intent on reclaiming the crown.  Also, the fare which is normally 610 Kromer jumps to 720 on Saturday (lucky us), but, if we had waited until after 3 p.m. of left on Sunday, it would have reached 820!  Given the alternative of hauling our bags through the rain to the bus station or taking an expensive taxi to the train station where we could catch an expensive train to the airport, we resolved to see it as an E ride at NorwayLand and enjoy the drive (which we did).

All this pink-slips and second-mortgages drama got us to the airport about three hours before our flight, but, we were rewarded with the use of a great lounge, courtesy of British Airways, providing the first photo-op of the day.  (Actually, that's not altogether true.  Just before we left the hotel, I snapped this picture of the statue guarding the lobby toilets, which somehow felt apt.) (To my admittedly warped mind, she looked as though she was standing in line, in distress.)  (I'm not sure we can go back to the Bristol Hotel.)

The flight to London was excellent.  I think the aerial photo shows Buckingham Palace, or Westminster Palace, or Bernie's Palace, but I could have been misinformed.  Getting from the plane to our hotel involved (1) the Heathrow Experience, (2) finding the National Express Bus to Gatwick, (3) discussing with the driver whether we wanted Gatwick North or Gatwick South (Who knew there was a choice?  The driver thought it out and decided South--the second stop--would be best for us, stopped at North, left the terminal, looped around to North again, and said he now thought that would be better for us--and he was right), (4) waiting 25 minutes for the hotel shuttle, (5) joining a huge girls tour already aboard the bus, and (6) riding 5 minutes to our hotel.      All in all, it turned out pretty well.  Tomorrow, the Babbies do Le Midi (the south of France).

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