Monday 9th - Wednesday 11th June
Alison: The next 48 hours or so were pretty horrendous, the hardest leg of our trip as we knew well in advance, with six flights in two days! We caught the plane from Iquitos to Lima and then hung around in Lima airport for 4 hours or so until our next flight. We were met by Fabian with all the rest of our luggage and after a change of clothes and redistribution of the bags so that we were under our weight limit, we checked in our bags and began the long wait. Our flight to Sao Paulo left at 1.30 in the morning and we arrived about 6.00 a.m. Then came the farce of having to catch a taxi for an hour across the huge, busy city of Sao Paulo to the domestic airport in order to catch a plane to Rio de Janiero's domestic airport, from where we had to catch another taxi to Rio's international airport to catch our international flight to New York which went via Sao Paulo where we had arrived 9 hours earlier! All of this because Qantas refused to allow us to get on the plane in Sao Paulo as the ticket said Rio - don't you love bureaucracy?
The flight to New York was long and boring, with American Airlines living up to their reputation as one of the worst airlines in the world! The blankets they gave us hardly covered the children, let alone an adult. Even though we were in transit, USA insisted that we wait in a line for an hour to go through Immigration, collect all our luggage and go through Customs, and then get on a train that circles JFK to go to another terminal and catch our BA plane to London. At least BA was living up to its reputation as one of the best airlines in the world. There were very few people on the flight and we had a very pleasant journey, with the staff making a nice fuss of Rachel for her birthday - and let's face it, it had been a dull affair to date stuck on planes!
We did buy her some perfume in Rio duty free and also paid to spend a few very comfortable hours in the American Airlines executive lounge in Rio and again in Sao Paulo to help her make up for it. Towards the end of the flight the captain actually announced Rachel's birthday over the speakers and the air hostess took her and Tom for a tour of the plane where they had a chance to look at Business Class and try out the seats which go all the way back to make a bed on BA- of course they came back wondering why WE couldn't travel on Business or First Class!?
It was already evening when we arrived at Heathrow, waited again in long lines for Immigration, collected our luggage and headed off on the tube into London. Getting out at Hyde Park, we then caught a cab to our hotel about 10 minutes away. Barry House hotel was a nice little B&B with two small connecting rooms on the fifth floor of narrow and steep steps, so getting all the luggage up there was a bit of a nightmare. Despite the late hour about midnight, the kids were hungry so Mike went out to the nearby pub and came back with fish and chips, but eventually we fell happily into bed soon after, although with the time difference the kids didn't really feel it was particularly late! They of course had slept much more successfully on the various plane trips than us as they could lie across us, but we were exhausted... Unfortunately, I had managed to pick up a tummy bug on our last day in South America which hit my system with a sledgehammer at about 4.00 a.m. so that was the end of my sleep.
Mike: The trip across the Atlantic was always going to be the big stretch of our trip, six flights in two days, woooow! Even my ability to fix things was not enough to curb the incredible bureaucracy of the airlines, so we dutifully flew in then out of Rio just to amuse them! The one positive here was that our dashing visit served to remind me that Rio is a truly remarkable place, permanently sunny, people always smiling, and thoooooose beaches, woow. Sorry Queensland but as they say you ain't seen noooothing yet!
Anyway we had hoped that the kids being experienced fliers would help get us through this arduous journey ok, and as it transpired I don't think any of us could have envisaged hopping out at the other end at the Heathrow colossus feeling so good. Overnight flights (on the leg to New York) always help, given that kids at least always sleep well, on us as it were!.. but in this instance Al and I also managed enough to get a good enough sleep to feel fit and ready to battle on to London.
A truly great decision to was to pay the modest $100 total fee that allowed us access to the VIP lounges for the next 24 hours. Woooow that helped brighten the spirits! Drinks and nibbles galore for the kids, selfpoured generous g and t's for me, entertainment for all plus internet access, even hot showers which Rach and I took advantage of, this was an inspired decision which Rach in particular greatly appreciated as a small birthday token.. given that she was missing half of the real day inflight!
Imagine our huge relief too when we boarded that final British Airways flight, to board a largely empty, very modern and comfy plane, with fabulously friendly staff to greet us onboard, even classy giftpacks for the kids with great books and more.. suuuuuch a contrast to the AmericanAir experience, where I can honestly say I have neeeever felt so unwelcome.. almost Fawlty Towers like in their overt resentment of having to be there at all, let alone dare I say it serve the passengers!
I had not flown BA for many years and by complete coincidence the Herald Tribune I was reading had a feature article re the rise back to the top of BA, based on their exemplary commitment to service and comfort. Well indeed I could have written that article so impressed was I, and I duly gave said article to the onboard staff to show them in black and white what a difference they were making for their organisation and how proud they should be..
I snuck off early in the flight and organized for Rach to have her birthday announced and also to be given a special tour of all sections of the plane (her lifelong dream being to be upgraded to first class).. and suffice to say she too was also a very happy passenger...
So when we did alight we were much relived to find ourselves in good spirits and with enough energy to navigate the train into our London B and B (which I was superpleased when I realised was in an even better, fabulous central location than I had understood when booking on the internet).. then grab fish and chips and finally all off to a well-earned sleep.
The next phase was about to begin.....
Thursday 12th June
Alison: We woke up late, with me feeling pretty dreadful with stomach cramps, but ready to head out to the London Eye which I had long wanted to do. The view from the top was very spectacular and when we got off we happily met up with Mike's parents, Alex and John, who by chance were in London on the same day as us! It was really lovely catching up with them both. We had a delightful walk along the Thames with them and a very nice meal at Brown's Restaurant although I only had soup. Then I caught a taxi back with John as I needed a nap whilst Alex, Mike and the kids stayed out a bit longer looking for books for the kids in Charing Cross Rd. They came back very happily with the next few books in the Famous Five series.
After a brief break we then headed off for the West End where we had tickets to the musical 'Hairspray'. After getting a quick dinner, we went to the show which was really great! Excellent singing, acting, sets, music, costumes and plot meant for a wonderful, upbeat night that we all thoroughly enjoyed. We caught the tube back to our hotel and went to bed, the great advantage of jet lag meaning the kids were able to stay easily awake during the performance and journey home.
Mike: We had decided to have only a quick couple of nights in London, having spent quite a bit of time there on previous trips... and being Rachel's belated birthday we had planned some fun celebrations. First and foremost we had realized at the eleventh hour that Mum and Dad would be in London on the very same day us, as both we and they had made minor trip changes without realising this overlap.
It was only a fortuitous phone message from Dad at the right time saying Hi etc, and saying he was about to fly to London from San Fran, that made me realize we were there at same times, as we had originally not quite been able to coordinate our trips enough to arrange to meet up in Lake Como which we had hoped.
Quick call from me and lunch was booked, to all of our delight but particularly Rachel's for her birthday. Long sleeps, then up and off to London Eye, which was fun for all though I'd have to say I agree with my sister Helen that it is a tad over-rated and the view it offers is really not that incredible!.. But wandering around this Thames area and being able to show the kids Big Ben, the Palace and all those other famous sights of London was a great feeling, knowing how much more there is for them to explore in future years... even the old reddoubledeckers brought warm cockles!
Better still was seeing Mum and Dad in the distance, a great feeling... we all headed off to Browns on the Thames for a great lunch, all very relaxed and in good form (though Al had developed nasty case of the runs which naturally held her back from indulging somewhat!).
Al needed rest as did Dad , so we sent then off in taxi home for their respective snoozes, while Mum said she was bravely up for more!.. Mum (or Dangi to the kids!) has a reputation as theeee kids bookchooser extraordinaire, so what would any trip be to London without visiting the famous Foils Books of Charing Cross, where after long deliberations the kids duly left well equipped with future reading, including a stockup of numerous Famous Fives for their bedtime stories which they so love.
We walked home to Mum and Dad's lovely Hyde Park place (courtesy of the Royal College of Physicians), said sad but contented goodbyes, all well-pleased with our gettogther, and then I bundled the kids off home.. to embark on our next adventure off to the West End to see Hairspray which was Rachel's birthday choice, a show received with huge acclaim by all the critics.
We were not to be disappointed... greaaaaat seats courtesy of a late booking and a huge price (matched only by the 8 quid or 20odd dollars for the halftime modest gin and tonic I drank in almost one gulp!!)!). A super fun, lighthearted but superbly done, energetic show which we all loved and got right into the spirit of, we left happy that our one day in London had been really well spent indeed.. ..
Next day we happily boarded the Eurostar to head to gay Paris, probably my favourite city in the world.. yaaaaaay!! We were going to be staying with my other Mum (Julie) there, who we flew out to meet us not having traveled abroad for 30 odd years, so that too was something to really look forward to for all of us.... The good times roll!!...
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