Arrived in London

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  London, United Kingdom
Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Well I have completed the first leg to Casablanca after a long and uneventful flight. Heathrow does not seem very impressive to me but that is just the lack-of-sleep talking. I have about 5.5 hrs until my next flight & can't leave the airport. It'll take 1 hr either way to the city & another 2 hrs to clear security. Bummer! No Harrod's or Marks & Sparks for me. On my way to wake up some more ... Cheerio!

Entry above was the tired state ... below is the real entry:

Arrived at Heathrow airport in London at 8:30 local time (btw all time ref will be on 24hr clock) & the airport looked un-impressive. Much later, I would come to learn that only terminal 4 is dreary; Terminal 1 is the place to be. Did not have enough time to visit London. Clr'd customs in 1/2 hr but was told that travelling time to city was 2hrs return + 2 hrs to clear security & be at gate --flight left at 15:30. Took train to terminal 1 for breakfast & a way to pass the next 5.5 hrs. Found a great French/English restaurant & ordered a croissant au petit dejuner anglais (I liked the irony)-English breakfast on a croissant - FANTASTIC! The croissant, although toasted, was melt-in-your-mouth gorgeous. Within were plum tomatoes, over-easy egg, bacon, & English bangers. Everything was cooked perfectly! It was a leisurely breakfast b/c I had "all the time in the world". btw ... a very tall Englishman sporting the 'grunge' look, sat at the table next to me & ordered "a tall glass of Coke w/ lots of ice, a Stella Artois, & a side of nachos"! - did I mention that it was 9:30 in the morning?

Over the next few hrs, I wandered around the terminal's shopping mall- MASSIVE! Harrod's, Burburry, Fcuk, W.H Smith (around every turn), Swarovski, M.A.C, upteen spots for clothes, liquor, & fragrance; an internet cafe set-up patio style; showers (I had one just b/c you could); loads of places to dine - Starbucks, Italian cafes, pub-style restaurants to fine dining w/ white tablecloths & tall stems of white wine.

When you r travelling 1st & business class on BA, not only do you get the usual preferential boarding treatment (a separate line), but preferred lines at security & access to a series of lounges "by invitation only". Gotta choose business class on my next trip :-)

People, I'm still at the airport!

The men r attractive, but then again, I have the same impression at all airports. The women are QUITE stylish in spite of their chosen 'look' - not a sloppy person in sight.

It's finally 15:00, time to leave for Casablanca - overtired & a tad nervous, I board the plane. Aside from the typical flight, these r some o/s moments:
- we couldn't fly over French airspace but I didn't catch the reason. Brian (or anyone else), can you fill me in?

- The Frenchman next to me addressed me in English, but I was addressed in Arabic by the Moroccan mother across the aisle & the man from Bahrain seated behind me. Apparently, I look like I am from Marrakech!

Arrival in Casablanca at 19:00, local time - I am in zombie mode. Sailed through immigration; collected pack (annoyed that the raincover has gone missing); exchanged Euros for Dirhams (1 Euro = 10.773 DH); & accepted an offer for a taxi - too dark & too tired to figure out the cheaper train ride to city centre. The price of a taxi from airport to city centre is about the same as an airport limo in Toronto - 35 Euros or $50 CAD - but here, all the cars are white & Mercedes (grin). Hard to keep my eyes open with this combo. I negotiated the fare to 25 Euros.

Checked into Hotel Bellerive: Lobby is neat, the elevator is smaller than my closet, the room is clean (spotless, actually) & simple, the balcony is pleasant (overlooks a courtyard), & outside temp is 15°C. Sorted out my PJs & crashed!!!

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