| Arrived in Stratford after a pretty nice flight.
It didn't start that way, though.
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| After a fun drive, through driving rain, we arrived at the terminal in a simple shower. slightly damp, yet excited, we dragged our luggage into the terminal, only to be presented with a three-furlong line-up at the check-in counter - an a mere two hours until lift-off! No worries. |
| We moved at a blistering pace counterward, pausing only to catch our breaths as other festive travelers were served by the friendly and smiling counter-folk. Then, what's this? They are calling for Christian to move ahead of all the other waiting travelers? Smiling, and silently applauding his good fortune, the waiting vacationers watched Christian pass them by and gain his seat - and what a seat it was! But more of that later. |
| Finally reaching the counter, we were greeted
by a friendly, smiling woman - a woman who loved to fly: it showed.
she was duly impressed with our borrowed luggage, but little did she know
that in the light brown bag there was a box labeled "Not For Export Outside
the U.S. and Canada" - Heavens!
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| After checking our bags and receiving our boarding passes, we checked our seat assignments: 27A, 27B, 40H, perfect ... wait a minute - 40H?! Why is Christian seated in the Smoking Section, thirteen rows behind us, and on the opposite side of the plane? We'll have to deal with that later. In the meantime, let us return to that box in the light brown bag, the one with the label indicating that it ought not to be going to England. It seemed like mere quarters of hours ago that I was speaking to Pat Stuckey about our packing problem. Where in the world can we put 100 worship booklets (weighing in at nearly 2 stone)? Suddenly, Providentially, a large, forgotten suitcase presented itself as the solution, at last I could relax. |
| After packing everything (except a hairbrush) and loading the car, off we went in the lovely afternoon. Lovely, that is, until the heavens opened up and poured down life-giving rain on us. Imagine, if you will, our surprise when we discovered that the rain traveled along with us to England. |
| Once we had contacted the coach waiting area to have our coach released, we drove through the rain again. This time, though, it was English Rain, falling from the English Skye, on England's Green and Pleasant Land! |
| An enjoyable coach ride from London to Stratford-Upon-Avon
ensued - made enjoyable, in large part, by our Johnson Coach driver, John.
But I promised to tell you about the seating on the plane. We walked together down the entryway onto the plane, each of us worrying within, but outwardly happy and excited. "Excuse me," I asked and earnest, yet friendly flight attendant, "can something be done to rectify this error?" In short order, the agreeable assignee of the seat next to us was swapped to an equivalent seat, and Christian spent the next seven hours entertaining, and being entertained by, a third-grade teacher from the Lakeview district. |
| Arriving at our guest house, we discovered that we were early - no rooms at the Inne, so we dropped our bags and roamed Stratford in the cool (occasional) drizzle. |
| Strolling and shopping in the quaint town, we chanced upon a local eatery - an eatery off the beaten tourist paths, known only to the locals (if even to them). |
| Dining sumptuously on hamburgers, cheese omelettes,
and chips, we left the establishment well sated, and saying, "Thank Heaven
for Herlick's."
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| Eventually back at Nando's, we established
our steads, had dinner, and soon retired. It was the end of a very
long day.
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| P.S. I forgot to mention that the sign in front of Nando's proclaims
it the
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