X

Xout Oxford, Bath, the theater, Kew gardens:
Hannah tested positive for Covid when we arrived in London!
 

 
  Big Ben and Parliment Westminster Abbey

Getting to London didn't go as planned. Our plane had mechanical problems so it was delayed seven hours. I had a cold, so it was a long day in the airport.

When we finally made it to Heathrow the transport person wasn't there (he arrived twenty minutes late we learned the next day), so we took a very expensive cab.

But our hotel was right at the end of Westminster Bridge, across the River Thames from Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey!

 
   
   
    Round building
   Men in suits standing by flowers in front of escalator   View of Big Ben with windows and reflections    
       
The hotel was quite modern.   It was swank!   And look at the view of Big Ben from outside the elevator!
    Rug at entry with poem about sleep embedded   Rug at entry with poem about sleep embedded   The entrance to the room had a poem about sleep that was embedded right in the rug. The room had other fancy-schmancy details, like this mural on the closet doors. I could hardly wait to see the view...    
                 


 

Oh.

My.

God.

The only window.

You can't even tell if it's day or night.

   Twilight Zone like wall of curves and lights
         
Twilight Zone like wall of curves and lights  

 

 

In an abundance of caution, I tested for Covid. The T test line came up even before the C control line. Susan tested, too. Somehow she wasn't infected, though we had had all the same exposures.

I was sick enough to not care about canceling our plans for the five days we were to be there. Susan brought me fruit and pastries from the breakfast bar. That and the cozy bed were enough for then.

  

 

 

My clever and conscientious daughter talked me through my situation. The prohibition against flying into America until you test negative was revoked the day before we flew to London. However, the CDC said that while we are less infectious after five days we should not travel for 10 days after a positive test. Jane told me about her friend who couldn't get vaccinated because she was immune compromised, and was heartbroken because she wanted to visit her dying grandmother but was afraid to fly. Jane talked with our insurance company and found them encouraging. I decided to stay past the planned return date.

 
         
    Tour bus passing lion sculpture and ferris wheel   Sculpture of Winston Churchill   Sculpture of Lloyd George    
 
   
Susan surely would come down with Covid eventually. She didn't undertake the Grand Adventures of Bath and Oxford on her own.
She did take the planned bus tour of London seeing, among other things, the Parliament Square sculpture garden.

    Della Robia ceramic sculpture   Ornate room with cafe   Chairs that look like giant masks    
       
She also made it to the Victoria and Albert Museum, with this Della Robbia and the ornate café.

   But mainly she hung out in our swank hotel.
    After a few days the walls (and the view from that "window"!) started closing in on me. I was easily fatigued, but the cough in my chest faded. I was well enough to venture out for short walks (masked).   Big Ben   Ferris wheel and fancy lamp    
   
       
    Crowd on Winchester Bridge   Souvinirs sold under bronze horses and chariot   Souvinirs sold under bronze horses and chariot    
       
Westminster Bridge was like a state fair: tourist madness. The souvenir shops amid the monumental historic edifices were dizzy making.
    Bronce sculpture of woman holding banner "Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere"   Bronze sculpture of Gandhi   Ornate door to Parliment with lines waiting to enter    
       
I made it to the sculpture garden. The woman on the left is Millicent Garrett Fawcett: worth googling. I was impressed to see Gandhi and Mandela. Abraham Lincoln represented America.

   I was sad that I couldn't see inside places
like Westminster Abbey.
    New Scotland Yard, including rotating sign   Embankment, river, steps Embankment, river, steps    
       
The last night we pushed our luck and took a longer walk. We happened upon the New Scotland Yard with its rotating sign, parks, gardens, sculptures…and fun things we failed to photograph. We found one restaurant with outside seating and had a pleasant last meal together.
    Ferris wheel with taxi  

The next day Susan woke up feeling unwell. However, she took a Covid test which came out negative, so she caught the transport and flew home as scheduled. The flight to Chicago wasn't bad. But since I wouldn't be in Oak Park she had decided to fly on to Columbus instead of staying over for a day as originally ticketed. She had to get through customs and grab her luggage at the international terminal, then take a shuttle to the domestic terminals in time for a late flight to Columbus. And there were all sorts of complications in securing her ticket to Columbus, and it ended up being a long, long day into a late, late night.

And the next day she tested positive for Covid.

She left on my sixth Covid day. I had tried to extend my stay in our hotel, but it was full up. Fortunately, Jane had located an affordable hotel not too far away.

I had help getting a taxi, which was good because cabbies were reluctant to take me since my new hotel was on a street that was blocked off by a protest about austerity. (My driver knew a special route to the back door: he proudly said that no GPS could have found it.)

So: one sister crossed back over the pond. One sister set off, alone, in the big city of London.

    
                 
   

An Acknowledgment

In case you didn't catch my probably too subtle mentions in the texts, many of the photos in this advent calendar were taken by my sister,
Susan Jennings. Not to mention that this British adventure never would have happened without her intrepid determination to make it so.
Thank you, Susan.

   
   
   

   
 


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