The trip started off well from St. Louis with a small 1/2 hour delay to NY JFK airport. Although, I think I was on the smallest plane I've ever been on with lots of creaking and squeaking! When I got to JFK, I had to ask to find out where to go for my connecting flight to London which ended up being in a different terminal. I had to take a bus to the new terminal. There I waited the remaining 3 1/2 hours in the Sky Club Lounge, which was really nice...free food, free drinks, comfy seating, outdoor sky deck. My flight to London was about 6 hours. Except for my seat partner who couldn't resist hogging my space with her elbows, the trip went smoothly. I didn't sleep near as much as I had hoped so I was pretty tired landing in London at 6 am. John picked me up and we drove an hour and a half to RAF Alconbury where he is staying in base lodging. I can't say it's the best accomodations, but it'll do. When John dropped me off, the power went off for a few hours. We almost got to move to a hotel in Cambridge, which actually would have been really nice. Because of the cooler weather, there is no AC here so you must resort to open windows and battle the bees each morning because they do not use screens here!
John came back from work and took me to lunch on that first day at a little pub called the Black Bull in the village of Brampton, where I experienced my first English chicken and mushroom "pie", like an American pot pie, and my first pear "cider."
That night we had dinner in the cutest little pub, The Brampton Mill, in Huntingdon. It turns out I had the completely wrong idea of what a pub was. They vary from local neighborhood bars to full sit down restaurants. There is a pub in probably every neighborhood, like we used to have corner grocery stores in the states. Here they have pubs within walking distance where the locals hang out for entertainment, socializing, eating and drinking. You don't have to walk far to hit one.
We had beautiful views of the River Great Ouse that ran right beside the restaurant.
I had a delicious pulled pork lasagna after appetizers of bread and olives.
I loved this shot of the moon's reflection and I also caught the train flying by in the background. You have to click on the picture to see it larger.
I was fortunate enough to sleep through the night on my first night, so I adjusted well to the time zone change. We are 5 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone.
