30 March 2008

Post #56:  Malta to London

30 March 2008

Post: Malta-London

Today, we were up at 5 AM to leave for London. Note: it was actually 4 AM because it happens to be Daylight Savings Time in Malta...so we lost a much-needed hour of rest. DeDe didn't rest at all. Since she had gone out on the town on her last night in Malta, she didn't have as much time as she needed to finish all the packing.

Packing for six children can be a bit of a cognitive challenge. Having to pack for two nights in London, and for the flight overseas makes it even more complicated. We've said for a long time that if parenting doesn't improve your prayer life, nothing will and so we'll add that these tasks are not undertaken without much continuous prayer.

It was no small miracle, we were able to get out the door of the flat by 6:30! The driver, Amadeaux, the same man who picked us up when we first arrived, came to the door promptly at 5:59, and it took about thirty minutes to get the 12 bags and two boxes (of school materials, and Dave's books) packed neatly in the back of the shuttle van, and for DeDe to finish the last look-around, to make sure nothing was left behind.

We flew Air Malta to London, and arrived as scheduled. Note: we snapped a photo or our successful use of the escalator. Having left the stroller in the trash, as it got moldy in the closet of the flat, we didn't have that to contend with this time, and Nathan has learned to manage the moving steps just fine. Thought we'd better document this advancement in travel skills.

Once we got down to the exit area of the airport at Gatwick, we realized we had a problem to solve. We expected, ahead of time, that we'd not be able to move our luggage to the hotel, so Dave had called Northwest airlines to ask about storing some bigger luggage at the airport. They said, yes, that would be okay. What they did not say is that storage comes at a cost of 6.50 euros per bag per day. That's around 10 dollars each! You do the math; not a real ideal use of our dwindling financial resources.

We debated our options, even prayed an angel would appear with an easy, cheap solution, while the kids played around the immense pile of luggage that was sitting in the center of an open area. After much consideration, we found we really had no other options, so we towed everything down to the storage place, and handed over the credit card. Ouch.

Finally, we headed out of the airport to the train terminal. We are blessed to have Nichole along, who has been here before, and she has been a wonderful tour guide, taking us on the appropriate trains and tubes. We did have one snag on the route to the hotel. There was a leg of track under construction, so we had to, at one station, get off and go up to street level, hop on the train replacement bus, (our fare on the train covers the cost) and we took that bus as far up the line as it would take us.
At first, we didn't realize that the train would then be in order there, so we thought we would call the hotel shuttle. The pay phone at the bus stop was out of order, but a woman who was walking into the church that was near there, offered us use of her mobile, when we asked if we might use a phone in the church. She later offered the church van to get us to the hotel, but by then Dave had learned the the train from there would get us to Brent Cross.

 At Brent Cross Station, there were a few other hotel customers waiting for the shuttle, so DeDe, Rachel and Bobby went ahead of the rest of the group. We checked in and had a nice chat with Sirin, a kind young Turkish gent, who was the hotel desk clerk. He wants to come to America someday. He said he especially wanted to go to Miami and Los Angelos. He has friends in both of those places, and they're always begging him to come. He said he just recently applied for a job at the Trump Hotel in New York City. He laughed and said, “I just thought I'd give it a shot.”

He has been in London only a couple years. He said he's going back to Turkey soon, and he isn't sure he'll come back here. London is way too expensive. He also said he thought most Americans seem warm and that Londoners are not warm. He said, you can't really find many Brits in London. They live outside of the city. Everyone here is from somewhere else. He was very funny.

DeDe told him that he might not find all New Yorkers warm either. She shared that we have a standing joke that when we want to act real pushy and demanding, we say we acted like we were from New York! She told him he'd find the people from Wisconsin warm, but the weather will be cold!

He was very helpful with suggestions for things to do with six kids in London. He gave us a number of street maps and schedules for various exhibits. And by this time, the rest of the group arrived. We went up to the room, and later called the desk to ask about pizza delivery options. He made some suggestions, and we ended up ordering from a place that offered a combination deal that included potato wedges, salad, and sodas.

While waiting for the food, we got kids bathed and ready for bed. They ate and watched a couple cartoons on television, and then we were all off to sleep.

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