Traveling to our hotel in London on Scott's Birthday

We left Seattle on the 19th in the evening and arrived at Heathrow airport the "next" day. Poor Scott only got half a birthday as the day was half over. So after the attendants served us breakfast Steve and I gathered our gifts and with Stephanie we sang an off key version of Happy Birthday to him. He was truly surprised and loved the gifts. A book from Stephanie (which he finished on the plane ride home), a game for his 3DS and a storage case for it and the others he brought with him.

BritishAir was a dream to travel with! Totally recommend them! We all know that airports require lots of walking and patience in waiting in lines, but since I can't do that kind of walking/standing (all the fault of two surgeries on my foot which failed...not the doctor's fault either). So I was blessed with a wheelchair and an attendant. It made going through security and any other line a breeze as the attendant would push us through with skill and finesse. Even in London, we got through customs without any snags and the attendant stayed us until we bought our train tickets into London and on to our hotel which was south of the city next to the ExCell Center; this where the Dr Who Event took place.

I have to give kudos to Steve. He mastered the subway system quickly and even had both Stephanie and Scott figuring it out. With them on top of it, I just went along for the ride. Our first train ride quickly filled up with passengers and lots of oversized luggage. Ours were all sized to be carry-on, but between the 4 of us we had lots. Scott was a trooper as he ended up taking on my two bags along with his backpack (his choice instead of a traditional suitcase). Our route had us changing trains a couple of times, the first change was too much for me. According to the chart it looked like it should have been an easy change, but it was a long walk between the platforms. The 2nd change we thought would be much harder as the chart had us changing to a completely different line, but to our relief it was just a quick jaunt up the escalader and we were there. It was the walk to our hotel that finally did me in. Because everyone had luggage to deal with, I couldn't ask for help. It should have been a 5 minute walk, but my feet, back, hips and knees were complaining big time. Not once did anyone complain about it. They all knew that it was going to be hard for me, I just didn't realize how hard it truly was!

It was a very welcome relief to sit in comfy chairs while Steve dealt with the hotel staff.

A week before we left, Scott asked me if he was going to get a birthday cake. I told him that it all depended on where we had dinner and if the restaurant had cake on their dessert menu. He wasn't quite pleased by my response, but I really did not know how we could figure that out. It was two nights before we left when I stayed up really late and called the hotel and asked them if they could get a cake for us. After a few emails later it was confirmed.  The chef had agreed to make one.

Well, on our way to the room it was decided that the birthday boy should open the door and be the first one to enter. I loved his cheer of excitement when he saw his cake.