A Quick Trip to the UK

My trip to London is already over. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and I'm already snug in the Sofitel at Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

That's not my usual standard for travel, I realize. But 1) this is a work trip and 2) I got it on Priceline so work didn't even have to pay that much for me.

I aimed for this hotel by bidding for 5 stars at Heathrow—it's the only hotel at that level, and I wanted this particular hotel because I wanted to be able to stumble to Terminal 5 at 6:30 AM tomorrow rather than catch a bus from some other hotel. I didn't get it on my first try, so I waited 24 hours, upped my bid from $125 to $137, and got it.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I had typed 4 stars and Kensington into Priceline and ended up at an all right Hilton. Nothing special, but I've definitely stayed in worse in London. This is a tough city for decent hotels.

I put away my luggage in my room on Wednesday, then raced over to the British Library to see the original scroll manuscript of On the Road. This is madness—120 feet of single-spaced prose.

I wasn't allowed to take photos of the scroll.

I headed to a Christmas market and stumbled over the big Ferris wheel by Waterloo.

And on Thursday, I went to an all-day meeting in Bristol for work. Mr. and Mrs. Fixit and I went to dinner back in London, and then today, I met my friend Peter Moore for a stroll about town before heading to the airport.

This was a whirlwind trip, but we got a lot done in the meeting. And I got to see Mr. Fixit and Peter, so that worked out just dandy.

Off to Barcelona in the morning.