Royalty visits a new Country & Continent!

My Departing Flight Information

Me waiting for my flight to depart JFK

On Friday October 2nd, I boarded an American Airlines flight out of JFK airport here in New York City to fly to London, England in the United Kingdom. After months of planning & waiting, reality finally set in. I was going to Europe for the very first time. Despite mother nature doing her best to alter my plans, my flight that was scheduled to depart at 6:25PM got off to a slow start thanks to a cold nasty rainy day in the area. As a result, there was only one runway open for take offs & landings. The plane I was on sat on the runaway for about an hour before we finally got to take off.  The stress that was building up all day was finally relieved. London had called me numerous times in the past but this time I decided to finally answer the call. Since England is five hours ahead of us here in the Eastern Time zone I didn't land in a new country & continent until 6:55AM Saturday morning after the seven hour flight. We wound up coming in a half hour or so late. Given the circumstances, I wasn't complaining. However, I felt like I never left NYC. Before the plane was parked at the gate, people got out of their seats & opened overhead compartments. They were told to sit back down. I realized they had connecting flights to catch but safety has to come first no matter what. For a change, I could sit & relax. It was a great feeling. Once we finally got to the gate, we were able to get off the plane. I was tired since I didn't get much sleep on the flight but I was wide eyed & full of energy for the new experience that was awaiting me. 

 

Welcome to London England

UK Border

Passport Stamp

Me heading to Underground

I proceeded to go through customs in order to officially enter the country. There was a long line but it moved relatively fast all things considered. I was impressed with the system they had in place. Once I cleared customs, I picked up the bag I checked then it was off to the Tube aka the Underground which is their main mode of public transportation. After some trial & errors, I finally got headed in the right direction. I asked for help when I arrived at the train station. They had customer service agents there to assist so it was easy to get the help I needed. They were very friendly, patient & helpful. I came equipped with an Oyster Card thanks to my pal Sean MacDonald who let me borrow an extra one he had from his past travels there. I just needed  to check the balance which wound up being empty. With that being said, I went to a vending machine where I used my credit card so I could put 30 pounds on it to start. Pound is the currency they use there. For those Americans reading, a Pound is roughly a dollar fifty here in the States. After doing so, I proceeded to the Underground that took me toward my hotel in Central London. After a 20-30 minute train ride, I got off to transfer to a bus that took me within a short walk of my hotel, which was the Grantly Hotel that I had booked in the middle of August on Booking.com. Since it was only around 9:45AM when I arrived there, I wasn't able to check in because my room which I booked for six nights because it wasn't ready yet. As a result, I wound up leaving my bags there until I returned later that night.

Grantly Hotel in Central London

The friendly staff there guided me in the right direction after I got myself situated. They told me there was a HSBC bank nearby which enabled me to take out some money. It was on the way to the nearby Underground station called Shepherd's Bush. Across the street there was also an Overground ‎station which I needed to take in order to meet up with my pal Sean MacDonald.

Stay tuned for the next post which will go into further detail of how the rest of my Saturday unfolded.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is going to London, England in October!

On November 6, 2014, the NFL confirmed its 2015 International Series of games that will be played in London, England. The first one there was back on October 28, 2007 when the NY Giants played the Miami Dolphins. Since then, they've played an annual game there. The last few years they've added an extra game or two. Unfortunately they've played the games that coincided with the MLB League Championship Series and/or World Series here in the States. As a result, it was difficult decision for me to go there. This time around the Jets are playing the Miami Dolphins so when London called again, I decided I'm going regardless. Luckily for me, they're playing when the MLB season ends & the Division Series begins. With that being said, I was willing to sacrifice missing a minimal amount of baseball games in order to go there. The King on the other hand, refused to give in. In January, I requested the necessary time off from work which was approved. On May 14th, I booked my flight to go to London, England once & for all. It will be my very first time in Europe too. A new country & a new continent awaits me. Finally the United Kingdom is coming into focus as the month of October is fast approaching.

Here's the game plan:

Friday, October 2nd My flight on American Airlines that departs John F. Kennedy Airport at 6:20PM Eastern Time & it's scheduled to arrive in London, England at 6:20AM Saturday morning.

Upon arrival,  I hope to check into my hotel early. If not, I'll leave my bag with them. Once I do, the adventure will begin.

Saturday October 3rd Crystal Palace vs. West Brom 12:45PM Local Time EPL at Selhurst Park

                                    Chelsea vs. Southampton 5:30PM Local Time EPL at Stanford Bridge
                                                 
Sunday October 4th Jets at Dolphins 2:30PM Local Time at Wembley Stadium

Monday October 5th I plan to do some sightseeing.   

Tuesday October 6th I'm taking a train ride to Leicester. I plan to meet up with fellow road tripper Rob Campion who lives there. He plans to show me around the area. We are also going to see Rugby World Cup match as Canada plays against Romania at 4:45PM Local Time. We'll go out for dinner afterwards then I'll board a train back to London. 

Wednesday October 7th USA vs. South Africa 4:45PM Local Time Rugby World Cup

Thursday October 8th Bristol Flyers at London Lions 7:30PM Local Time British Basketball League 

Friday October 9th I fly back home. I leave London at 12:50PM Local Time. I land at JFK in New York at 3:50PM Eastern Time.
                                           
Please feel free to check back for all the details of how this journey turned out. It's going to be an once in a lifetime trip for me.

If you want to join and/or meet up with me while we're there, please let me know so I can arrange to make it happen.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman