Back in Europe

Any pre-flight anxiety is gone now that we’ve landed in London. We left Chicago to dreary, fog and rain. London is bright clear skies. I feel a sense of childish excitement to be back in Europe. On the bus between terminals we saw an antique British car, 1930s or so, a little convertible. Then a stop light that went from red, red/yellow, green, something that could be useful in the U.S. even though few people drive manuals.

The flight out of London also had delays and security took about 15 minutes, which is still better than what they try making you believe on the news. The flight was once again late getting off the ground and arrived about on time. Baggage claim was the fun part for me as anticipated.
Every other time that I travel internationally they misplace one of my bags. Since I managed to go round trip to Wales last Spring without problems I was afraid something might happen. Sure enough they sent my smaller bag on the flight to Barcelona from London. There were several people on our flight with the connection, and they were in a rush to get them to the other plane since we landed late in London. Amongst the hurry they apparently grabbed my bag. After standing in the wrong line for 15 minutes, I got in the correct line and sorted things out. Supposedly my bag should arrive tomorrow at the hotel.

Mark, the American that was already here from UIUC meet us at the bus station and helped get us on a taxi to the hotel. He then meet up with us for a drink and dinner later in the evening. His help made the first evening a bit easier.