Are we there yet?

We were out the door by 7am, walked 5 minutes to "The Smart", then drove 25 minutes to Follonica. We were on the train at exactly 8:10am, then switched to the Pisa Airport People Mover and arrived at the Pisa Airport at 10:58am. Before we reached the gate, I spotted this machine. You can buy Legos! I thought it was cool. 

Lego Vending Machine in Pisa Airport

I couldn't check in online, so the gate agent helped me check in manually. After security we grabbed a panini and headed to our gate, which was packed with people due to flight delays. We eventually got seats, but soon noticed the gate was empty--a bad sign. Sure enough our gate had changed, so we joined the line at the new one. When we finally got on the jetway, we were surprised to see a bus waiting to take us to the plane. The bus ride was a bit of a bonus, allowing smaller groups to board at a time, which actually made the boarding process smoother. We left only about 20 minutes late and arrived at the Stansted around 3:30pm.

Passport Control can be a hit or miss with me; our theory is that my 8-year-old passport struggles with newer scanning tech. Hopefully, that issue will be resolved since I need to apply for a newer passport anyway for the Italian visa.

Now we started thinking through our options to get to Dorothy and Allen's condo, where we'd be staying. We were exhausted, so Ira suggested we find transportation to get us closer and then take an Uber the rest of the way. I thought that was a good idea, especially since the Google directions were daunting. 


A very helpful lady just outside Customs sold us two tickets for the National Express Coach to Liverpool Street. By this time, Dorothy was texting me from Nottingham, trying to help. Since they wouldn't be back until around 9:00pm we planned to get ourselves there, let ourselves in, and relax until they arrived.

The coach was really comfortable, even equipped with USB charging stations at every seat. Ira stepped outside and tried to quickly grab his cable from his backpack, but the zipper jammed, so he cam back empty-handed. Unfortunately, this became a bigger issue when the driver announced a detour due to a major accident. The detour added quite a bit of time, and we didn't reach Liverpool Street Station until 6:30pm, by which point we were starving--and both our phones were nearly dead. After wandering around a few blocks, we finally grabbed a quick sandwich and soup but of course, there were no plugs available. So we ordered our Uber and crossed our fingers Ira's phone would last long enough to get us there!

What we didn't know is that cars can't access Liverpool street until after 7:00pm, so our Uber driver took longer than expected to reach us. Once she did, though, she got us to the condo in about 35 minutes. We arrived around 8pm, just in time to find our room and get settled before before Dorothy and Allen arrived about 15 minutes early. We had a nice visit over cocktails  and snacks, then turned in for the night. Lots to see in the morning!

View of the Thames from Dorothy and Allen's flat

A dopo--or maybe I should say 'Cheerio' while we're in London.

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