Well I made it! I’m back in the UK. My first issue was getting to Logan Airport in Boston. My college room mate, Mike, came over Saturday to see me off and dropped me at the Hartford CT bus terminal a little before 11 for the 2 hour ride on Sunday. My flight won’t be until 9:20 PM. No big deal for me as I spent my day reading Agincourt by a fave, Bernard Cornwell, so I really didn’t mind the idea of sitting in the airport reading. Well, I was shocked as I never taken this trip with a full bus and the first seat was 3 buses later on the 4 PM which is now getting a little tighter. And traffic stoppages added 45 minutes to the trip. But I still had nearly 4 hours before my flight when I got to the Norwegian Air desk and boarding started in about 20 minutes.
The Norwegian flight was only $335 one-way including meals, checked bag & seat reserve. If I had only checked my bag I would have saved about $40 and since I didn’t care where I sat and the meal was noticeably a non-event that’s what I’ll do next time. But the plane was a 787 and the fight was barely 5 hours direct at 40,000′. Most of their flights from Boston stop in Oslo or Copenhagen and I had considering flying to either of those to start but I think it will still be pretty cold in either place and they were both 10 degrees colder than London and will be for the week.
I had never seen UK immigration with so many people in the queue and it was a full hour before I had the opportunity to sit in the dock whilst the pleasant Border Agent asked a few question, took my passport and handed me a receipt noting she had suspended my right to enter and left to discuss me with someone . For those who are new to my blog or don’t remember my December arrival, I have been flagged and so today’s question was: ” Have you ever experienced any issues with Border Agency in the past?” To which I said, “Yes.” And then explained I had applied for an Ancestry Visa due to my Grand being from Liverpool. I had emailed UK Immigration twice and phoned twice with questions and was told to check off “General” and fill out a comment area. Just to be clear, the only people who can get an Ancestry Visa to the UK are those whose parents or grandparents were born in the UK and lived in a Commonwealth country. Apparently the US left the Commonwealth a little too soon. So aside from then being out the non-refundable £600 (at the time about $750), I was now flagged as someone who might just have thoughts of overstaying my welcome. Here is the rule as I understand it: With a US passport and the approval of Her Majesties Government, I can stay for a maximum of 180 days out of 365. Unlike the EU which is a 90 in max, 90 day out before return, the UK is just concerned with the total number of days. I checked and have used up 35 days out of the 180 this year. My clock restarts December 14. 2017. With this being my 9th visit to the UK, I obviously do not want to jeopardize my future chances to visit snd therefore will keep a close eye on how many day.
I ended the last trip in the British Science Museum. The feet hurt so badly that I only saw the first floor. I’ll go there Monday afternoon unless it’s warm & sunny which will send me to Kew Gardens again. And since I’m at the Boka Hotel once more where my room will have a kitchenette so tomorrow I’ll share my grocery shopping.
And I’ve been asked to post more pictures so I’ll try and keep that in mind, but not today. Too tired.
By the way, Agincourt was good as most of what Cornwell writes. I left it on the plane for someone else to read. Can there be anything more useless in a weight conscious backpack than a book already read?
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