London-Gatwick - Day One

May 13, 2014

We flew out of Copenhagen on Tuesday morning arriving at the London-Gatwick airport shortly before lunch.  We were staying at a Premiere Inn close to the airport and K had told us it was "just across the road" from the airport.  Directly across the road, my ass!

I got some general directions from the customs officer but K was certain she knew where it was. Unfortunately the airport has increased in size since she was there last and the door she remembered no longer existed.  So after a good 30-45 minutes of walking in various directions, lugging bags and carry-ons through parkades, around buildings, past garbage bins, we finally found the right sidewalk and found the hotel.  By the time we checked in I was....a little cranky!

But after check-in and dropping our stuff off, I was ready for more adventure.  We headed back to the airport...a 10 minute walk now that we knew where we going!  We decided to take a bus to Crawley, a small town near by.  The goal was to find a local pub for a fish and chip lunch!

Well, we found a pub, one of a chain of Wetherspoon pubs, but no fish and chips as they had sold out!

I cannot imagine how old this hotel would be, but it looked in a bit of disrepair.

I spotted this sign for Ebergreens and had to follow the path. My father's name was Eber, an uncommon name.

We wandered this little narrow street, with shops on either side
and came out into a courtyard in front of a church.

We wandered about the graveyard, reading the headstones.  Some of them were illegible but many dates back until the mid-late 1800's.

On our way back through the town, we made a stop at the Post Office to purchase stamps for our postcards and then at the £ Store, where everything costs a pound (about $1.80 Cdn).  We bought some candy treats and wandered through the store.

This box caught my eye, but I didn't purchase it...I can't remember the last time I was at a fancy dress party!


Back at the airport we stopped for dinner at a Giraffe restaurant (no live giraffes and no fish and chips either).  Then it was back to the hotel for an good night's sleep because the next day we were "going to London to see the Queen!"

Tomorrow - London