England 2023 LAX to Winchester

 Sitting here, contemplating our recent trip, I’m drinking a cup of milky Yorkshire Tea and thinking about how it’s been five years since we last headed over the pond to my husband’s homeland. Covid really changed things for everyone, but for us this meant a cancelled trip to England in 2020, trepidation about airports and flying in both 2021 and 2022 before finally 2023 being our year. I booked our tickets in August of ‘22 with a mix of excitement but also anxiety. I’m a nervous flyer. I hate airports and airplanes- I suffer them because I’m desperate to see Europe. At the age of 22 I had a pep talk with myself and told myself that if I didn’t put on my big girl panties and face that fear I would never go to the places I’d always dreamed about. I got on a plane to Ireland and that sealed the deal. I would do whatever I had to do to make myself get on planes and travel. Thankfully I met my aviation obsessed husband two months after that Ireland trip and he has become the calming voice of reason and the hand I squeeze with a death grip. 

One thing you can count on with plane travel is to expect that your well made plans may not come to fruition. Airlines apparently, can do whatever they want with no consequence. It’s baffling. We decided to fly out of our small local airport and I carefully planned our flights so we had just the right amount of time for our layover. I felt good about my choices, maybe a little too smug? United Airlines had other plans. 3 months after I booked our tickets I got an email from United letting me know they had cancelled our flight. They put us on the only other flight that would work with our itinerary which in turn gave us a 10 hour layover at LAX. This flight would land 5 hours before the check in desk for British Airways was even open. We were in for a long day. It’s worth noting here, because I know people are going to ask- yes, I wanted to cancel it and just drive down to LA. Long term parking at LAX was cheaper than the flights out of our small airport. Alas I was vetoed by the aforementioned aviation obsessed husband. He wanted to fly in and out of our local airport and that was that. And, spoiler alert- we had such a horrendous layover coming home that he now agrees with me- no more flying out of our local airport to LA, we’re just going drive next time.

Nothing like being at the airport before sunrise

So, what does one do with 10 hours at LAX- 5 of which are in the public area before you even enter security? Most people would have left the airport and just hung out somewhere in LA. What did we do? Just sit at LAX. We had to get up at 3am that morning and we were so tired and so out of it that the thought of trying to figure out what to do with our bags and ourselves for all of that time outside of the airport was just too much to handle. So we sat. And then wandered. Then sat again. The people watching was so great. I would love to have heard everyone’s stories. Some people had 8 bags piled on those airport carts clearly going on long journeys (or were just extreme overpackers!)

One of the saddest things we experienced during this trip happened during this layover at LAX. We were still in the public part of the international terminal having just grabbed breakfast. We grabbed the last 2 available seats against the wall and proceeded to tuck in to our food. To my right was a man sitting on the ground with a large suitcase, shoes off and a jacket sprawled out underneath him like a blanket. This is not such an unusual sight at a large airport. People do lots of things to make themselves comfortable. At first I thought nothing of it, but upon further inspection we realized that he was homeless and in a drug induced trance. Several emotions went through me in that moment. First I was nervous, then I felt guilty for feeling nervous, and finally I just felt sad for him. He was approached by airport security and asked to leave. He never even lifted his head or acknowledged that anyone was talking to him. They told him they would be back around in 5 minutes and if he wasn’t gone they would arrest him for trespassing. They never came back around and he just quietly sat there with his eye closed in his own world. We saw him again later when we had moved to a quieter part of the airport. He was walking laps with his large suitcase blending in with the crowd. It’s moments like those that remind us how fortunate we really are. Sometimes I need to be made aware of the fact that my “haves” are so much more than my “don’t haves’. 

The poor fellow. A reminder to be grateful for what we have

I don’t know how we managed to get through a 10 hour layover without losing our minds but we did it. In fact it wasn’t even that bad. Surprisingly security was a breeze, they didn’t even make us take our shoes off or separate our electronics from our bags and clothes. 

The only snafu that day was my hearing aids. I started losing my hearing in my late 20’s. I have a genetic disorder made worse by working in a very loud environment for the last 25 years. I finally got hearing aids late last year and this was the first time I’d be traveling since I got them. They are rechargeable and I’d had them in my ears since 3am. Thankfully I remembered to throw the charger in my carry on and not my checked  bags because at this point they were at 40%. There was no way they’d last the 10.5 hour flight to London. So there I was 15 minutes before boarding trying to find a plug so I could charge them as much as possible before our boarding group was called. I got them to 60%, turned them off for most of the flight and was able to use them for about an hour before they died in the knave of a cathedral. But that’s a story for later. Hats off to those who travel with disabilities visible and invisible- it’s another layer to an already challenging experience.

Let’s talk about the flight. This flight was miserable. I thought my last flight home from London was the worst (another story for another time) , but this flight takes the cake. Why? Because the man I had to sit next to for 10 hours was large, sweaty, and he snored, twitched and farted his way through the flight. AND he had the audacity to snicker to his friend when I was watching the George Michael documentary. I draw the line at making fun of George Michael, and farting. Mostly the farting. I did not sleep a wink on that flight because every time I started to nod off the sulphur factory next to me would twitch or let out a smell that would wake me immediately. I had to resort to pulling my shirt up over my nose, which was no small feat considering I was wearing a neck pillow. It’s absolute torture when you can’t crack a window and get some fresh air circulating. 

Needless to say when we landed at 11:40am London time I was tired and delirious. We were not in our best form. Prior to our trip we hit a lot of roadblocks that will come into the story in later installments but let’s just say that both of us were questioning whether we should have embarked on this particular journey. We had our doubts and I was starting to wonder if the universe was telling us to just stay home. Thankfully we got the big hurdles out of the way and only encountered minor hiccups. One of those hiccups turned out to be one of the brightest spots of the trip. 

Standing at the desk for Avis rental car we found ourselves faced with the prospect of an extra £1000 ($1200) that we did not bargain for. What started out as an exciting upgrade to a Mercedes turned into way more than we anticipated. Our “free” upgrade wasn’t really free and to top it off the man tried to convince us that our pre-paid car wasn’t paid for and was just “reserved”. Thank goodness I still insist on printing out all confirmations because I whipped out that paper so fast. We have done the package deal with British Airways several times by this point and I knew for a fact that the price of the car was included in our plane ticket. A few clicks of the keyboard later and magically we were told that, yes, we had indeed prepaid for the original car but the upgrade would be extra as well as a ridiculous price for the insurance. We told him we wanted our original deal which of course was now off the table cuz we were “locked in” to this upgrade. We stayed firm on our end and after a phone call we were given the free upgrade and a heavily discounted rate on the full coverage insurance (listen, even with a native driver we still hit bushes and curbs!) Et voila! We now had a glorious “free” Mercedes which proved to be a joy to operate and to be in. 

We were off on the road to our first destination for the day: Winchester, located in the County of Hampshire. Let me make a little aside here for the readers that have never been to the UK before. I’d like to take a moment to wax poetic about something called “Services”.  These rest stops exist on the motorway system as well as some of the A roads but not as grand in those cases. These Service areas are like a pumped up version of American rest stops. England said, “I’ll see your vending machines and raise you a restaurant, coffee shop and mini grocery store.” It’s like walking into a mall food court. I got ridiculously excited every time I saw a sign for “Services” cuz they’re all different (the best one we went to was the Welcome Break Oxford Services on the M40, so nice!)

Our first stop was the Moto Winchester M3 where I had the worst M&S sandwich that made me question my life choices. It was a Wensleydale and carrot chutney sandwich. Wensleydale is a lovely mild cheese but when paired with what turned out to be a sweet carrot chutney this cheese sandwich tasted like a sweet dessert. The flavor was fine but I was expecting something savory and I just couldn’t finish it. I should have just gotten the Greggs sausage roll I really wanted and started the trip off right. I’m not going to lie, our first 2 days in England were full of stress and not as enjoyable as they could have been. Winchester suffered from our jet lag and the general sense of being overwhelmed when you suddenly find yourself dropped back into the land of narrow streets, limited parking and looming buildings. We found ourselves not feeling entirely positive about Winchester, which truly was not the town’s fault. It’s a lovely place and I feel it’s best visited by train, leave your car at home if you can. 

We chose our hotel in Winchester based off of the fact that it had a car park. It helped that the hotel looked lovely but really it was the all important car park that made me hit the “book” button. In fact, I’ll just say it now- all of our hotels/airbnbs were booked because of their parking situation. 

The unfortunate thing for us was when we arrived to check in, the car park was full. So much for our carefully made plans. We parked illegally, checked in and then went on the hunt for a car park. 

Winchester Royal Hotel

One of the things I will say for England is most large towns have an abundance of 24 hour car parks. They’re not cheap but at least you have a place to park your car overnight, which is usually quite secure. The problem is it might be miles away from your destination. Okay, that’s an exaggeration but it felt like miles when we were walking the streets of Winchester dragging our luggage behind us. We located a car park about a half a mile from the hotel. This car park was attached to a shopping center and was pretty full. We found a spot and went in search of the pay station. On our way to find it we passed a unoccupied car that was still running, lights ablaze just waiting for someone to steal it. That’s the problem with these keyless cars with a push start- the person literally forgot to turn their car off. They just got out and walked off. That scene runs in my head every time I park my own car. I now have a keyless car with push start and I’m terrified that I will do the same!

Payment in that car park was an absolute mystery. We found the pay station but couldn’t for the life of our jet lagged selves figure out how to pay for overnight parking. Instead of trying to figure it out we immediately walked back to the car and went our merry way to just drive in circles. Winchester is full of one way streets and if you miss your turn you have to complete the loop to get back to your starting point. I think the only way we could defend the 5 loops we had to make was jet lag. We had very little sleep and our brains just couldn’t think critically. Somehow in our frustration we managed to find Colebrook Street Car Park. I’m here to tell you if you ever visit Winchester and you’re driving this is the place to park! It is right behind the Cathedral and so conveniently located. 

The crescendo of our parking farce was the absolute launching of the button of Daniel’s trousers. No sooner had he pulled into the last available space when it flew off his pants hitting the windshield. At first we had no idea what had happened and then proceeded to fall into fits of laughter, letting off all of the steam of that day. He did have to walk all of the way to our hotel holding his pants up but my goodness maybe things were starting to look up? Laughter is the best medicine.

The image of a man whose button has just ricocheted off the windshield. Note the cathedral looming over his shoulder 

Did we go immediately to our hotel? No we did not. With the cathedral practically breathing down our necks we went straight there. Daniel stayed outside to contemplate his wardrobe choices and I went in search of the tomb of my ancestor Henry of Blois. 

There is no place like a cathedral to help you find peace and to center you. One of the best experiences I have ever had was the choral evensong service at Canterbury Cathedral, it felt like a gentle hug. Those buildings may be vast but somehow they feel cozy. Being inside Winchester Cathedral after such a long day was balm for the soul. I walked the medieval tiles and explored the nooks and crannies. I marveled at the ceilings- a ceiling in a cathedral is never boring. I promise you, you’re in for a treat if you look up the next time you find yourself in a cathedral. It was at this point that my hearing aides gave one final cry of warning and proceeded to shut off. They were officially dead, leaving me back in a world of muffled sounds, and high pitched ringing. I’m not completely deaf without them but I have to really concentrate to be able to hear and when you throw in an accent or two I have to work overtime. My poor tired brain just wasn’t up for it. I knew it was time to leave the cathedral and make our way to the hotel.

Tomb of my 1st cousin 27xs removed. Henry of Blois Bishop of Winchester 

The glorious ceilings in the cathedral 

Original medieval floor tiles

Our hotel was a lovely old building in the center of town. I had booked (and paid extra mind you) for a room in the new annex with a garden view. What we got was a room in the original building, up several flights of creaking stairs with a view of the street and the bright red dumpster of the law offices across the street. Did I complain greatly to Daniel? Yes. Did I actually go down to the front desk and complain? No. I was far too tired to try to negotiate with the front desk and then grab all of our things to move rooms. Winchester Royal Hotel- 1, Leah-0. 

Cute entrance in the foyer of the hotel

Not the view we were supposed to have

How did I end our first official day in England? By finding myself wide awake at 3am. Thank you jet lag, this is going to be a great trip. 

Is that daylight? No its the light from the street lamps at 3am.