The Queen Mary 2 TransAtlantic adventure started yesterday with the flight from Charleston to London Gatwick on US Airways.  One of the benefits of the airlines downsizing their flight numbers is that they are just about working within capacity.  In spite of some weather, the flights - full - were loaded and took off on time.  We had to wait in Charlotte for about 30 minutes to take off, as there were 15 planes in front of us - caused by reducing visibility and scheduling too many departures at the same time.

This was my first time to Gatwick and the entering process went without a hitch - worked even better since my bags were some of the first to arrive on the carousal and the early arrival room I had requested at the Gatwick Hilton was ready!

This afternoon, I decided to head to Harrod's - perhaps the best department store in the world (or at least in this part of the woods).  To get there, I bought a package ticket which included the Gatwick Express train from Gatwick to Victoria Station (30 Minutes) and unlimited Underground usage.  Harrod's is a must for any visit to London - it's even better now since it's all decked out for Christmas, and, given the crowds, people are buying - but many may be tourists given the variety of languages spoken in checkout lines.  Pricing in the UK is very expensive even if you equate dollars to pounds at 1:1 (the current exchange rate is about $1.54 to 1 pound - one of the benefits of our current financial crisis).   For the watch, Waterford, LLaddro etc shoppers, the Caribbean is a much better deal.

Have a wonderful day!