From Greenwich Meridian to International Date Line.

Our travel arrangements from hotel to ship all went to plan. Our chauffeur introduced himself as Nikolai and due to the fact that he must have been trained by the KGB in fast, evasive driving, got us to the terminal somewhat quicker than advertised.  Being on the Elite loyalty level, we were whisked through checkin and security and were on board having lunch before 1pm. Sailaway was delayed by some three hours as not all the stores had arrived and loaded. Like there isn't already enough food to last a few days, but maybe it was the Captain's favourite chianti order. Talking of the captain (he's Italian, hence the chianti joke), we have seen him around the ship a couple of times already and going by his talks and broadcasts, he's quite a character. The sea is reasonably calm, there is a lot of high, white cloud and the temperature is 15C. We're now on a four day stretch of sea days so unless something special or untoward happens, the next posting will follow in a few...

Our flight to Los Angeles left London mid afternoon which meant that the 10+ hour flight took place entirely during daylight hours. Our routing took us over Scotland, just south of Iceland, across the southern tip of Greenland, across Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Montana and in to Los Angeles international airport. There were some cloudless areas where the frozen wastes and pack ice below looked stunning from 40,000 feet....all very well from the comfort of an aeroplane seat, but inhospitable at ground level. The snow covered ground stretched well into the North American continent and it was not until we were overhead the rolling plains of southern Saskatchewan that earthy tones of green and brown became much more prominent and signs of human activity were visible. We also had great views of the city of Los Angeles as we approached the airport. Upon arrival we discovered that the immigration process was now "electronic", so we went to one of the kiosks and followed the instructions....

Thankfully all our travel arrangements to London went according to plan and we had plenty of time to do a few things around the city. As I alluded to earlier, our journey is commencing at the Greenwich Meridian. The photos attached show the line denoting 0 degrees longitude although it's not quite in agreement with GPS technology. The actual line goes through the bin store but according to the experts, it was a pretty good calculation for 19th century instrumentation. We managed to squeeze in a bit of shopping and sightseeing...London didn't seem to be too busy, which is always a bonus. Being the day before the originally stated Brexit date and with all the goings on in the corridors of power a quick wander down to Parliament Square was called for, just to see if there was anybody famous coming or going. A couple of camera crews were by the gates at Downing Street but all we saw was a non-descript woman in a nice red coat exiting Number 10. We pondered that she might hav...

March 29 and it's time to leave. After much discussion and planning we're saying goodbye to our neighbours and friends here in Europe, the necessary agreements have been sought and approved, all the paperwork is in place, and we've stocked up on medications, supplies and snacks for the journey. But enough about Brexit....we are heading westwards, initially to the USA and then beyond, eventually crossing both the International Date Line and the Equator before returning home. Hopefully the aforementioned B word won't cause too many queues or delays at Heathrow when we fly out to Los Angeles prior to boarding the Star Princess (although I have to say that the extended exit date will help). It could be a different matter getting back into the country later though. As the trip takes us half way around the world, I thought it would be an idea to mark the distance officially by beginning the trip (and my narrative) from the Greenwich Meridian, at 0 degrees longitude. I kn...