The Aer Lingus Experiment​

I'm declaring it a success for the following reasons:
1) Fare to London from Hartford is really not much more than from Boston
2) Bradley Airport (Hartford) is significantly closer than Logan (Boston) to my house
3) Convinced an OAP to give me rides to/from Bradley, saving cost of parking in the MassPort Framingham lot and Logan Express bus fare
4) Here's where it really gets good: Going through immigration/passport control in Dublin at 4:30 in the morning was quick and easy. No landing card to fill out and no queue to speak of. Landed at Heathrow as an EU flight into Terminal 2. No passport check whatsoever. Just got my luggage at baggage reclaim and went on my way.

The only downside was that I only got two hours of sleep on the flight before waking up to the announcement that we would soon be landing in Dublin. Consequently, I've been even more dazed and confused on arrival day than usual, but I managed it by sticking close to familiar territory.

I arrived at my AirB&B (which is lovely and comfortable) by 11 am, unpacked, took a shower and was out the door by 12:30. I'm staying 3 short blocks from Roger's old flat. I headed up the Harrow Road to Ha'Penny Steps, crossed the canal and cut through Meanwhile Gardens (the site of my yarnbombing a few years back), then down through Golborne Road and Portobello Road markets. A bus ride took me to Bayswater where I got my UK sim card at the EE store. From there, I walked through Kensington Gardens under sunny, blue skies (though it had rained when I was eyeing the street food at Acklam Road) to the Serpentine Gallery. Friends David and Janie got there seconds after me and we queued for Grayson Perry's Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! Lots of great recent stuff to see -- ceramics, tapestries, gigantic wood cut prints, sculptures made of assorted bits and bobs, a bicycle and a motorcycle -- all witty, satirical, biting and astute social commentary. Judging from the number of people and the enjoyment they exuded, I'd say the exhibition lives up to its name.

After, I took a quick look in the Serpentine Sackler, but I was really too knackered to take it in, so I walked north (in real rain at that point) out of Hyde Park, back to Bayswater, onto two buses that took forever to arrive, and to the Coop in the Harrow Road to buy something for me evening meal. I'm going to force myself to stay awake until 10 pm so I can get a good night sleep and awake fully on GMT, or BST, or whatever time it is here.

Stats:
20 pounds to top up Oyster
15 pounds for sim card and 30 day package
2 pounds for Portuguese custard tart
65p for water
1 pound 50 for Grayson Perry postcards
20p to use the loo in Kensington Gardens
12 pounds 50 for various groceries

18489 steps
7.61 miles