30-Mar-08 Arriving in UK

.....and then I arrived at London Heathrow airport the next morning. As you arrive, there is a LONG walk from the gate to the customs hall. You fill out a landing card with why you are there, show your passport, declare anything special you have brought from the US. You queue (line up) according to EU (European Union) vs. non-EU (includes US) passports. After getting through that, you claim your luggage and out you go to the terminal.

I had a rental car that I caught a shuttle bus to get to the Avis rental lot, only a few minutes from there. The initial thing you realize is that you are riding on the left side of the road. I've been to the UK many times before so I'm rather used to it. Once I had completed the car rental, off I drove toward Bournemouth. But getting out of the airport and on the way along the motorways (highways) is a bit confusing. You have to keep an idea of what next major city, as the signposts are less about roads/directions, and more about about the next city in that direction. If you are on the motorway, it is a blue sign with M#...such as M4 or M32 or M5.

The drive to Bournemouth was fairly quiet, not too much traffic as we had arrived on a Sunday. When I arrived in Bournemouth 1 1/2 hours later, it was nice to be able to get out of the car. Since I had been in Bournemouth a few weeks earlier, I felt much more comfortable getting around. But the first time was nerve-wracking. The streets are curvy, change names constantly, and don't follow logically.

Checked into a hotel and took some walks through the town and along the beach. Bournemouth is a town of about 164,000, located on England's Southern Coast. It is along the English Channel, just across to the south is France, specifically the Normandy region.