Wednesday, October 28th.
I woke up at 2am and checked with the phone to see if any updates from my brother Chris, about my father’s condition, there were none. Then I got organized. When I went down to the lobby my ride was waiting and Chuck came down to say goodbye. That was really nice! I had been talking to him about my troubles back home and dad’s deteriorating condition and he had lent an attentive ear and offered some support which was very much appreciated. We got to the airport by 5:10 for my 7:45 flight to London. The Malta Airlines check in gate was not yet open so I checked my phone to find my ETA status. This is the new immigration document you need to enter Britain. I had applied and paid for one last year and it’s good for two years, so I was confident. I opened the app and entered my information and it stated there was no record of my details! Mild panic and not sure what was up; thoughts flashed through my mind, I’m going to miss my flight, my flight home is from London so I have to get there, have to tell Bruce, how will I get to the concert? Then I remembered I had booked the second night concert which is tomorrow for exactly this reason - what if there is some problem that delays my arrival to England… When the gate opened I went up to the business gate (AA bought me a business class ticket). The agent began putting luggage tags on my suitcase and then asked to see my ETA confirmation, my heart sank as I told him there was a problem, that it didn’t recognize me but I knew I had one. I then explained that I had had to get a new passport because it was damaged and I had a new one. We both realized at that point that that was the problem. He contacted his supervisor, took the tags off my bag, He was very nice and understanding but rules are rules. At that point I remembered that I had seen an approval notice from British immigration and found it in my email. I went back to the agent and showed it to him. He took photos of my ETA approval, the note in my passport that explains that I had changed it and why, gave me back my passport and asked me to wait ‘over there’. I waited a long time… a long long time… I asked where the washroom was and went and had the best bowel movement I had had since my tummy upset… when I returned he called me over and said that his supervisor had checked with Heathrow and that I could not board and fly to England without the passport matching. I asked why I could not fly to England get it sorted there… cannot do. He told me the only answer was to reapply! It was now 6:40, desk closes at 7!! I went outside and managed to get back into the ETA app, which had locked me out (because I said that my passport had a biometric chip and it didn’t and it wouldn’t let me return to the previous page or start over), but now thankfully had timed out and I could start again… so I fumbled around with the various screens for the APP, the email 2 step verification check, remember the 6 digit number, return to the APP, enter the 6 digits, my passport info page, enter my passport info, answer some questions, permanent address info, my credit card, the payment page… I finally got it sent and it replied that it could take up to 3 days for approval, OR it might take much less… I checked my email and surprise! It was there and approved!! Within 2 minutes! I rushed back inside to the agent (who was luckily the business agent and was not busy, the others were very busy), with literally 5 minutes to spare and showed him, he smiled, checked the email to see if it jived, put the tags on the luggage, gave me my boarding pass and pointed the way… raced to security, thankfully quick, then to passport control again quick and then to the gate where they were boarding… I had business class so I boarded straight away, boarded the bus, which only took business passengers, boarded the plane and got my seat, yahoo! Then a guy wanted to switch seats with me so that he and his wife could sit together, no problem, so I had an aisle seat, now have a window seat on the other side of the plane. Business is not luxurious but it does mean the middle seat of three is empty so, all good, room to work on the computer. Now to see if my bag makes it…. I settled in and tried to relax… after take off the attendant came around with the menu and I got a full meal with a drink. I ordered a beer! At 8am. Check the photo for the meal. Obviously my travel angel is still looking after me, Denise and John would have loved this story… missed them and thought of them a lot on this trip.
I had a good flight to England in my business class seat with a full meal provided. We landed about 45 minutes late and it took a long time for the baggage to come onto the carousel, but my bag did show up! I contacted Bruce and then took the Queen Elizabeth Line to Canary Wharf. It’s a 30 minute train ride and on the way I got to thinking about Steven Wilson’s opening night tonight and wondering if there were any tickets available… and there were, so I snagged one in the eighth row on the floor level. Glutton for punishment, but I thought he is only playing this concert twice total and it will not be released as a DVD so why not go see it both times while I am here. Bruce met me at the Canary Wharf station and we walked to his condo. We talked for a bit about stuff and then I told him about the bad (dad), the near disaster (the ETA visa) and the great (attending both Steven Wilson concerts).
At some point I couldn’t find my passport and wallet and began searching my pockets, suitcase and backpack and then the condo. Bruce and Pam picked up on my rising state of alarm and began looking too. Panic spread and we retraced our steps and each others steps for at least 20 minutes. Thoughts going through my head: lost on train; stuck in England; and Canada will never issue me another passport… finally I realized it had to be in the condo and thought for a second where I had sat first and went to look at the two stairs leading to their balcony where I sat when I first came in, and low and behold there it was on the back of the coffee table behind some family photos! We had all looked at that spot but had not seen it. Problem solved and after the 23 days of this trip and having lost nothing, I didn’t have to confess to anyone that I’d lost everything!!
Bruce and I tried to work out how to get the Uber app to work on my phone, by turning off airplane mode and turning data roaming on, but I couldn’t figure it out. Bruce made us a nice pasta dish and then walked me to the train to go to Royal Albert Hall. Unfortunately, when I got off the train to catch an Underground connection, the stations were locked up and there were police, fire trucks and ambulances on the street. I had no idea what to do. I asked people and couldn’t follow what they were trying to tell me. I couldn’t get the Uber app to work. Last option was a London black cab. I struggled to get one for a half hour, because of the chaos they were busy too. I was almost going to give up when I finally got one. The driver was great and managed to get me to the venue a half hour before the start. I found my seat in section A row 8 seat 10 on the Arena (floor section). Great sight lines and I could see everything clearly. The first half was an hour with just the band playing some old and some brand new Steven Wilson material and then they took a break. The second half the band plus the orchestra and choir took their places and they played the the Overview album in its entirety. It was fully and newly imagined. Originally it was about 42 minutes, but for this performance it was expanded to almost a full hour. Most of it worked really well but I thought it got a bit too much as times. However, the show was amazing, the venue awesome as I expected and the money and effort to get here worth every cent. Now I get to do it again tomorrow from a different view point. I managed to catch a London black cab back again, two very expensive cab rides.
