Tom in Salisbury, England

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Tom is participating in the Mayor Making of Mayor Elect Penny Brown in Salisbury, England, UK.

At 0830 (London Time), they turned on the cabin lights and served an excellent breakfast of sausage, omelet, and fruit, accompanied by a few cups of Earl Grey Tea. At 0930, we entered the Heathrow traffic pattern early enough to earn a 15 minute spin in a holding pattern. We touched down at 1000 and taxied to Terminal 1. After deplaning, we had a lengthy walk to passport control which I entered at 1028. 10 minutes later, I walked to Baggage Claim. The baggage carousel #1 was broken, but I found my large checked bag quite easily. With nothing to declare, I walked straight out to the departure area where I was met by Annie (not Tony). We took my bags, on the weird trolley, to the garage and claimed her car. For the next two hours, Annie piloted the roads of England to Salisbury. We talked about roads, miles, kilometers, yards, sports, government, defense, politics, religion and history. She was delightful! Soon after checking in at The White Hart Hotel, the desk called to inform me that Penny Brown was in the lobby. We had a lovely visit for about an hour, and I feel I have known her all my life. I returned to the room and had a jetlag-recovery nap. At 1900, I went down to Squires Restaurant, in the hotel. They had a Prix Fix menu of £18 for a three course dinner. I started with a Chicken Liver Parfait with toasted brioche, mixed salad greens and a red onion chutney, which was excellent. I moved on to Grilled fillet of Plaice, with capers, crushed new potatoes, and vegetables cooked the way I like them: hot and crisp. I had two 250ml glasses of Drostdy-Hof Chenin Blanc, Western Cape South Africa (£8@). I finished with a Bakewell Tart with Clotted Cream. The bill, for which I had to wait was £34. There was no place on the bill to add the gratuity. When I questioned it, I was told, by the restaurant manager, that a tip added to the bill will be absorbed by the hotel and will not reach the server. Therefore, I handed £10 to the server. After dinner, I visited in the bar, where 3 patrons were watching soccer on BBC3. I told the bartender I will return later in the week. I returned to the room and found an NCIS rerun on TV5.

Breakfast Cloud Deck LHR-Approach LHR

Salisbury Inbound with the Cathedral Spire The Guildhall Annie Salisbury

Squires Bread Chicken Liver Parfait Plaice Bakewell Tart Lounge Bar