Drink up

I want to report to you about my experiences this first time traveling Premium Economy on Norwegian Air. But first I must let you know that we are traveling to London with my adult (22, so maybe adult-ish) daughter, Grace, who will remain in Oxford to study. We have not traveled as a trio in years, since the fateful trip to Venice, where Ron and Grace, working together, superglued a pair of sandals to the floor of our apartment and I instructed Grace that it was “just fine” to wander the streets of Venice during World Cup in a Bayern Munich…

(Grace’s Note: this was miscategorized above as a Barca jersey before I took over as guest editor, and considering the fact that whenever this fateful trip took place, Germany and Italy were at odds with regards to football, I think a Germany kit is way more traumatic than a Spanish one. I was actively booed in the streets. Mom, of course, in response to such a parenting failure, lagged behind so she would not be associated with me or the ire I drew from the Italians. I had insisted such a gesture might be unwelcome on the streets of Venice. She not only instructed me otherwise, she actually ordered me to wear the kit we had just spent money on. I have a lot of misplaced anger towards Bastian Schweinsteiger now because of her mistakes.)

…ok, fine, not a Barcelona jersey.

Six years later, we find ourselves together again and much has changed. I have a keener understanding of sports and I won’t let Ron and Grace purchase any glue. I don’t think they want glue anyways as they’ve moved on to alcohol. They started in the airport lounge, which is a nice perk of the Premium Economy ticket, with a Whiskey Sour (Grace) and a Kahlua and Cream. On the plane a mere two hours into the flight, I have seen at least three little bottles of vodka, one cognac, and two Bailey’s disappear into their seats and I may have missed something while I was in the bathroom.

Norwegian is awesome! These seats are wide and the leg room is endless. This is the most comfortable ride to Europe I have ever had. Look how far away the seat in front of me is!

We’ve got very little planned for Oxford. We’re staying in dorm rooms at Keble College, which has a dining room that the Harry Potter dining room is based on. Ron and I are touring the Bodleian library but Grace has opted out as I don’t think she trusts me on the loose in a European city. I asked Ron to plan some Oxford activities but he’s decided we’ll just wander around. I try to assign him one task on each trip but he famously shirks all responsibility, which is how I feel he skyrocketed so high into the hospital corporate management structure back in his working days. I also offered to let him plan our afternoon in London on the way home in July and he was similarly dismissive of me and offered the same “walking around” that really makes me wish I could have seen him in action at a board meeting. It was only my relentless research that uncovered my too-frequent timing discovery, to wit: our afternoon in London coincides with the arrival of one millionpeople coming in for the Pride Day parade. Do you think Grace would agree to wear the Bayern Munich jersey to that?