Now, the UK and lots of Europe had been experiencing flight cancellation issues these past few days due to flights being scheduled and the airlines 1) overbooking and 2) Pilot and Attendant staffing issues but I had not seen any news mentioning issues with flights to North America so I thought it would be ok. Oh how wrong I was. When I went to the website and tried to reschedule my flights and could not. Then I tried calling and I was on hold for 45 minutes and was disconnected. I went back to the website and this time I was able to reschedule for tomorrow, Friday but I could not get seats so back on the phone I went and after another hour on hold, I was able to get seat assignments, I had been worried about getting a seat assignment because with the flight being canceled and the chance of overbooking I did not want to risk not getting a seat and having to stay again. Once that was done and I was calm I went down to the hotel desk and was able to extend my stay for one night and reschedule my taxi for the next morning.
Having taken care of the travel arrangements, I headed out wander up another close and did some scotch window shopping.
After coffee and a croissant I headed to the National Portrait Gallery on the other side of the city. I decided to go there because during my stay with Mike and Elisa we watched the show Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year - 2022 and the winner was awarded a commission which was now hanging there. The building was the best part of the visit as it is a massive red brick building built in 1889 in the neo-gothic style; if you like architecture it is well worth the visit. I saw the commission which was in the main hall and was rather disappointed as it looked flat and not a vibrant as what was shown on the show; I think it was how it was lit. Then moved on through library and the galleries and I came to the conclusion that many of the Scottish Royals and the Clan Chiefs were very ugly (see picture of the child below).
I was getting tired, having been up so early, so back to my room I went for a rest and shower.
I went down the street for dinner and treated myself to a ginger beer, haggis and cheese plate.
Time to get to bed for my flight tomorrow - I HOPE