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STANSTED AIRPORT HOTEL
I arrived in London at 7:25 a.m. (England is an hour behind Germany), and my Eos flight would not depart until 4 p.m. What would I do for nine hours? Instead of hanging out at the airport or schlepping my bags, I walked with a free luggage cart (which most international airports provide -- but usually not in the U.S.) two minutes from the airport to the SAS Radisson Hotel. Eos provides its passengers with free showers or discounts for rooms there. Normal rates are £99 ($185) a night, £65 ($122) for 6 hours and £45 ($85) for a 4-hour day room. The 500-room hotel is very chic, especially for an airport. Rooms are decorated in three styles: "Ocean," "Chili" or "Urban." My "Urban" room featured sensual red furniture and dark wood. My favorite part was the bathroom, with oversized fluffy towels, scented liquid soaps and a heated floor that made my cold bare feet warm and cozy. The hotel lobby is open, with views of the four individually designed restaurants -- including the Wine Tower Bar in the center, with a wine tower similar to Aureole in Las Vegas. You can see waitresses "fly" up the tower when someone orders a bottle. Filini offers a fantastic breakfast buffet, which turned out not to be cheap. £12.95 sounded reasonable at the time – but I was tired, and forget to convert pounds to US dollars. When I snapped out of it I realized I had spent $24 for a buffet. Ouch! At least it was fantastic, and the hotel has an extensive health and fitness club to work it off. Radisson SAS Hotel London Stansted Airport, Waltham Close, London Stansted Airport, Essex, England; tel.: 44-(0)-1279-66-1012.

STANSTED EXPRESS
After checking my email (wireless internet is free at the hotel) I decided to explore. The concierge said there was nothing within walking distance to see. He suggested I walk back to the airport and take the Stansted Express to either central London (47 minutes away) or to Bishops Stortford (eight minutes). I didn’t feel like going all the way to London, so I jumped on one of the trains (they depart every 15 minutes). A same day roundtrip fare to Bishops Stortford was only £3.65 ($6.87). Be sure to get the same day round trip, because a one-way ticket costs just as much.

BISHOPS STORTFORD
The town of Bishops Stortford took its funny name from the ford over the river, now known as the Stort. Archaeological evidence suggests the Romans had several roads across the area. When you arrive at Bishops Stortford, use the bridge and cross over the tracks to the other side. Don’t make the same mistake I did, which is to just walk outside onto the street and take a long, depressing walk into town. The other route -- which I discovered on the way back -- is an easy and lovely two-minute stroll. The town is charming, with thatched cottages, parish churches, village greens and forests. There are plenty of shops and grocery stores -- even a tourist center near a historic church. It was a fun two-hour side trip. It could have lasted longer had I bought one of the tourist center’s walking guides (£3 = $5.65), with info on pub strolls and jaunts to waterside walks and rambles.

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