ENGLAND - London Bound

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We answered our wake up call at 4:00am and quickly got ready. Breakfast was mini wheat cereal with milk we bought yesterday in a plastic cup and using a knife as a spoon. Our cabbie collected us and on the way to the airport showed us highlights of the lit city. We didn’t take too much in because we were really tired and looking forward to getting on the plane. Egypt had been quite an experience. There was an accident on the way and we feared we’d miss our flight and never leave but it wasn’t that long of a wait and we arriving at the airport at 5:00am. At the airport Ev bought an Egyptian shirt and at another store we found some beautiful big Egyptian mugs with Tutenkahman on them. Our next post office trip is going to be very expensive. We boarded the plane and there was no airconditioning circulating until the engines were turned on. It was really hot. We’ve decided that our next trip will be more of a holiday and less of a culture shock experience, but that’ll probably change tomorrow. The in flight entertainment was very good. Dan watched The Simpsons, Clash of the Titans, and Wolf Man but missed the ending. Ev watched The Simpsons and She’s Out of My League and listened to Kings of Leon. Our flight to London was only five hours and we were served second breakfast: a full English breakfast.

At the Heathrow Airport Dan saw Bob Willis (cricketer). We stopped into a store to buy water (our other bottle was confiscated at Cairo) then asked for directions for the best transport method to get to the city. We paid for one way tickets via the tube. We got off at the first stop, then realised it was the wrong one so quickly ran back to the train at a different cart. A video of London was playing on the train which helped to orient us a little better. We left the train at the last stop in Paddington Station, then quickly realised we’d left one of our shopping bags with our Egyptian mugs on the first cart we were in. We searched the entire train and couldn’t find it. We got off the train and in a last minute attempt headed to the back of the train again and saw our ticket inspector. Dan ran to him and luckily our bag had been handed in. So far we haven’t lost anything.

We hailed a cab to the Kensington Forum Hotel (Holiday Inn) near the Kensington Garden. Our taxi was a traditional high top black taxi. Inside the seats are pushed back to the boot of the car so there is plenty of room to fit your luggage at your feet, or fit a wheelchair inside. As we crossed the River Thames to our hotel, we took in the sights of the gardens and appreciated how green everything was. Despite London being one of the largest cities of the word, it felt relatively easy to navigate, especially since just coming from Cairo with their ‘crazy drivers’. We felt like London will be a place we can really relax in. The temperature was lovely and cool and we wish we could have sent some of the weather over to Hoda. We’re forecast for rain all week though, so hopefully it holds off, especially if we’re on the Red Bus.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn and checked in, upstairs we were very impressed with our room (Great ‘recommendage’ from Trip Advisor). The first thing we did was make a cup of tea!! It was so good. We can’t believe how much we have missed Western hotels. Once we felt settled enough, we ventured down to the streets to find a post office and corner store for food, water and ice for drinks. We didn’t realise there was a big supermarket across the street which was where Dan got some ice. Craving some traditional English food for lunch we found a neon Fish and Chip sign and went in. It turns out it was an Egyptian restaurant that also made fish and chips. How ironic? It was nice, not really traditional English food, but still very tasty. We took the food back to the hotel and ate in the room. This is dinner too.

We spoke with the Concierge downstairs who gave us Day Trip travel brochures to help us organise our time here. We arranged to hook up the internet, which cost a whopping 15 Pounds = $23AUD per 24 hours. We’ve booked a day trip to Stonehenge & Bath for tomorrow at 10:30am and need to print tickets for the Big Red Bus around town. If we have time we might get to see the White Cliffs of Dover. Tomorrow we have to print tickets and got to the post office and we really need to wash our clothes as well, like a really good wash, not just hand wash, but it’s incredibly expensive. We’ll decide in the morning what to do, but for now, we’re going to bed early. It is 5:30pm after all. :)

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