May 2006 - Tokyo & Europe
Shortly after my last post I started talking to a Canadian who was staying in the BNB. He asked if there were any Australians in the lounge room after making a comment I didn't hear. I put my hand up and we started chatting. He had just arrived from Istanbul and had just a few stories to share. Anyhow we met up for breakfast and discovered we were both planning on heading to Windsor. A bit of company wouldn't be such a bad thing so off we went. With my fast improving skills of navigating London we found our way to Waterloo and onto the right train.
As I was on the train I received a phone call from my friend Lisa. She was heading out to Windsor to meet up with me! So Bruce and I took a quick tour of Windsor Castle and then headed to Starbucks to meet up with her. A coffee later we dumped Bruce and jumped in Lisa's car to drive over to FS Hampshire. We took a short detour to her place, had a bite to eat, drank wine, commented numerous times on the carpet in the bathroom.
Time was running short and soon I was dropped off at the train station and heading back into London. 12 pound later (AUD$28) I was back at Waterloo. I had already checked in to the Four Seasons earlier that day but my room wasn't ready. The first time I saw the room was 8pm and that was only for 15 mins. I had been invited by one of Pooja's friends from London (that I knew from her last Sydney trip) to join her and her work collegues down at Canary Wharf for drinks. So off I went on my first and only underground experience for my entire stay in London, and at 3 pound (AUD$7.50) per trip, I was glad I hadn't relied on the underground too much this trip. With Nikki's directions to the Bar I found it quite easily and got introduced to many many people, of which I can only remember two names. Had a great time and a couple of drinks, but the bar started clearing out because the last undergrounds were about to run and I decided it was best to make a move as I had a 7am flight the next day. The train ride was complete with someone throwing up a few seats down from me and when I came out I had to quickly run/walk back to the Hotel in the rain. Midnight, 4am wake up call, I already knew this was going to be a long day/night/day. So finally at 1am I crashed after watching some British Big Brother whilst reorganising a few things (those people are WEIRD by the way, REALLY WEIRD!)
Three hours interrupted sleep later I still wished I could have stayed in that bed longer. Out the door at 5am. Thanks to Lisa and George (Concierge at FS Hampshire) they managed to find me a night bus to Heathrow that left from across the road from the Hotel. This saved me 55 pound (AUD$130). It cost me 1 pound 50 (AUD$3.75) unfortunately the ticket machine did chew up 2 pound 50 of my money so it cost me a little more than expected, but compared to AUD$130 I was still WELL ahead. And the night porter was so nice that he carried both my suitcase and backpack across to the bus stop. I was however pushing it a bit for time, got to the airport at 6am and had to catch the free train to terminal 4. With a flight at 7.05am, I was in the queue at 6.25am, their computer system was on a go slow. I checked in at 6.40am, flight closed at 6.45am so went straight to the gate to get randomly picked for their new xray security system, which is a little more detailed then walking through a metal detector. Ran to the gate (thank god it was close) and walked straight onto the plane for Copenhagen.
This is the one time I wouldn't have minded the flight to go a little longer because I could have slept the whole way through! Wish I could have spent more time at the FS London and in that nice bed. So am in Copenhagen now and it's raining outside, was planning on going to Tivoli, but with the weather I might leave it for another day/night, and besides EuroVision is on tonight!