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| Leaving Abu Dhabi airport |
To much relief I soon arrived at Abu Dhabi airport around 5am. It was cold, about eight degrees and eerily quiet. It is then time for another passport check, which is announced as follows: “You people, go for passport check!” So we are herded like cattle , and after I am identified as being me it is on-board another plane for a seven and a half hour flight to Heathrow. Now that the sun was up I took a quick snap of the Abu Dhabi countryside as we flew over.
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| Coming into Heathrow |
Somehow, this flight seemed to drag on longer than the first, and there was one spot of really bad turbulence, but we survived J As we start to descend through the clouds I can see the roads and building and a fabulous palace – which I later determined was probably Windsor, unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to catch that in the photo. On arrival the temperature is one degree and it is around midday. I then spend what feels like a small eternity in the line for Border Control. Once again I appear to be me and I collect my bags. By now I am decking myself out in the winter gear and somehow manage to drop a glove in the process. After a long trek retracing my steps, I find said glove, lonely, cold and alone. I know how it feels!
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| My room at the B&B - bathroom was off to the left |
One thing I will say about London so far is the public transport is awesome. Anyone that knows me knows I have little sense of direction, but when it comes to the underground you can’t get it wrong. I just purchased an Oyster card, which you pre-load with credit and swipe on and off everywhere you go. The underground is clearly labelled and even tells you if the train is going north, south etc. Then there is another map of the line in every carriage. So a 40 minute tube journey lay ahead. As we drove along everything was really surreal, the buildings and walls I could see from the train looked just like Sydney. So while the length of the flight had helped me to grasp exactly how far away I was from home, the scenery didn’t - not yet anyway.
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| View from my room |
Once again I felt privileged as it was a relatively easy walk to my B&B – The Alhambra Hotel. There were black cabs everywhere and before I realised how close the hotel really was, I thought I would catch one. So I go up to the window and it turns out that instead of it being a cabbie free-for-all (like in Aus) the cabs are actually lined up and you have to join the front of the queue and wait your turn. Well I walked to the head of the queue and by then I could see the street for my hotel. I don’t often get lucky that easily with directions. The other great thing here, especially for a sight-challenged person such as myself, is the size of the street signs. All the streets have one and they are on the side of buildings, not on post, and the font is HUGE, you can see them from a mile away. Finally, a vision impaired person working for us in parliament.
So I headed into the B&B and the only negative thing is there’s no lift, so I was required to drag my suitcase up four flights of stairs. It very nearly took my life a few times, but I made it. Although I have to go back down at some point!! This B&B is lovely. It is small, but clean, with plenty of space, friendly staff and a nice, hot breakfast every morning.
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| First meal :) |
After settling in I made my way to my friend Murray’s pub in Kennington – The Beehive (and yes I found it easily on the Tube again). It’s a quaint little place, and being a Sunday I had the roast specialty – honey ham with a huge variety of vegetables (including some really nice potatoes) and a Yorkshire pudding basically a large pastry that you put gravy into and eat as is. Mmmm fattening. And yes, it’s really kitch, but I had to take a photo of my first meal in London. I was nice and tired by now, so it was off to bed for me.
