London and there about
Warning the London blog post is very long. We had the most misadventures in travel so far in London. Feel free to read it or skip to the pictures.
We made it! We’re here! After 2 years of saving and planning, we are finally here.
Misadventure #1
We got off to a rough start.
Internet and cell service was spotty at best on our phones throughout our time in London and surrounding areas. So navigation by Google maps was hit and miss. So was communication by text or phone.
Heathrow was not what I expected. Not very busy, not a lot of obvious signs or information on how to continue our journey. We found a kind of obscure tourist info desk with a helpful woman who got us on a bus to Kingston, a burb of London where our Airbnb was located. Unfortunately, when we got to Kingston we couldn’t use our phones to find the exact address and couldn’t find any helpful directions or people who knew the street. Mark was operating on no sleep since we got up Friday morning, it was now 1pm Saturday England time. And I had a couple hours on and off. Needless to say, clear thinking was a struggle for both of us.
Finally, we somehow got through to Deborah, our Airbnb host, by phone and she walked down to where we were lost and lead us back to the cottage, which was about a ten minute walk. That was awesome of her and above and beyond!
The Airbnb garden cottage was lovely and we had a wonderful stay there. Check out pictures of our English garden and our English dog. 😊 Our phones made things frustrating but once we figured out the buses and train system to and from London things got much easier.
Misadventure #2
We did have another grand adventure before things got easy. Sunday we had tickets to the British Museum in London. We got into the Westminster area earlier and took selfies with Big Ben and wandered the area and walked to Trafalgar Square. Somehow we got to the British Museum.
That first day was sensory overload, so many people, new sights, HUGE city, languages and accents from some many countries just walking down the very crowded streets. Frankly, now it is all kind of a blur.
I am pretty sure at least 100,000 other people were in the British Museum at the same time we were. It was overwhelming. We did see some very interesting things. See pictures.
The adventure I am referring to happened on the way back to the Airbnb. We didn’t realize that there were 2 train stations in Kingston and we got off at a different station when we came back. We got so turned around, it got dark, our phones were dead after all day in London and weren’t working well anyway. We got really lost!
We asked for directions and were sent off in one direction. After a while we didn’t seem to be getting were we thought we would, so we asked directions again. This time we were sent off in another direction. Still didn’t end up were we thought we should. Now it was late and dark, we tried one more time. This time if we could use a phone we would call a taxi. Instead, we met Oliver. He worked at the co-op we stopped at. He was awesome! He let Mark charge his phone in their charger, while getting directions on his phone (this time they worked)! While we hung out waiting for Mark’s phone to get a charge we got to know Oliver.
Turns out he was married to a girl from California he met in “Uni” (university) and had visited there last year. So in between customers we had a great chat…AND finally got back to our cottage! Thank you, God! Mark logged 17 miles walking for us that first day!
Misadventure #3
This will be my last train traveling exploit story, anyway for London. Monday (day 2), we went to the Tower of London, which was very interesting and fun, by the way. Sorry, we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the Crown Jewels for you. Once in London, for the first time we attempted to take the underground (train). The doors on this particular train of the Jubilee line, literally waited for no man or woman.
We figured out what train we needed to take to the Tower and attempted to hop on. I made it, but Mark didn’t. As I watched, the train pulled away leaving my husband behind! Melodramatic pause…alone in London! After the initial panic, my head cleared and I thought to turn my phone back on, which I had turned off since it wasn’t working away and prayed for a connection. By miracle, Mark got a text through to me and told me which stop to meet him at. Another traveler helped me realize at the last minute that I needed to get off at the stop I was at.
I dashed for the door, but not fast enough. The door closed just as I was exiting, cut my arm and threw me to the ground. As the train pulled away, I saw the guy who had just helped me react to my plight, but of course he was whisked away. I got up, arm still attached but bleeding and hurried to the other train. Another girl helped me know which train to get on which I did, very leery of the door. It was crowded and I had to stand. A kind woman in the seat I was standing next to, alerted me to the fact that I was bleeding and gave me a wipe and band-aid to clean myself up with. At the next station I was reunited with Mark. Thank you again, God! The whole situation had been very traumatic! Fortunately The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, see pictures, helped me get back on track.
However, Mark wants me to point out that he did lose me once in the Tower, so much to see, and we didn’t find each other again for sometime and it was very traumatic for him.
Oh yeah, one last thing. We took a cab to the Globe Theater to see a play, which we throughly enjoyed. But getting into the cab with our backpack, Mark slipped and twisted his knee, it was very painful. He has been icing, elevating and gimping along the past few days. Hasn’t let it stop him and it seems to be improving.
Ok, enough stories, time for pictures. 😊
