Homeless in London

We arrived at our hotel to be told they did not have a booking for us and they were fully booked for the next 3 nights. I believed we had booked 2 nights and as it was now Friday lunchtime of a long weekend, we were homeless in London.

The Manager was very apologetic and said that the verbal approval I had received over the phone after several emails, was given either by a guy who won't admit it or another guy whom they have since sacked. He and another person started phoning their partner hotels, then Mark, Mitchell and another woman manager started asking up and down the street at other similar hotels. Fortunately we ended up finding a room. Unfortunately it was 30 quid more than our original room. It was not worth having a big argy bargy about at our original hotel... so we sucked it up... took the room and got on with our very short stay in London.

We were staying near Hyde Pk and thought we would walk through the park to one of the big roads and hope to find a tourist bus stop. I recalled we could buy a ticket that lasted 24 hrs so this would suit us fine. As luck would have it we found a stop within 100 m of the hotel and we were soon on our way seeing the sights of London.

After a lap of the city route, which took about 2 hrs, we got off at Oxford St for a little shopping. We hadn't really done too much shopping during our holiday. Only stopping in somewhere that looked good. After much strolling and mostly window shopping in the Friday night madding crowd we headed back for a meal at a nearby pub. Due to late night shopping and the twilight we lost track of time and by the time we got to the pubs they had closed all their kitchens. We ended up at a very basic place for a basic meal.

Next day, back on the bus and got off at the London Eye for a circuit in the sky. Quite an amazing distance we could see. Next was a stop at Buckingham Palace. This took about 45 mins longer than planned as the traffic was horrendous. Then we took a different bus route to see a different part of the city. Often we felt it was quite like Melbourne. The kids thought a mix of Melbourne and what they remember of USA. We have been quite surprised at the amount of people in the street who are not speaking English. There now seems to be a very big number of eastern european tourists here. Also service staff everywhere seem to be Russian. The only true brits we have seen, seem to be in the pubs. Lads and girls drinking in their football teams jerseys, on the street, some as early as 9am before going to a game. No wonder they are quite primed by the time they get to the games.

We were all interested in having a stroll through Harrods. (London was experiencing the worst pollen in the air this day. It literally looked like it was snowing. We were all suffering from either watering eyes, sneezing, breathing difficulties and or itching skin, so to be inside our of the pollen and in air con, was looking attractive) All were impressed and Mark facinated with the foodhall. Mitchell had heard of some jeans that he loves being available much cheaper here than he can buy in Melbourne. ($350 in aus compared to £70 here) He had the hotel reception search on the computer to find a stockist. He named one in Camden. Having been to Camden market last time I was here, I realised it was not too far. So off we went to Camden. For those that don't know this area it is fantastic. As Mitchell said, it is the London you see when they show the punks, goths etc. In reality there is one block of shops that if you were into Gothic clothes, you would be in heaven. Anyway a couple of blocks away, he found his jeans and happily handed over his £70 for them.

We then headed over to a bar for drinks. Yet again Ashleigh was mortified that she was asked for I.D. Once her age was proven the woman on the door commented how lucky she was to look so young. Ashleigh is yet to appreciate this!! We enjoyed an hour or so then back to the hotel for the kids to pack.

The kids left London on Sunday morning on the train to Heathrow. Their flight was 10 hrs before ours and it didnt make sense for us to travel there with them just to wait for about 12 hrs before our flight. Our flight was with British Airways. This meant we left from the new terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport. It is very spacious and schmick.. and also so large it has terminals 5A, 5B & 5C. An underground train links them all.

They have a rather tricky way to keep you eating or shopping. They don't actually put up your gate numbers until the last minute needed. They even have signs up saying "don't know what gate you are departing from and don't know what to do... we have shops and restaurants on levels blah blah etc". AS our flight was at 10:15pm we arrived ready for some dinner. We decided to lash out and eat at Gordon Ramseys restaurant. (TV chef who swears alot apparently). Anyway the food was absolutely delicious. It would be worth a trip to the airport just to eat there.

Our flight to HK was pretty easy. I managed to get 4 seats to lay on and dozed on and off for about 6 - 7 hrs. Mark also got a good 5 - 6 hrs sleep. There were a few delays getting to our hotel in HK but once there we were glad to be in the air con. It is about 30C here and close to 100% humidity. So unbelievable muggy, we just arent used to any more.

Will post photos from London when I get home, as I cannot find a place in HK which will allow me to plug in here.

Cheers
x D