Day 1 - 31 July 2014

Thursday, 31 July, was the day of travel.
We had decided to fly from Rygge Airport, just south of Oslo, and went there by car from our summerhouse. The trip was pretty eventless, but I have to say I was very uptight and tense. The entire trip was ahead, and this was the first time I went with my Dad and his family on a joint trip.
I'm generally nervous about these things, and as I've learned to cope with that and my anxiety attacks alone, I tend to feel even more stressed when I am around other people ...

We arrived at the airport and found long-term parking without any problems, and had one bag to check in (we sort of shared it, which was a great solution, as we could all have shampoos and stuff in the checked-in bag, and didn't have to worry about that going through security.
There weren't even a line to the check-in so things certainly worked out smoothly. Through security without a hitch, and for me it was great seeing what it was like travelling with a family, with kids (my two little sisters are 10 and 7½ years old - they are very used to travelling and are just amazing!!). I usually think I have enough of a worry to take care of myself and my bags and my passport and my boarding cards - and here it's everything times four! Incredible!!
My Dad and his family travel a lot, so they have a routine and a familiarity with a lot of things that I don't have, but I still think it's amazing they make it work so effortless.

I think we timed everything exeptionally well actually. We waited maybe 15-20 minutes after having checked in the bag for the security checks, and then we had to wait maybe another 20 minutes before standing in line for the passport control, and I think that is great ... I'd like to have a little extra time, just in case something happens.
We did stand in line at the gate a bit early and had to wait, but not too long. I do love Ryanair's new seating system, which is fantastic and should mean that you don't have to wait in line at the gate at all (although people do anyway!). The seats are numbered, if you like you can pay an extra fee to get the exact seat you want, providing you check in online more than seven days before departure. If you don't do this you will simply be allocated a seat when you do your online check-in, without paying anything extra. As there were five of us travelling together, I know my Dad and his partner watched this very closely and logged in at midnight, seven days before our trip, both to and from London, to check in, and in doing so, we all got seats together!
But since, when you come to the gate, you already have your seat, there's no need to stand in line or board the plane early, nobody will occupy your seat, so why hurry?!

So, we did get seats together at the plane, meaning I sat with my little sisters on one side of the isle, and my Dad and his parter sat on the other side of the isle ... perfect! Although I was constantly on edge and very uptight and nervous. In retrospect, I know there were no real reason for it, but reason and sense don't quite come into it when you have problems with anxiety.

The flight was ok, almost had a hard time catching up with my sisters as they talked almost constantly, but it worked out really well. I'm not used to flying now, and I did think it was quite bumpy going up, and a lot worse going down - but I have a feeling I'm a bit oversensitive too ...;)

We landed at Stansted Airport about 20 minutes early, walked to Passport control, which worked very smoothly. I usually let my Dad and his family go before me in queues and such, as they are a whole family, they have kids etc., but usually I was done before them ... in Passport control, in various security checks - they had a lot to check when four people come up, but I am alone and they usually just waved me through! :)
Though I did make a fool of myself a little, when the officer at Passport control asked me where I flew in from and I replied: "Swede....um, Norway!!" *LOL!* Felt like an idiot not even knowing where I came from - but it didn't feel like we were in Norway! :)

Our bag came quickly and then we headed for the bathroom, before going down to Stansted Express. We decided not to stress or hurry, but still made it on the 2.15-train, and it was nice and quiet and not a lot of people at all.
At this point I was almost exhausted ... from being so nervous and dealing with anxiety the whole day (I could never really relax), and I also suffered from my usual after-flight-heading, which kept getting worse because of the anxiety ... *sigh*

We came to Liverpool Street Station and it took a little while to figure out exactly from where our bus was leaving - and there actually is a different to "just check on something" when you are alone with one or two bags, or if you are five people with seven or eight bags!! :)
It didn't take very long to find bus 23 and be on our way but I think all of us were tired and I know the kids were really hungry. We got off the bus at Charing Cross station, where we saw a McDonald's sign, and the others went on ahead to get food.
I was going to pick up my London Pass, as the place closed at 4.30, and even though I was nervous and it was extremely hot, I felt quite all right. I think it was partly because I knew where I was going and what I was going to do, as I had done this in 2012 as well, and also because this was the first time on this extremely intense day that I had some time to myself.
I know, it sounds horrible that I'm complaining so much about my Dad and his family, and trust me, it won't continue like this!! They are amazing and I love them to bits, but this particular day was very hard for me, and when I'm having difficulties dealing with things, being around other people makes it ten times worse.
So anyway, collecting my London Pass worked out really well - and I just love the place where you do it because it's almost unreal ... Maybe I'll even make a separate post about it later on! :)

I met the others at McDonald's, and believe it or not but they had just gotten their food when I got there. I hurried and ordered my meal and we were basically done at the same time.

Took another bus to Sussex Gardens, managed to get off at the right bus stop and it didn't take long to find Olympic House Hotel. Checking in was a bit ... weird... Again I let my Dad and the others go first, but we had a hard time speaking English, and the lady in the reception had a hard time speaking English (and I think she was hard of hearing as well) so it took a while before she realized we were travelling together but had booked two rooms! :)

Eventually it all worked out, the other had gotten a room on the ground floor while I was on the third floor, so I took the elevator up - and couldn't find my room! *slightly panicky!* It turned out I had my room out near one of the staircases (apparently most single rooms are situated like that, it was the same in 2012 at the Orchard Hotel). The room was quite nice, very small of course, but everything was clean and tidy and seemed to work out, with a really nice bathroom! And they had one normal EU electrical socket - meaning the adapter I had convinced everyone we needed to charge cellphones and batteries was completely unnecessary! *lol*
After a little while I heard a knock on my door and there were my Dad and my two little sisters, wanting to see how I was going to live! :) :) We decided we would get settled for a little while and that I would come down to their room in about half an hour and maybe we could go for a little walk or something.

I was completely exhausted and was afraid I'd fall asleep, so I tried not to relax too much, and managed to, after a bit of a wander, find my way to the "family room" (as I later on used the stairs, which were quite narrow, very steep and very uneven and felt like the were leading up to a tower, I came to call my room the Tower-room, with the Tower-staris leading up to it! *lol*).
We decided to go for a walk, and ended up at Paddington station. Before the trip I had read the story about Paddington to the girls and they were of course excited to be at the station where he was originally found. I didn't expect to find much there, but there's this gorgeous wonderful lovely Paddington statue (have tons of beautiful photos of the girls with Paddington, but for privacy reasons I won't publish them here) - and they also had the most amazing Paddington store!! Everything was superexpensive, of course, but it was fantastic just to go around and look at everything.

I didn't feel very well at all though, all the tension and anxiety and weariness caught up with me and after Paddington station we split up. My Dad and the girls went back to the hotel, the girls' mother went to buy something to eat and some water, and I really felt I needed to be on my own for a while, so I took a walk around the area for about half an hour. Went by the "family room" when I came back to collect some of my luggage from their bag, and then climbed up the stairs to my Tower Room! :)

I have to say that this day was the hardest. Everything worked out really well on a practical level, but emotionally it was really rough. I'm very grateful I had my own room at the hotel and that the room was so nice, because I could truly relax and unwind there, and I think I very much needed that!

London 2014: General Info

Okay, since I didn't have the oportunity to blog about this trip in advance at all, I would like to tell you a little bit about this trip before I get into the day-to-day entries.

This trip to London was actually a gift from my families to me, as I earlier this year managed to get my Master's Degree, so I was given the trip, including airport transfers, hotel and various activies while in London (three musicals and a 2 Day London Pass, and a bit more!).

I was going with my Dad and his family, which was new for me - they travel a lot, but I have only ever travelled by myself or with a friend, or when I was young, with my Mum and Dad, but I've never travelled with an entire family (2 Adults, 2 Children ... and moi!). We did decide on London because I've been there several times before, and I love it, and also because that would mean we could both do things together, but also apart!! Had we visited someplace  I had never been before, it wouldn't be so fun for me to go off on my own - but on the other hand, I'm used to being on my own, so we realized it would be a bit hard for me to be with them 24/7 on an entire trip.

My Dad and his family had started checking out London early on, bascially almost before I had finished my thesis and gotten my degree, and at that point I could not for the life of me focus on such a trip ... the entire spring went and when summer was closing in I realized I had to start checking out London for real. No sooner said than done, within a couple of days I think we had the trip booked! :)
We decided on flying from the Norweigan airport Rygge, as it was not too far to travel and the flight times to London were a lot better, and we also found a nice hotel in Paddington, on Sussex Gardens, not far from the hotel I stayed in, in 2012.

For me it was quite a big change to actually travel with "all these people" ...*lol* Well, I know there are only four of them, but for me they sometimes feel like an entire crowd, as I'm used to being on my own. I liked the fact that we'd booked different rooms in the same hotel, allowing for some privacy but at the same time making it possible to spend time together. I also like the fact that we tried to plan a few activities together, but also plan some things apart!

Like the last time, I debated on what to do with my cellphone. In the end I brought it (duh!), but decided to try to find free wifi at public places and only use the internet there - as it is hideously expensive eitherwise. Well, it turned out that was not so easy ... The hotel charged a daily fee for wifi, that I didn't want to pay, and as soon as I found spots with "free wifi" (such as Stansted Express, McDonald's etc.) you had to go through a lengthy registration process, and I did not want to do that with a cellphone that is not registered in England ... I ended up photographing a bit with my cellphone, but I never connected to the internet at all ... 

I still have a few difficulties with somethings, I know I don't want to be too personal in this public blog (as I mentioned during the 2012-trip too), but I struggle with anxiety sometimes, and it did pop up a bit during this trip as well. But since that is who I am, I know I will have to accept, and try to do the best I can anyway! :) 

This was, all in all, a trip that started out a bit shaky but ended up being the best London trip I've ever been on! :) I'm just hoping to go back - SOON!!!

London, Here I Come!

Time for my final entry before leaving - I'll be off in a couple of hours! :)

I have SO many mixed feelings regarding the trip right now, and I'm going from happy, excited and proud, to a state of complete panic and almost a wish to cancel the whole thing ... I have a feeling this will be a very emotional day, to say the least.

I don't have the time nor the energy to write a lengthy blog entry here, I just wanted to let you know I'm off and that I will be back on Saturday night. Blog probably won't be updated until Sunday though (at the earliest), but I am hoping for long and detailed blog entries with lots and lots of photos!

Until then, take care! :)

Hotel Drama!

It's been a bit of a drama regarding the hotel where I'm staying in London - I'm hoping it's all sorted out now.

I booked it quite a while ago, and there were some sort of "strange" things with the booking. I booked through Booking.com and found a special offer regarding this hotel. Usually when you book there you don't have to pay for the room straight away, you pay when you check in at the hotel. However, I found a special offer which was a lot cheaper but it meant they would charge me right away and if I had to cancel my trip I wouldn't be able to get my money back.They had only one room left so I went through and booked as fast as I could - however, they never charged me for the room!
I figured there had been a mix up and that they would charge me when I checked in, after all, I had all the booking confirmations and booking number and all that.

On Thursday night (or early Friday?) I emailed the hotel to verify their reception hours, as I will be checking in rather late tomorrow night (will probably reach the hotel around 9 p.m.).
Then I went for a short visit to my families, it was to be a nice visit but quite hectic and I was rather nervous about it. And when I am on my way and feeling stressed about most things, I get an email from the hotel saying they don't have a booking in my name, could I please check it and get back to them!!!!
WHAT?!?!?!?!
It totally freaked me out, mostly because I was in a rather stressful situation at the time, and also because I wasn't home, I didn't have access to all my booking information and while I absolutely LOVE my cell phone, sending complicated emails isn't that easy to do!!
There was nothing I could do at the time, as I was on a train - and once I got to where I was going, it was totally full steam ahead with a very full schedule!! Luckily I went to turn my cell phone off at one point and found out that I had another email - this one saying basically, forget the last email, everything is okay, reception is open 24h, check in any time!

Yikes!!
I sure hope this means it really IS okay, because it wouldn't be so great to arrive in London late at night and not have any place to stay! However, I feel that I do have all the confirmations and vouchers I need, so if the hotel has messed up, they'd better find a way to solve it as well!