I woke up fairly early, which was good as I had to make an early start.
Turned out, however, I think I did make it a bit too early! :-)
I found it difficult to estimate how longer travel time would be needed for different things, especially in central London, and since I was a bit unsure of procedure at Stansted Airport I wanted to have a lot of time ... well I did ...
I checked out of the hotel at 7 a.m., or shortly after - no problems at all, I basically only had to leave the key! :-)
Walked up to Praed Street and got a bit worried! In the direction from where the buses were coming, there were lots of blue lights blinking, so I was afraid it had been a traffic accident, and that it would cause stops or delays in traffic.
However, traffic seemed to move fairly quickly and it didn't take that long before a no. 23 bus arrived.
And wow - what an experience to ride a bus through central London at 7.30 a.m. on a Saturday morning! For one thing, we had green lights constantly, all through Oxford Street from Marble Arch to Oxford Circus! That is not supposed to happen - it's like ... against the law or something! *LOL!!!*
The bus ride, that normally takes about 1h 10 minutes or so ... took 30 minutes!! YIKES!!
We arrived at Liverpool Street at 7.45 and there was a Stansted Express train due to leave at 7.55 - perfect timing! Basically no people on the train either, which was a pleasant change to the ride from the Airport some five days earlier ...
We arrived at Stansted Airport at about 8.40 a.m. ... and my flight wasn't due to leave until 12.25 - yikes! Still, at this point, I was glad of the extra time, actually! It gave me the opportunity to walk around the airport, and figure out what was to happen when (okay, this sounds like I have had no experience of travel at all, which is not the case, but I hadn't been abroad since the summer of 2009 and this was pretty much the first time ever I was on my own .... ), and that was good.
I had a sandwich and some water and the check-in desks for Malmö opened earlier than expected.
I had no problems checking in my bag and then it was time for the security check. For some reason it always makes me nervous and uncomfortable, even though I know I have nothing to hide or nothing that is dangerous. However, it went almost strangely smooth for me this time!
Placed my bag in the box on the band - the girls before me had to remove their shoes/boots, one of them was pulled aside for a body scan - but they just waved me through and I got my bag and that was it! Cool!
I bought a coke (to get rid of a headache that threatened to set it) and some snacks and waited for our gate to be listed. Walked around a bit, and bought some cool postcards - and waited for our gate to be listed. And waited. And waited. And waited!
Every other flight had gotten their gate, eventually even three or four flights leaving after the flight to Mamlö had a gate - but not Malmö ...
At this point I got a bit worried, thinking about delays and problems with gates and whatnot - and pretty much standing, pacing and sitting watching a monitor for about an hour was quite annoying!
Finally, around 11.50 we found out that the plane for Malmö was leaving from gate 48, so I set off ... and yes it is quite a distance to walk, that's for sure.
By the time I got to the gates, it was basically time to form into queues - which I hadn't expected ...
Things went smoothly however, although I think there were at least some minor problems - that none of the passengers were told about of course.
First of all, that the gate came up so late. Then we had to stand in line, they started to check passports and boarding cards and let people through, but we were stopped in a stairway and had to wait before being allowed to board the plane. After a while we were allowed out of the stairway and walked toward the plane, but were stopped at the stairs to the plane and weren't allowed to board ....
We ended up being about 10 minutes late from Stansted Airport, which after all, didn't feel that bad - and the flight went really well.
The touch-down in Malmö was not so pleasant though - apparently they had had stormy and rainy weather, so it was quite turbulent coming down, a bit too much so for my taste, and when we landed, the runway was soaking wet so it was quite slippery - however, no incidents.
When we got out of the plane however, we were apparently going to be shipped by bus to the main terminal - when did that happen in a tiny airport like Malmö?!?!?!
We ended up just at the Passport control, which was nice, and I was through very quickly, and had to wait for my bag.
They had, all in all, two conveyor belts at Malmö, at one of them would come bags from some Greek resorts and on the other, would be the bags from London. I went to the bathroom but they still hadn't started our belt - and then there were talks of the fact that all bags was on single conveyor belt .. so I went over to check - and within a few moments I saw my bag there!
I got it and went outside ... there were some issues with the Airport Transfer Buses which was quite annoying as I just wanted to go home, but in the end, at least, I got to Lund and were able to take a bus home! :-)
Was home about 6.30 p.m. - and it felt quite unbelievable that the whole trip, door to door, had taken almost 12 hour (yes, I know most of it was my fault because I was so darn early! *lol*)!!
Showing posts with label transport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transport. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Day 5 - September 28
Another morning when I didn't feel the best ... it took me a while to get going, but eventually I managed to get down to breakfast and head out.
Took a bus from Praed Street to St. Paul's Cathedral, and that's when things started to just feel wrong. I won't go into details, don't feel like being to personal here, but it just didn't work out....
Ended up going down to the Thames and check out the Millennium bridge instead which was really nice! However, I didn't feel well and fought with myself about what I was going to do.
Eventually, I ended up (sort of) following my original plan for the day and took a bus to Tower Hill. While I had originally thought of going to the Tower, I felt time was going by and after all, I have been to the Tower twice now.
I would like to go back, don't get me wrong there, but 1) I'd like to have a lot of time to spare, and 2) I'd like to have read up more on English history first! :-)
I ended up walking outside the Tower instead and headed for Tower Bridge. That is one really truly impressive building when you get close! Wow!!
I went on the 'Tower Bridge Exhibition' and that was quite an experience! I'm glad the morning's issues hadn't stopped me from going on this!
We were sent by elevator to the top of the North Tower where we viewed an introductory film, with the 'creator' and the 'architect' of Tower Bridge. I had basically no knowledge at all of the bridge's history so this was very very interesting.
After the film we were allowed to walk, and photograph, the East and West Walkway, the tiny little walkways on top of Tower Bridge - you can clearly see them when you see pictures of the bridge, but I hadn't quite expected myself to be walking up there! :-)
It was a really fantastic experience, though the walkways are quite closed in so you don't have a perfect view over London! Still, quite amazing and very impressive.
After having walked through there (for as long as you wanted) you took the stairs down - and I just have to mention the 'inside' of the North Tower. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos there (not sure if we were allowed!) but the inside was amazing - it looked really old-fashioned, like the stairs and the interior had been preserved from when the bridge was designed!
When we got down a few floors they had a minor 'store' where you could buy souvenirs. We had been photographed against a green screen upon arriving, and you could buy pictures of yourself (or fridge magnets, or coffee cups or other stuff) with Tower Bridge in the background. I'm normally not one that would do that, but since I was on my own and basically didn't have any pictures of me at all, I thought it would be a cool thing to do. Until I realized the prices! Okay, granted, I knew it would be expensive but this was almost ridiculous!! I looked for the smallest and cheapest thing - after all, I'm not that fond of seeing myself in pictures ... the smallest and cheapest things they had was a fridge magnet, about 2x3 cm (what is that? 4x6"??) - it cost .... *drumroll* £10!!!!!!! It's like 115 SEK ... €12.50 ... $16.20. Whoa - no way I was going to pay that!!
From this 'store', or desk, we were taken by elevator to street level, and told to follow the blue markings on the street to get to the 'Engine Room'. Said and done.
That was COOL!! I'm not at all technological, and there was no way I would understand how hydraulic power was transferred into mechanic power to lift and lower to bascules ... (?) - but it was still quite amazing.
At the end of the exhibition they had this really cool model of the bridge where you yourself could raise and lower the bascules for a boat coming through! :-)
I checked the souvenir shop at the end of the tour and ended up buying a really cool handbag! :-)
I took loads and loads of photos both before, during and after the exhibition - of course! :-)
I had originally thought of going on the Thames River Boat Cruise, from Tower Pier to Westminster Pier, but it was really cold and quite windy, and I saw the boats and the pier from Tower Bridge and it was crowded! In the end I decided to take this really cool bus, RV1, from Tower Gateway to Westminster. My Mum and I went on it in 2004, it starts from Tower Gateway, goes across Tower Bridge *cool!*, along the river (sort of) on the south shore, around London Eye, and across the river at Westminster Bridge (where I planned to get off) - and continues to Aldwych and Covent Garden.
I walked up to Tower Gateway and found the bus ... and apparently they had changed the bus routes since 2004 *lol* - not that surprising I guess ..:)
Instead of going across Tower Bridge, the bus went across London Bridge, at first I was a bit disappointed - I like Tower Bridge - but then I thought, I have already seen Tower Bridge up close, how cool I get to see London Bridge as well! :-)
Then it turned out the bus didn't go over Westminster Bridge at all, but instead over Waterloo Bridge. It did cause some problems for my planning, but it was cool to go over Waterloo Bridge and you had an amazing view over London Eye and Houses of Parliament and Big Ben! :-)
I got off the bus at Aldwych where I had to walk for a while, but was lucky enough to find a bus that would take me straight to Parliament Square ... where I went to Westminster Abbey. Had a bit of an issue there initially as well (sort of) but it worked itself out in an amazing way in the end! :-)
Went on the audio tour - which was guided by Jeremy Irons, cool!!!! :-)
I learned a lot though I was quite tired and it was starting to get late, so I did skip a few steps of the tour. But I must say the church is impressive to say the least.
I am in no way a believer, I have broken most of the ties I might have had with the church, but being in the place like this really is moving. Even though I don't have a faith of my own doesn't mean I don't respect those who have ...
I took a bus from Victoria Street to Marble Arch where I had something to eat, took another bus to Queensway and walked around a bit, bought some water and snacks before heading back to the hotel - and managed to organize most of my packing! :-)
Took a bus from Praed Street to St. Paul's Cathedral, and that's when things started to just feel wrong. I won't go into details, don't feel like being to personal here, but it just didn't work out....
Ended up going down to the Thames and check out the Millennium bridge instead which was really nice! However, I didn't feel well and fought with myself about what I was going to do.
Eventually, I ended up (sort of) following my original plan for the day and took a bus to Tower Hill. While I had originally thought of going to the Tower, I felt time was going by and after all, I have been to the Tower twice now.
I would like to go back, don't get me wrong there, but 1) I'd like to have a lot of time to spare, and 2) I'd like to have read up more on English history first! :-)
I ended up walking outside the Tower instead and headed for Tower Bridge. That is one really truly impressive building when you get close! Wow!!
I went on the 'Tower Bridge Exhibition' and that was quite an experience! I'm glad the morning's issues hadn't stopped me from going on this!
We were sent by elevator to the top of the North Tower where we viewed an introductory film, with the 'creator' and the 'architect' of Tower Bridge. I had basically no knowledge at all of the bridge's history so this was very very interesting.
After the film we were allowed to walk, and photograph, the East and West Walkway, the tiny little walkways on top of Tower Bridge - you can clearly see them when you see pictures of the bridge, but I hadn't quite expected myself to be walking up there! :-)
It was a really fantastic experience, though the walkways are quite closed in so you don't have a perfect view over London! Still, quite amazing and very impressive.
After having walked through there (for as long as you wanted) you took the stairs down - and I just have to mention the 'inside' of the North Tower. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos there (not sure if we were allowed!) but the inside was amazing - it looked really old-fashioned, like the stairs and the interior had been preserved from when the bridge was designed!
When we got down a few floors they had a minor 'store' where you could buy souvenirs. We had been photographed against a green screen upon arriving, and you could buy pictures of yourself (or fridge magnets, or coffee cups or other stuff) with Tower Bridge in the background. I'm normally not one that would do that, but since I was on my own and basically didn't have any pictures of me at all, I thought it would be a cool thing to do. Until I realized the prices! Okay, granted, I knew it would be expensive but this was almost ridiculous!! I looked for the smallest and cheapest thing - after all, I'm not that fond of seeing myself in pictures ... the smallest and cheapest things they had was a fridge magnet, about 2x3 cm (what is that? 4x6"??) - it cost .... *drumroll* £10!!!!!!! It's like 115 SEK ... €12.50 ... $16.20. Whoa - no way I was going to pay that!!
From this 'store', or desk, we were taken by elevator to street level, and told to follow the blue markings on the street to get to the 'Engine Room'. Said and done.
That was COOL!! I'm not at all technological, and there was no way I would understand how hydraulic power was transferred into mechanic power to lift and lower to bascules ... (?) - but it was still quite amazing.
At the end of the exhibition they had this really cool model of the bridge where you yourself could raise and lower the bascules for a boat coming through! :-)
I checked the souvenir shop at the end of the tour and ended up buying a really cool handbag! :-)
I took loads and loads of photos both before, during and after the exhibition - of course! :-)
I had originally thought of going on the Thames River Boat Cruise, from Tower Pier to Westminster Pier, but it was really cold and quite windy, and I saw the boats and the pier from Tower Bridge and it was crowded! In the end I decided to take this really cool bus, RV1, from Tower Gateway to Westminster. My Mum and I went on it in 2004, it starts from Tower Gateway, goes across Tower Bridge *cool!*, along the river (sort of) on the south shore, around London Eye, and across the river at Westminster Bridge (where I planned to get off) - and continues to Aldwych and Covent Garden.
I walked up to Tower Gateway and found the bus ... and apparently they had changed the bus routes since 2004 *lol* - not that surprising I guess ..:)
Instead of going across Tower Bridge, the bus went across London Bridge, at first I was a bit disappointed - I like Tower Bridge - but then I thought, I have already seen Tower Bridge up close, how cool I get to see London Bridge as well! :-)
Then it turned out the bus didn't go over Westminster Bridge at all, but instead over Waterloo Bridge. It did cause some problems for my planning, but it was cool to go over Waterloo Bridge and you had an amazing view over London Eye and Houses of Parliament and Big Ben! :-)
I got off the bus at Aldwych where I had to walk for a while, but was lucky enough to find a bus that would take me straight to Parliament Square ... where I went to Westminster Abbey. Had a bit of an issue there initially as well (sort of) but it worked itself out in an amazing way in the end! :-)
Went on the audio tour - which was guided by Jeremy Irons, cool!!!! :-)
I learned a lot though I was quite tired and it was starting to get late, so I did skip a few steps of the tour. But I must say the church is impressive to say the least.
I am in no way a believer, I have broken most of the ties I might have had with the church, but being in the place like this really is moving. Even though I don't have a faith of my own doesn't mean I don't respect those who have ...
I took a bus from Victoria Street to Marble Arch where I had something to eat, took another bus to Queensway and walked around a bit, bought some water and snacks before heading back to the hotel - and managed to organize most of my packing! :-)
Day 4 - September 27
I felt better when I woke up this morning, but I still did get off to a bit of a late start. I usually watched BBC1 in the mornings at the hotel as they had a pretty decent morning programme and this morning I found out that about 8.50 a.m. they would have as their guest Ruthie Henshall - who played Fantine in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at the Royal Albert Hall in 1995 - who would be talking about "making it in the West End". Of course I couldn't miss an opportunity to see her on TV, so after having had breakfast I went back to the hotel room and relaxed a bit.
Unfortunately the timing wasn't the best, so it wasn't until about 9.10 that Ruthie actually showed up!
It was quite an interesting interview, and while she wasn't one of my top favourites in TAC it was really nice to hear what she had to say about the business, about her way to success and so on!
When that was done, I collected my things and walked down to Bayswater Road, where I had to wait a while for the 274 bus toward Islington Angel. It was quite nice to take a bus ride where I'd never gone in London before, so the ride didn't feel like it took any time at all, although I think it is a fair bit to travel to get to Regent's Park and London Zoo.
I got off at the right bus stop and they had signs toward the Zoo, but it was about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to the entrance. I was going to use my London Pass but had no idea how that worked, so I ended up going to the wrong place. It was no big deal, I was there just after they had opened, so there weren't a lot of people around and I could easily go back and head for the correct place.
I think I will be making a separate entry about the London Pass, because I really like the idea, and it was so smooth, they just swipe it through a machine and you're in! :-)
The Zoo was amazing of course, and I can't go into details about everything I did or saw!
They did do a bit of work, construction work and maintenance work, so you were allowed in all areas, which of course felt a bit sad - but I guess that a zoo that big always have to do something like that.
I was a bit disappointed that they had closed off a fair bit of the 'Outback' Area, where they had wallabies and emus, you could see them, but at a great distance ... would have loved to go closer there!
Also, there were no tigers at the zoo at the point. They were building a brand new, really large, habitat for the tigers, as they are running a major campaign to save the tigers, and while that was being done, the tigers had been transferred to another zoo ...
There were however, tons of other really cool stuff to look at. Lots and lots of different species of monkeys, the lions were really impressive, the have a new huge penguin pool that was awesome, the giraffes were totally cool ... the list goes on and on and on.
I didn't have time to go to all areas of the zoo, which was a shame when I had made my way there, but I had to collect my tickets for Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre around 2 p.m. - and I had no idea how long it would take me to get from the Zoo to Haymarket (knew I had at least one bus change on the way).
I walked around checking out the animals until about 12.15, then ended up in the souvenir shop - very very dangerous!!! I could easily have spent a fortune, all those ADORABLE stuffed animals, and other cool stuff they had ... wow!
I ended up buying the most gorgeous looking tiger as well as a cool magnet and some small presents, before heading out.
And then I couldn't find the exit! *lol* The signs weren't that easy to understand actually and I ended up walking another way, but found a very small exit there - and it was marked exit, it wasn't like I jumped a fence or something! :-)
Luckily for me, that entrance was just next to the bus stop!
Took a bus to Baker Street Station (and felt a bit guilty that I still haven't read any Sherlock Holmes books, meaning the only thing I know is that he lived at 221B Baker Street ... I think?? *embarrassed* ), and changed to another bus, which took me all the way down to Haymarket.
I still had a little time to spend so I went up to the HMV store and bought the cool Millennium DVD Box :-) before going back to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Collecting the tickets went quick and they had already opened the theatre so I bought programme/souvenir brochure at once and went to find my seat.
Won't say more of Phantom now, as I will write a separate review on it later on.
When the musical was over I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (it was now about 5.30 p.m.) - oops! Headed up to Marble Arch had a late lunch/dinner at McDonald's, checked out some souvenir shops on Oxford Street and then went back to the hotel.
Unfortunately the timing wasn't the best, so it wasn't until about 9.10 that Ruthie actually showed up!
It was quite an interesting interview, and while she wasn't one of my top favourites in TAC it was really nice to hear what she had to say about the business, about her way to success and so on!
When that was done, I collected my things and walked down to Bayswater Road, where I had to wait a while for the 274 bus toward Islington Angel. It was quite nice to take a bus ride where I'd never gone in London before, so the ride didn't feel like it took any time at all, although I think it is a fair bit to travel to get to Regent's Park and London Zoo.
I got off at the right bus stop and they had signs toward the Zoo, but it was about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to the entrance. I was going to use my London Pass but had no idea how that worked, so I ended up going to the wrong place. It was no big deal, I was there just after they had opened, so there weren't a lot of people around and I could easily go back and head for the correct place.
I think I will be making a separate entry about the London Pass, because I really like the idea, and it was so smooth, they just swipe it through a machine and you're in! :-)
The Zoo was amazing of course, and I can't go into details about everything I did or saw!
They did do a bit of work, construction work and maintenance work, so you were allowed in all areas, which of course felt a bit sad - but I guess that a zoo that big always have to do something like that.
I was a bit disappointed that they had closed off a fair bit of the 'Outback' Area, where they had wallabies and emus, you could see them, but at a great distance ... would have loved to go closer there!
Also, there were no tigers at the zoo at the point. They were building a brand new, really large, habitat for the tigers, as they are running a major campaign to save the tigers, and while that was being done, the tigers had been transferred to another zoo ...
There were however, tons of other really cool stuff to look at. Lots and lots of different species of monkeys, the lions were really impressive, the have a new huge penguin pool that was awesome, the giraffes were totally cool ... the list goes on and on and on.
I didn't have time to go to all areas of the zoo, which was a shame when I had made my way there, but I had to collect my tickets for Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre around 2 p.m. - and I had no idea how long it would take me to get from the Zoo to Haymarket (knew I had at least one bus change on the way).
I walked around checking out the animals until about 12.15, then ended up in the souvenir shop - very very dangerous!!! I could easily have spent a fortune, all those ADORABLE stuffed animals, and other cool stuff they had ... wow!
I ended up buying the most gorgeous looking tiger as well as a cool magnet and some small presents, before heading out.
And then I couldn't find the exit! *lol* The signs weren't that easy to understand actually and I ended up walking another way, but found a very small exit there - and it was marked exit, it wasn't like I jumped a fence or something! :-)
Luckily for me, that entrance was just next to the bus stop!
Took a bus to Baker Street Station (and felt a bit guilty that I still haven't read any Sherlock Holmes books, meaning the only thing I know is that he lived at 221B Baker Street ... I think?? *embarrassed* ), and changed to another bus, which took me all the way down to Haymarket.
I still had a little time to spend so I went up to the HMV store and bought the cool Millennium DVD Box :-) before going back to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Collecting the tickets went quick and they had already opened the theatre so I bought programme/souvenir brochure at once and went to find my seat.
Won't say more of Phantom now, as I will write a separate review on it later on.
When the musical was over I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (it was now about 5.30 p.m.) - oops! Headed up to Marble Arch had a late lunch/dinner at McDonald's, checked out some souvenir shops on Oxford Street and then went back to the hotel.
Monday, 1 October 2012
Photos - Day 3
First, some photos from Trafalgar Square.
And from Marble Arch (with the typical phonebooth!):
Around Queen's Theatre (Shaftesbury Avenue) before Les Misérables:
And photos from the no. 23 bus (first one from somewhere between The Royal Courts of Justice and St. Paul's Cathedral, then from St. Paul's Cathedral and last from somewhere between St. Paul's Cathedral and Charing Cross - all photos taken from the bus):
And from Marble Arch (with the typical phonebooth!):
Around Queen's Theatre (Shaftesbury Avenue) before Les Misérables:
And photos from the no. 23 bus (first one from somewhere between The Royal Courts of Justice and St. Paul's Cathedral, then from St. Paul's Cathedral and last from somewhere between St. Paul's Cathedral and Charing Cross - all photos taken from the bus):
Day 3 - September 26
I didn't sleep very well the second night in London, and I woke up not feeling that great. I decided to take it easy in the morning and try to get myself in better shape in order to face the day, so decided to skip breakfast (which was served between 7.30 and 8.45 a.m.) and get a bit of a late start.
I went out about 9.30 in the morning, and it took a while to find the buses going into town ... as usual in London the buses travel different streets in different directions - which is a bit confusing at times. I did however find the bus stop without problems and went from Praed Street down to Charing Cross Station to pick up my London pass. The directions I had gotten were both very detailed but at the same a bit vague (yup, definitely confusing) but it turned out the address was a ticket booth where you, for instance, could buy cheap musical theatre tickets, but if you went downstairs, through some quite terrifying stairs, you ended up at the London Pass Desks! I collected my pass without any problems at all, and went to photograph a bit around Trafalgar Square.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great, so I didn't take a lot of photos, and I only used my small camera (am I a bit more scared for the larger camera, with regards to damages from humidity).
I walked up to Leicester Square and walked around there, found a (rather small) HMV there (dvds, books, games, cds - great store!!) but I didn't find much. The only thing I really fancied was a dvd box with all three seasons of Millennium, but I didn't buy anything in the end.
I took a bus from there to Marble Arch and had some lunch, walked along Oxford Street a bit, and went into the Disney Store! Apparently it's a new store, different from the one Annika and I went to in 2009, but they had tons of lovely stuff, already starting to prepare for Christmas with fantastic gifts already wrapped up!
It's difficult in these kinds of stores, I think, because there are lots and lots of things you want, but everything is so expensive, the question is: do you want it that much??! I ended up buying nothing at all! :-)
From the Disney Store I took a bus to Regent Street and went to Hamley's - the most amazing toy store!! It's absolutely fantastic, and I walked up most floors and checked it out, although I didn't buy anything!
Walked down to Piccadilly Circus and continued up Shaftesbury Avenue, even though it was a bit early. I took some photographs outside the Queens Theatre, and realized the Box Office was in fact open.
Collected my tickets, very smooth, and by the time I had done that, they had opened the theatre and I could go in. Bought a programme + souvenir brochure before I found my seat in Stalls. And what a seat?!?!?!?!!?
A 10!!!!
First row, basically in the middle (a little to the side!)!! Fantastic!!
I will make a separate entry on the Les Misérables show, so I won't go into that here now ... stay tuned! :-)
Les Miz wasn't over until about 5.30 p.m. but the weather was clearing up, so I took a bus to Liverpool Street, bought some snacks and took another bus back - got seats on the top floor at the front, and had planned to do some photographing from there (great angles!!)!
I got some photos of St. Paul's Cathedral - but after that the traffic came to a complete and utter STOP!! We basically didn't move at all, and by the time the traffic let up and we were closing in on Trafalgar Square, it was too dark to photograph! :-(
The trip from Liverpool Street Station to Sussex Gardens (normally about an hour) took nearly two hours, and by the time I got to the hotel, I was pretty worn out!
I went out about 9.30 in the morning, and it took a while to find the buses going into town ... as usual in London the buses travel different streets in different directions - which is a bit confusing at times. I did however find the bus stop without problems and went from Praed Street down to Charing Cross Station to pick up my London pass. The directions I had gotten were both very detailed but at the same a bit vague (yup, definitely confusing) but it turned out the address was a ticket booth where you, for instance, could buy cheap musical theatre tickets, but if you went downstairs, through some quite terrifying stairs, you ended up at the London Pass Desks! I collected my pass without any problems at all, and went to photograph a bit around Trafalgar Square.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great, so I didn't take a lot of photos, and I only used my small camera (am I a bit more scared for the larger camera, with regards to damages from humidity).
I walked up to Leicester Square and walked around there, found a (rather small) HMV there (dvds, books, games, cds - great store!!) but I didn't find much. The only thing I really fancied was a dvd box with all three seasons of Millennium, but I didn't buy anything in the end.
I took a bus from there to Marble Arch and had some lunch, walked along Oxford Street a bit, and went into the Disney Store! Apparently it's a new store, different from the one Annika and I went to in 2009, but they had tons of lovely stuff, already starting to prepare for Christmas with fantastic gifts already wrapped up!
It's difficult in these kinds of stores, I think, because there are lots and lots of things you want, but everything is so expensive, the question is: do you want it that much??! I ended up buying nothing at all! :-)
From the Disney Store I took a bus to Regent Street and went to Hamley's - the most amazing toy store!! It's absolutely fantastic, and I walked up most floors and checked it out, although I didn't buy anything!
Walked down to Piccadilly Circus and continued up Shaftesbury Avenue, even though it was a bit early. I took some photographs outside the Queens Theatre, and realized the Box Office was in fact open.
Collected my tickets, very smooth, and by the time I had done that, they had opened the theatre and I could go in. Bought a programme + souvenir brochure before I found my seat in Stalls. And what a seat?!?!?!?!!?
A 10!!!!
First row, basically in the middle (a little to the side!)!! Fantastic!!
I will make a separate entry on the Les Misérables show, so I won't go into that here now ... stay tuned! :-)
Les Miz wasn't over until about 5.30 p.m. but the weather was clearing up, so I took a bus to Liverpool Street, bought some snacks and took another bus back - got seats on the top floor at the front, and had planned to do some photographing from there (great angles!!)!
I got some photos of St. Paul's Cathedral - but after that the traffic came to a complete and utter STOP!! We basically didn't move at all, and by the time the traffic let up and we were closing in on Trafalgar Square, it was too dark to photograph! :-(
The trip from Liverpool Street Station to Sussex Gardens (normally about an hour) took nearly two hours, and by the time I got to the hotel, I was pretty worn out!
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Day 2 - September 25
I slept surprisingly well the first night, and woke up early - which was good. I usually didn't have much energy at nights to deal with what had happened during the day, and since I often woke up early, I could take some time in the mornings to go through the day before and also to prepare myself for the day that was in front of me. Not bad at all! :-)
I went down to breakfast at about 7.50 a.m., it was nice that a continental breakfast was included in the price of the hotel room and I have to say, for a continental breakfast at a relatively cheap hotel, it was quite satisfactory - we got cereal and milk, juice, toast, ham & cheese, boiled eggs and coffee/tea. Quite nice and quite sufficient ... I'm not the kind of person that can cope with a "Full English Breakfast" at 7.30 in the morning!! :-)
I went back to my room to collect my things but was out and about at around 8.20 a.m.
I took a walk down to Bayswater Road and went into Hyde Park at the Victoria Gate - what a perfect way to start the first day in London! The weather was absolutely perfect, it was quite chilly (which I like!) but the sun was out and it was a beautiful clear blue sky! I took a long and quite calm walk through Hyde Park, down to the "end" of the Serpentine, ended up in an adorable little Rose Garden, where I actually made a friend! :-) There are lots and lots of cute little squirrels in the parks of London, and when I was about to walk out of the Rose Garden I spotted one next to a tree, quite close to the path I was on. I stopped, and then he rose up on his hind legs, looking SO cute! I grabbed the camera and took some photos, and then he decided to come closer (people feed them all the time, so they are not at all as shy and jittery as the squirrels we have here!) ... and closer ... and closer ... and ended up jumping up on a pole right in front of me!! So adorable!! I wish I had had something to give him ....
Since the weather was still good, and they had said it would be worse during the afternoon and the following day, I really felt I should try to go on London Eye - felt like it would be more fun to go if it was sunny than if it rained ... and then I just completely made a fool of myself - well, almost anyway.
I guess I can blame it on the fact that it's been a while since I been to London and this was my first day, or something - but I ended up thinking sooo wrong!
So, I was down at Hyde Park Corner, and needed to get to Parliament Square - by bus (still haven't mastered the underground, but I will hopefully get back to that in another entry!)! Felt like, no, probably no buses will take me straight there ... maybe I can catch a bus from Oxford Street. Yeah right, it's actually quite a bit to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Oxford Street ...
After having walked for a while I realized, I'm not sure that there are any buses going all the way from Oxford Street (technically Marble Arch) to Parliament Square ... but I do know that bus no. 12 stops at Parliament Square. One problem, it starts at Oxford Circus! Okay, maybe I can take a "short-cut", walk straight through and come out at Regent Street, and catch the no. 12 bus from there.
(Yes, no need to tell me, I just thought about it all the wrong way!!)
This is what I in the end actually did, which was madness. It was so far to go, and all the streets in London are like a giant big maze, nothing just cuts straight across. What I also hadn't thought of was that I'd be crossing right through Mayfair - which is this really posh area of central London where all the high-fashion boutiques are ... boy, did I feel out of place!!??!!
I finally ended up at Regent Street, but my feet were absolutely killing me at this point. Naturally, I went the wrong way on Regent Street and ended up having to walk all the way up to Oxford Circus, before I could finally get on a bus and rest my feet for a little while.
I got off the bus at Parliament Square, and I really really love that place, it's amazing!! I ended up taking quite a lot of photos there, then walked across Westminster Bridge and took even more photos! ;-)
I walked over to London Eye - and learned something else there! If you want to visit London Eye, no matter when, book a ticket in advance!!! There, lesson learned!
The queues were really long, although I have to say I am surprised that it didn't take longer time, at first I thought I'd be standing in line until late in the afternoon! Once I had gotten my ticket and got out of the ticket office, it turned out there was another queue to get on the actual wheel.
But, again, it went pretty smoothly and it didn't require as much waiting as I thought it would.
When we approached the wheel they had a full security check with body scanners and the whole nine yards - again, I realize the necessity and I think it is good, but it does still make me a bit uncomfortable!
I was also quite surprised about the fact that they don't stop the wheel for people to get on and off (had actually wondered about that before as well), they have this really long ramp and the put people in different lines and you basically have get on (or off) while the pod you are in is still moving! I mean, it's not moving fast or anything, and they can stop the wheel if it's needed, but I got a bit stressed about that, so it felt a bit scary to get on (but it worked out quite well).
The tour on London Eye was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, it was absolutely fantastic!! I took a ton of photos and, to my surprise, I didn't even feel uncomfortable about the hight!! I usually get dizzy if I have to climb a kitchen chair, I don't dare to walk the roof on our summerhouse, which is low and fairly flat, but riding this giant wheel, which is 135 meters (!), was quite all right! :-)
I won't go on and on about it, but the half hour it takes for the wheel to go around went way to quickly and I gladly would have stayed in there and gone one more time! :)
However, my feet were hurting before and after having stood still (well almost, you can move around in that pod, but not that much), both waiting in line and on the wheel, I really really needed a rest!
I took a short break, but for some reason I didn't feel like I could just sit still and do nothing ... so I started walking again! :-)
Went over Westminster Bridge, took more photos, went over by Westminster Abbey, and took photos and continued to walk along Victoria Street and tried to find New Scotland Yard, with the cool sign outside ... but no luck! According to the map I should have walked right passed it, but I didn't see it! :( Continued a bit along Victoria Street and turned at Buckingham Gate, and walked up to Buckingham Palace! It's really an impressive sight to see, that's for sure. Walked around there for a bit, and took some photos (duh! what else?! *lol*). The flag was raised so The Queen was apparently there!
From Buckingham Palace I went to St. James' Park, I really like the parks in London! :-) Walked there for a while, went over the bridge and finally found a bench to sit down (by this time, I thought my feet were about to fall off!!). Didn't sit long though, as a few benches over there was this extraordinary old man, feeding the squirrels and the pigeons and the other birds from his hands. It was the most amazing thing, the squirrels jumped up on his knee and ate from his hand!! Other people were taking pictures, and so of course I had to get up and do the same! :-)
And then I continued walking ... Apparently the path I was on was closed due to construction work, so I walked back, crossed the bridge again and continued toward Whitehall - and I met the Pelicans! *lol* They are totally cool!! :-)
Walked passed the Horse Guards and onto Whitehall, and further up to Trafalgar Square. At this point I also realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and maybe a meal, and a place to sit down, and a bathroom, would be a good thing. But of course, once you start looking, you don't find it!!
I had in mind that there was a McDonald's low on Regent Street, near Piccadilly Circus, so I took a bus from Trafalgar Square - but of course I didn't find it!! By this time I wasn't feeling well at all, so I took another bus to Oxford Street and figured I'd have to be able to find a burger on Oxford Street ... yeah, well ... sort of ...
Found a sign for McDonald's at Bond Street Station, went in and found it eventually. It was really hectic and stressful but I placed my order, and saw that they had "seating downstairs". Okay, down some really horrible stairs (with my feet barely working and balancing a huge tray that was not easy) only to find like 7 tables, all totally crowded, and no restroom!!! Gahhhh!
I had to eat my burger standing up, still hadn't found a bathroom and it was hardly the relaxing break I had been hoping for, that's for sure!!!
It was still fairly early, but I really didn't know what to do ... my feet were not in a good shape, and I had eaten so fast I felt sick - but I still didn't want to just "go home". I ended up taking a bus out to Queensway and went there for a little while, headed over to Kensington Gardens, but it felt like the rain was going to start any minute, and I really really didn't feel like walking any more - I was seriously scared I would injure my feet to the point where I wouldn't be able to walk much at all for the rest of the trip, not good! - so even though it was rather early, I went back to the hotel and tried to relax a bit.
I went down to breakfast at about 7.50 a.m., it was nice that a continental breakfast was included in the price of the hotel room and I have to say, for a continental breakfast at a relatively cheap hotel, it was quite satisfactory - we got cereal and milk, juice, toast, ham & cheese, boiled eggs and coffee/tea. Quite nice and quite sufficient ... I'm not the kind of person that can cope with a "Full English Breakfast" at 7.30 in the morning!! :-)
I went back to my room to collect my things but was out and about at around 8.20 a.m.
I took a walk down to Bayswater Road and went into Hyde Park at the Victoria Gate - what a perfect way to start the first day in London! The weather was absolutely perfect, it was quite chilly (which I like!) but the sun was out and it was a beautiful clear blue sky! I took a long and quite calm walk through Hyde Park, down to the "end" of the Serpentine, ended up in an adorable little Rose Garden, where I actually made a friend! :-) There are lots and lots of cute little squirrels in the parks of London, and when I was about to walk out of the Rose Garden I spotted one next to a tree, quite close to the path I was on. I stopped, and then he rose up on his hind legs, looking SO cute! I grabbed the camera and took some photos, and then he decided to come closer (people feed them all the time, so they are not at all as shy and jittery as the squirrels we have here!) ... and closer ... and closer ... and ended up jumping up on a pole right in front of me!! So adorable!! I wish I had had something to give him ....
Since the weather was still good, and they had said it would be worse during the afternoon and the following day, I really felt I should try to go on London Eye - felt like it would be more fun to go if it was sunny than if it rained ... and then I just completely made a fool of myself - well, almost anyway.
I guess I can blame it on the fact that it's been a while since I been to London and this was my first day, or something - but I ended up thinking sooo wrong!
So, I was down at Hyde Park Corner, and needed to get to Parliament Square - by bus (still haven't mastered the underground, but I will hopefully get back to that in another entry!)! Felt like, no, probably no buses will take me straight there ... maybe I can catch a bus from Oxford Street. Yeah right, it's actually quite a bit to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Oxford Street ...
After having walked for a while I realized, I'm not sure that there are any buses going all the way from Oxford Street (technically Marble Arch) to Parliament Square ... but I do know that bus no. 12 stops at Parliament Square. One problem, it starts at Oxford Circus! Okay, maybe I can take a "short-cut", walk straight through and come out at Regent Street, and catch the no. 12 bus from there.
(Yes, no need to tell me, I just thought about it all the wrong way!!)
This is what I in the end actually did, which was madness. It was so far to go, and all the streets in London are like a giant big maze, nothing just cuts straight across. What I also hadn't thought of was that I'd be crossing right through Mayfair - which is this really posh area of central London where all the high-fashion boutiques are ... boy, did I feel out of place!!??!!
I finally ended up at Regent Street, but my feet were absolutely killing me at this point. Naturally, I went the wrong way on Regent Street and ended up having to walk all the way up to Oxford Circus, before I could finally get on a bus and rest my feet for a little while.
I got off the bus at Parliament Square, and I really really love that place, it's amazing!! I ended up taking quite a lot of photos there, then walked across Westminster Bridge and took even more photos! ;-)
I walked over to London Eye - and learned something else there! If you want to visit London Eye, no matter when, book a ticket in advance!!! There, lesson learned!
The queues were really long, although I have to say I am surprised that it didn't take longer time, at first I thought I'd be standing in line until late in the afternoon! Once I had gotten my ticket and got out of the ticket office, it turned out there was another queue to get on the actual wheel.
But, again, it went pretty smoothly and it didn't require as much waiting as I thought it would.
When we approached the wheel they had a full security check with body scanners and the whole nine yards - again, I realize the necessity and I think it is good, but it does still make me a bit uncomfortable!
I was also quite surprised about the fact that they don't stop the wheel for people to get on and off (had actually wondered about that before as well), they have this really long ramp and the put people in different lines and you basically have get on (or off) while the pod you are in is still moving! I mean, it's not moving fast or anything, and they can stop the wheel if it's needed, but I got a bit stressed about that, so it felt a bit scary to get on (but it worked out quite well).
The tour on London Eye was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, it was absolutely fantastic!! I took a ton of photos and, to my surprise, I didn't even feel uncomfortable about the hight!! I usually get dizzy if I have to climb a kitchen chair, I don't dare to walk the roof on our summerhouse, which is low and fairly flat, but riding this giant wheel, which is 135 meters (!), was quite all right! :-)
I won't go on and on about it, but the half hour it takes for the wheel to go around went way to quickly and I gladly would have stayed in there and gone one more time! :)
However, my feet were hurting before and after having stood still (well almost, you can move around in that pod, but not that much), both waiting in line and on the wheel, I really really needed a rest!
I took a short break, but for some reason I didn't feel like I could just sit still and do nothing ... so I started walking again! :-)
Went over Westminster Bridge, took more photos, went over by Westminster Abbey, and took photos and continued to walk along Victoria Street and tried to find New Scotland Yard, with the cool sign outside ... but no luck! According to the map I should have walked right passed it, but I didn't see it! :( Continued a bit along Victoria Street and turned at Buckingham Gate, and walked up to Buckingham Palace! It's really an impressive sight to see, that's for sure. Walked around there for a bit, and took some photos (duh! what else?! *lol*). The flag was raised so The Queen was apparently there!
From Buckingham Palace I went to St. James' Park, I really like the parks in London! :-) Walked there for a while, went over the bridge and finally found a bench to sit down (by this time, I thought my feet were about to fall off!!). Didn't sit long though, as a few benches over there was this extraordinary old man, feeding the squirrels and the pigeons and the other birds from his hands. It was the most amazing thing, the squirrels jumped up on his knee and ate from his hand!! Other people were taking pictures, and so of course I had to get up and do the same! :-)
And then I continued walking ... Apparently the path I was on was closed due to construction work, so I walked back, crossed the bridge again and continued toward Whitehall - and I met the Pelicans! *lol* They are totally cool!! :-)
Walked passed the Horse Guards and onto Whitehall, and further up to Trafalgar Square. At this point I also realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and maybe a meal, and a place to sit down, and a bathroom, would be a good thing. But of course, once you start looking, you don't find it!!
I had in mind that there was a McDonald's low on Regent Street, near Piccadilly Circus, so I took a bus from Trafalgar Square - but of course I didn't find it!! By this time I wasn't feeling well at all, so I took another bus to Oxford Street and figured I'd have to be able to find a burger on Oxford Street ... yeah, well ... sort of ...
Found a sign for McDonald's at Bond Street Station, went in and found it eventually. It was really hectic and stressful but I placed my order, and saw that they had "seating downstairs". Okay, down some really horrible stairs (with my feet barely working and balancing a huge tray that was not easy) only to find like 7 tables, all totally crowded, and no restroom!!! Gahhhh!
I had to eat my burger standing up, still hadn't found a bathroom and it was hardly the relaxing break I had been hoping for, that's for sure!!!
It was still fairly early, but I really didn't know what to do ... my feet were not in a good shape, and I had eaten so fast I felt sick - but I still didn't want to just "go home". I ended up taking a bus out to Queensway and went there for a little while, headed over to Kensington Gardens, but it felt like the rain was going to start any minute, and I really really didn't feel like walking any more - I was seriously scared I would injure my feet to the point where I wouldn't be able to walk much at all for the rest of the trip, not good! - so even though it was rather early, I went back to the hotel and tried to relax a bit.
Day 1 - September 24
I didn't have to leave home until about noon, as I had an afternoon flight to London, and that felt really good!
I wasn't in great shape as a lot had been happening just before the trip, and I didn't feel as prepared to go as I would have wanted, and so it was very nice not to be able to rush away at the crack of dawn.
I had everything packed and was on my way just before noon, took a bus to the railway station and a train to Lund. Had to wait there for about 40 minutes for the Airport transfer bus - I guess I could have taken a later train, but I felt I didn't want to take a chance in case that train was late.
Everything went well, I had bought my bus ticket (return ticket) online, and all I had to do was hold the printed code on my E-ticket against a reader in the bus and that was it.
The busride took about 40 minutes, and we arrived at Malmö Sturup almost exactly at 2 p.m. My flight was due to leave at 4.40, so I figured the check-in desks would open about 2.40. Still, I'd rather have the wait, as I was insecure on pretty much everything, than have to rush and feel totally stressed out.
I had some waiting to do, ended up sitting next to this woman who started chatting with me. At first it was rather nice, took some of the stress away from me, but as she went on and on and on, it became a bit annoying after a while. She didn't have any luggage to check in so right before 3 p.m. I went over to the check-in desks, basically the whole area was completely deserted, it felt almost spooky ... occasionally one or two people came, but I'm kind of used to airports being crowded ... Still, realizing there was no one in line (!) for the check-in, I made my way there and was through without a hitch!
After that came the security checks, and for some reason they always make me nervous ... I know I don't have anything dangerous with me and that it shouldn't be a problem, but I still get really stressed out! The lady before me "beeped" going through the scanner, and that of course made me even more nervous, but nothing happened to me, and I could just grab my bag and go - nice!
I had some waiting to do, but again it felt good to be on time, especially since it took me a great long while to actually find the gate! *lol* Apparently they had hidden away a number of gates for abroad travel behind the major passport controls, but it took me a few walks around the terminal to figure that out! :-)
The passport control was closed, but I didn't have to wait long before it opened, and from there we were sent directly to the gate for further checks on boarding cards/passports.
A bit more waiting there, but the way they organized the waiting areas with Priority Boarding and Other was very good. I have a bit of a regret here though ... I felt a bit nervous and stressed out over the whole travelling thing, since it was a long time ago since the last time and also, I pretty much have never done it on my own before - so as soon as people started lining up I joined in. However, our gate was at the very end of the terminal, and just a few meters from where we were waiting was this big room with great windows facing the runway - and there were a few planes taking off and landing as we waited. Had I kept my cool a bit I think I could have gotten some awesome photos ...
Boarding went very quickly, and I got a good seat at the window, and apparently the flight wasn't full, because nobody sat in the seat next to me - which was quite nice as the Ryanair planes are quite tight normally!
The flight went really well, though the weather in Malmö when we took off wasn't great, stormy and rainy ... it was a bit turbulent taking off and you didn't see much either as the clouds were really low. However, once we were above the clouds, the flight went well, and quick!! We landed at Stansted Airport (quite windy, though no rain) about half an hour early! Yikes!
I had actually almost forgotten how long it takes to walk from the gates at Stansted and into the mail building for the Passport control, it's quite a bit to walk, but I was quick off the plane and there weren't that many people in line for the Passport control ... and the guy there just scanned my Passport, said thank you and that was it! :-) Figured I had to wait a while for my luggage though, but after only a few minutes my flight was up on the monitors. Figured then that I probably had to wait a while for my bag ... well, bag number 3 or 4 that came was mine! Incredible!!
Took a short bathroom break before heading down to the Stansted Express platforms where I quickly found the ticket machines and was going to pick up my tickets. The first thing I had to do was put in my credit card (for verification purposes only, as I had already paid when I bought the tickets online. And the machine simply refused to take my card no matter how hard I tried. I figured that I had to try another machine before seeking assistance, and yes, the other machine happily accepted my credit card and my reference number and gave me my tickets! :-)
A train was standing on the platform, but I figured it was the 6 p.m.-train and it was basically 6 p.m. so I figured I'd take it easy and wait for the next train (they leave every 15 minutes), but all of a sudden there was this ticket controller-looking guy there, quickly checked my ticket and said that I should hurry, it was this train here and it was about to leave - so before I knew it I was on the 6 o'clock train toward London Liverpool Street!
Pretty amazing considering we were supposed to land at Stansted Airport at 5.30 (we landed about 5 though, but still...)!!
There were a lot of people on the train, I had to stand all the way to Tottenham Hale and I was quite tired, but the last stretch was kind of nice - it was nice to sit down (!) and the weather had cleared up so I watched a beautiful sunset as we were coming in toward London!
We arrived at Liverpool Street at 6.50 and I was really happy to already have my Travel Card, as all I had to do was make my way up to the buses, and within five minutes came a bus 23! The bus trip wasn't so great though ... a lot of people on the bus, it was getting really dark, and was a bit stressed out about my hotel. As you may have read here in a previous post, there was a bit of drama regarding my booking, and I felt that I really needed the hotel to work out as I was going to stay for so long ...
I managed to get off at the right bus stop (Sussex Gardens) and after a little bit of looking around it turned out that the hotel was only about 100 meters from the bus stop - amazing!!
Checking in went supersmooth, I just filled in a form, paid for the room and got my keycard, and that was it. Took the elevator to the second floor and found room 201 just around the corner from the elevator. And realized there was no slot to put your keycard in .... Panicked a little bit, until I realized that it was a touch-keycard, so all you had to do was hold the card against the lock on the handle of the door, a green light blinked and you were in! :-)
The room was really really small, which I was quite prepared for, but it was so nice and clean and fresh and had everything I needed! The view from the windows wasn't very exciting (lol!) - see photos for that - but hey, I didn't go to London to sit in my hotel room and look out the window, right?!
I was completely exhausted but it felt amazing and absolutely fantastic that the entire day had gone without a hitch! Marvellous!!
I wasn't in great shape as a lot had been happening just before the trip, and I didn't feel as prepared to go as I would have wanted, and so it was very nice not to be able to rush away at the crack of dawn.
I had everything packed and was on my way just before noon, took a bus to the railway station and a train to Lund. Had to wait there for about 40 minutes for the Airport transfer bus - I guess I could have taken a later train, but I felt I didn't want to take a chance in case that train was late.
Everything went well, I had bought my bus ticket (return ticket) online, and all I had to do was hold the printed code on my E-ticket against a reader in the bus and that was it.
The busride took about 40 minutes, and we arrived at Malmö Sturup almost exactly at 2 p.m. My flight was due to leave at 4.40, so I figured the check-in desks would open about 2.40. Still, I'd rather have the wait, as I was insecure on pretty much everything, than have to rush and feel totally stressed out.
I had some waiting to do, ended up sitting next to this woman who started chatting with me. At first it was rather nice, took some of the stress away from me, but as she went on and on and on, it became a bit annoying after a while. She didn't have any luggage to check in so right before 3 p.m. I went over to the check-in desks, basically the whole area was completely deserted, it felt almost spooky ... occasionally one or two people came, but I'm kind of used to airports being crowded ... Still, realizing there was no one in line (!) for the check-in, I made my way there and was through without a hitch!
After that came the security checks, and for some reason they always make me nervous ... I know I don't have anything dangerous with me and that it shouldn't be a problem, but I still get really stressed out! The lady before me "beeped" going through the scanner, and that of course made me even more nervous, but nothing happened to me, and I could just grab my bag and go - nice!
I had some waiting to do, but again it felt good to be on time, especially since it took me a great long while to actually find the gate! *lol* Apparently they had hidden away a number of gates for abroad travel behind the major passport controls, but it took me a few walks around the terminal to figure that out! :-)
The passport control was closed, but I didn't have to wait long before it opened, and from there we were sent directly to the gate for further checks on boarding cards/passports.
A bit more waiting there, but the way they organized the waiting areas with Priority Boarding and Other was very good. I have a bit of a regret here though ... I felt a bit nervous and stressed out over the whole travelling thing, since it was a long time ago since the last time and also, I pretty much have never done it on my own before - so as soon as people started lining up I joined in. However, our gate was at the very end of the terminal, and just a few meters from where we were waiting was this big room with great windows facing the runway - and there were a few planes taking off and landing as we waited. Had I kept my cool a bit I think I could have gotten some awesome photos ...
Boarding went very quickly, and I got a good seat at the window, and apparently the flight wasn't full, because nobody sat in the seat next to me - which was quite nice as the Ryanair planes are quite tight normally!
The flight went really well, though the weather in Malmö when we took off wasn't great, stormy and rainy ... it was a bit turbulent taking off and you didn't see much either as the clouds were really low. However, once we were above the clouds, the flight went well, and quick!! We landed at Stansted Airport (quite windy, though no rain) about half an hour early! Yikes!
I had actually almost forgotten how long it takes to walk from the gates at Stansted and into the mail building for the Passport control, it's quite a bit to walk, but I was quick off the plane and there weren't that many people in line for the Passport control ... and the guy there just scanned my Passport, said thank you and that was it! :-) Figured I had to wait a while for my luggage though, but after only a few minutes my flight was up on the monitors. Figured then that I probably had to wait a while for my bag ... well, bag number 3 or 4 that came was mine! Incredible!!
Took a short bathroom break before heading down to the Stansted Express platforms where I quickly found the ticket machines and was going to pick up my tickets. The first thing I had to do was put in my credit card (for verification purposes only, as I had already paid when I bought the tickets online. And the machine simply refused to take my card no matter how hard I tried. I figured that I had to try another machine before seeking assistance, and yes, the other machine happily accepted my credit card and my reference number and gave me my tickets! :-)
A train was standing on the platform, but I figured it was the 6 p.m.-train and it was basically 6 p.m. so I figured I'd take it easy and wait for the next train (they leave every 15 minutes), but all of a sudden there was this ticket controller-looking guy there, quickly checked my ticket and said that I should hurry, it was this train here and it was about to leave - so before I knew it I was on the 6 o'clock train toward London Liverpool Street!
Pretty amazing considering we were supposed to land at Stansted Airport at 5.30 (we landed about 5 though, but still...)!!
There were a lot of people on the train, I had to stand all the way to Tottenham Hale and I was quite tired, but the last stretch was kind of nice - it was nice to sit down (!) and the weather had cleared up so I watched a beautiful sunset as we were coming in toward London!
We arrived at Liverpool Street at 6.50 and I was really happy to already have my Travel Card, as all I had to do was make my way up to the buses, and within five minutes came a bus 23! The bus trip wasn't so great though ... a lot of people on the bus, it was getting really dark, and was a bit stressed out about my hotel. As you may have read here in a previous post, there was a bit of drama regarding my booking, and I felt that I really needed the hotel to work out as I was going to stay for so long ...
I managed to get off at the right bus stop (Sussex Gardens) and after a little bit of looking around it turned out that the hotel was only about 100 meters from the bus stop - amazing!!
Checking in went supersmooth, I just filled in a form, paid for the room and got my keycard, and that was it. Took the elevator to the second floor and found room 201 just around the corner from the elevator. And realized there was no slot to put your keycard in .... Panicked a little bit, until I realized that it was a touch-keycard, so all you had to do was hold the card against the lock on the handle of the door, a green light blinked and you were in! :-)
The room was really really small, which I was quite prepared for, but it was so nice and clean and fresh and had everything I needed! The view from the windows wasn't very exciting (lol!) - see photos for that - but hey, I didn't go to London to sit in my hotel room and look out the window, right?!
I was completely exhausted but it felt amazing and absolutely fantastic that the entire day had gone without a hitch! Marvellous!!
Friday, 21 September 2012
Aiport Transfers
Things are actually insanely hectic right now, so unfortunately I'm not quite sure what I'm doing regarding London - and I'm not updating much here either.
This entry to to say, though, that I now have booked all my airport transfer tickets. I'll go with Swedish "Flygbussarna" from Lund to Malmö Sturup, have a return ticket there, valid from September 19 and three months on - so no worries on that!
I have also booked Stansted Express tickets for my English Airport Transfer - return ticket, valid from September 24 and 30 days on. I need to collect the Stansted Express tickets upon arriving at Stansted Airport but that shouldn't be a problem, basically you enter in a booking number in a machine and it gives you your ticket ... so I'm hoping I won't have any problems there! :-)
Still have a few things to fix regarding the London trip, and now I'll be away for two days - so yes, things are pretty stressed out right now!!
This entry to to say, though, that I now have booked all my airport transfer tickets. I'll go with Swedish "Flygbussarna" from Lund to Malmö Sturup, have a return ticket there, valid from September 19 and three months on - so no worries on that!
I have also booked Stansted Express tickets for my English Airport Transfer - return ticket, valid from September 24 and 30 days on. I need to collect the Stansted Express tickets upon arriving at Stansted Airport but that shouldn't be a problem, basically you enter in a booking number in a machine and it gives you your ticket ... so I'm hoping I won't have any problems there! :-)
Still have a few things to fix regarding the London trip, and now I'll be away for two days - so yes, things are pretty stressed out right now!!
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Travel Card - Part II
Since I was a bit worried about what to do regarding my travelling in London, I thought it best to make an update here!
I ended up ordering an 7 Day Travel Card online, which I think is a really good option, but I was really worried I wouldn't get it in time for my trip. I also had no opportunity to choose an insured delivery option, as I wouldn't be able to be at home, waiting to sign for the delivery ... it was a bit of a chance, but I felt I had to take it.
I ordered the travel card early early on Thursday morning, and during Thursday afternoon I got an email saying the travel card had just been sent, and if it didn't arrive within five working days I shouldn't contact them.
I was surprised, to say the least, to find an envelope from Boxoffice among the rest of my mail yesterday afternoon (Friday) - with my Travel Card!! :)
Cool!
It feels SO good to actually have the card with me when I go, so I don't have to think about that the first thing I do when I arrive in London.
I do know, however, that I really should take the underground from Liverpool Street station when I arrive - it's a bit longer walk from Edgeware Road Underground station to my hotel than from the bus stop, but the trip takes like 20 minutes .... in comparison with the bus which will take an hour.
Don't think I'll decide on that right now either, it feels a bit adventurous to try on the underground system for the first time ever when I have just arrived in London, it's a bit late at night, and I need to check in to the hotel as soon as possible - but still, if it cuts my travel time in half, it's certainly worth thinking about ...
I ended up ordering an 7 Day Travel Card online, which I think is a really good option, but I was really worried I wouldn't get it in time for my trip. I also had no opportunity to choose an insured delivery option, as I wouldn't be able to be at home, waiting to sign for the delivery ... it was a bit of a chance, but I felt I had to take it.
I ordered the travel card early early on Thursday morning, and during Thursday afternoon I got an email saying the travel card had just been sent, and if it didn't arrive within five working days I shouldn't contact them.
I was surprised, to say the least, to find an envelope from Boxoffice among the rest of my mail yesterday afternoon (Friday) - with my Travel Card!! :)
Cool!
It feels SO good to actually have the card with me when I go, so I don't have to think about that the first thing I do when I arrive in London.
I do know, however, that I really should take the underground from Liverpool Street station when I arrive - it's a bit longer walk from Edgeware Road Underground station to my hotel than from the bus stop, but the trip takes like 20 minutes .... in comparison with the bus which will take an hour.
Don't think I'll decide on that right now either, it feels a bit adventurous to try on the underground system for the first time ever when I have just arrived in London, it's a bit late at night, and I need to check in to the hotel as soon as possible - but still, if it cuts my travel time in half, it's certainly worth thinking about ...
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Travel Card
I've been thinking quite a bit about what to do regarding travelling in London. When I've been there before I have always gotten a "one day bus pass", as I'm not at all familiar with the underground in London (was a bit different when we were in New York, at least my Dad and I went on the subway all the time!) - but now that I tried to do some checking, I didn't find anything about a "bus pass", it was all Travel Cards or Oyster Cards.
Took me a while to try to familiarize myself with what was what and what I would need and what would be most economical, but in the end I decided a 7 Day Travel Card would probably be the best. It allows me to go on both buses and undergrounds, and it was cheaper to buy that than buy individual travel cards for each day.
Just one problem left. I don't get to London until rather late, the plane lands at Stanstead Airport at 5.30 p.m., meaning I won't be at Liverpool Street Station before say 7 p.m. - and I'll probably be both tired, suffering from my usual after-flight-headache (something about the pressure changes when flying always gives me a headache) and nervous about finding my way to the hotel, so I really don't want to have to start figuring out the London transport system there and then.
I found out (thanks Annika!!) that you could order a travel card online, and have them send it to you, which was great! I was however, a bit nervous that I'd be too late, that they wouldn't be able to get it to me before I leave! After careful reading it said you had to order 7 days before leaving, so that felt okay after all.
Next problem: choosing delivery.
They had one fairly cheap delivery, but without any guarantees if the package got lost in the mail, and one more expensive which was insured against basically anything. I felt that it would be worth going for the more expensive one, since it would be SO great to have my travel card when I arrive in London. But then I find out that if you choose the more expensive delivery you have to sign for the package when they deliver it, meaning basically you have sit at home and wait for them to arrive any time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. - and they couldn't even give you a definitive day!!
I have so much going on right now, there's no way I can just stay at home waiting for a delivery ... so in the end I ordered the cheaper delivery, ordered early this morning, and now let's all pray and hope that my travel card arrives before I leave!! *fingers crossed - and toes too!*
Took me a while to try to familiarize myself with what was what and what I would need and what would be most economical, but in the end I decided a 7 Day Travel Card would probably be the best. It allows me to go on both buses and undergrounds, and it was cheaper to buy that than buy individual travel cards for each day.
Just one problem left. I don't get to London until rather late, the plane lands at Stanstead Airport at 5.30 p.m., meaning I won't be at Liverpool Street Station before say 7 p.m. - and I'll probably be both tired, suffering from my usual after-flight-headache (something about the pressure changes when flying always gives me a headache) and nervous about finding my way to the hotel, so I really don't want to have to start figuring out the London transport system there and then.
I found out (thanks Annika!!) that you could order a travel card online, and have them send it to you, which was great! I was however, a bit nervous that I'd be too late, that they wouldn't be able to get it to me before I leave! After careful reading it said you had to order 7 days before leaving, so that felt okay after all.
Next problem: choosing delivery.
They had one fairly cheap delivery, but without any guarantees if the package got lost in the mail, and one more expensive which was insured against basically anything. I felt that it would be worth going for the more expensive one, since it would be SO great to have my travel card when I arrive in London. But then I find out that if you choose the more expensive delivery you have to sign for the package when they deliver it, meaning basically you have sit at home and wait for them to arrive any time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. - and they couldn't even give you a definitive day!!
I have so much going on right now, there's no way I can just stay at home waiting for a delivery ... so in the end I ordered the cheaper delivery, ordered early this morning, and now let's all pray and hope that my travel card arrives before I leave!! *fingers crossed - and toes too!*
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