Every so often we get invited to events and friend's birthday parties back in London. Most of the time the dates don't suit or the flights are just too expensive, but sometimes they aren't. The latter was the case for our friend Al's toga themed birthday party that he was sharing with his friend Jeff in London. We looked up flights, they were quite cheap to fly out on the Sat and back the Sunday, and then Sasha checked the flights on the Friday night - much the same, but Friday morning was €9.90 each on Ryanair! We leaped on them and got the Friday off from work, the idea being that we could easily fill the Friday in with all of what we still wanted to do in London, surely and make it a 3 day weekend while spending less money on the travelling. When we actually sat down and gave some thought as to what we still wanted to do, we kind of came up short - had we actually done everything we wanted to do in London already? we did come up with a few ideas and pre-planned some of it, but as it was a busy time around then with trying to find a new place to live and then moving into our new place those things were a bit less than important. We were offered accommodation at Al's house where the party would be, and at our friend Nat's place at Cahary Wharf where we stayed last time - after a little consideration we opted to take Nat up on her offer as it could be awkward at Al's if we wanted to sleep and the party was raging on. Sasha suddenly also had a work trip to London for the day the proceeding Wednesday, just for the day. This kind of trip is not unusual, but it was kind of ironic that Sasha would be going to London twice in the space of a week. After I had finished work and was at the supermarket I got a message from Sasha saying she might be spending the night in London - her and her colleague had missed their flight back to Berlin because of a signal failure on the track that their train to Heathrow (the Heathrow Express which takes about 15 minutes) and there was no other way for them to get to the airport in time. After a bit it became apparent the soonest available flights were Thursday afternoon - she would no sooner fly back to Berlin than we'd be off back to London first thing Friday morning. It made no sense for Sasha to fly back, especially since she could work remotely on Thursday in London so we decided she'd stay in London and we'd forgo her flight (it was only €9.90 after all!), and I would try and shoehorn all her stuff she needed with mine in my bag and take it across to London. Sasha had in the meantime made arrangements to stay at Al's because it was on the Piccadilly Line and so easy access to Heathrow - this was arranged when she thought she was still flying out Thursday sometime. She could have gotten a hotel which her work would have reimbursed her for but considering she could stay with friends and we didn't have to spend money and claim in back later, that was the better option. The only real thing was Sasha needed some clothes for Thursday but a quick shop to Primark solved that for her (and she picked up some rather nice stuff for dirt cheap too). There was less to pack and take than I had imagined, which was good - I took a small collapsible bag inside my main bag so that Sasha could put her stuff already in London in that plus my bag for the return journey. All that remained now was for me to get to London and join her! From our new place, the journey to Schoenefeld Airport was fairly straightforward and I nominally had two options - although the S-bahn to the airport would not start running for a while (since this was very early in the morning!) so I took the bus to the Ostbahnhof station and caught the airport express train. Got my visa check (since I was flying Ryanair), went through security and wondered whether I should get something for breakfast or hold on until London. I would get into London city about 9am their time, which would be 10am Berlin time and considering it was about 5am I figured I needed at least a little something so got a bircher muesli thing from one of the food places. Boarding of the Ryanair flight was all pretty usual, I had an aisle seat and knew the aisle seat across from me would be empty because that's where Sasha's seat had been allocated. Ryanair have an infuriating new policy of placing anyone on the same booking who does not pay extra for a seat far away from each other in order to force them to buy a seat - Ryanair say this is not true but the wealth of evidence suggests it is. Certainly all other times on Ryanair we've never paid for a seat but been seated next to each other, but upon checking in for our flights we were placed quite a way away from each other and on the return flight, the seats all around us were empty. So we'd paid to move one of us in the seat across the aisle from the other as that was the cheapest way of doing it, although one seat now would go unused! Stansted was quite busy when I arrived, and for the first time in a while that I can remember I had to queue and wait a while to pass through the border at Stansted rather than rock straight up to the immigration official. The agents on duty were really grilling some of the people - one guy was not giving a straight answer about when he was leaving the UK and eventually admitted that he had not booked a flight out of the country yet, that's why he didn't know. The lady took him to task and pointed out that its a condition of entry to the UK that he have a booked flight to leave, and I thought she was going to send him away to sort it out, somehow. But after more grilling, she eventually stamped his passport and let him through. I had the usual few questions and then I was on my way towards the train. I missed the 8am train to Liverpool Street Station which was just leaving as I got into it but the next one was in 15 minutes, and I managed to get myself a good seat. I also messaged Sasha - the train takes an hour so I knew what time I was arriving now, it was pretty close to what I'd estimated and Sasha began her travels to the station. The Stansted Express proved to be not very express this day and was very slow in the latter half, taking an odd route and we pulled into Liverpool St about half past 9. Sasha had troubles with the Piccadilly tube line having major issues, and so she'd been delayed also. Time for breakfast - Sasha suggested Ed's Diner, a place I liked a lot for their milkshakes and I readily agreed. An American style diner, I'd never had breakfast there but it was really good - and yes I got an Oreo shake also, but Sasha got a Chocolate one which was quite delicious. We then headed towards Al's place to get Sasha's belongings, but did a detour by going a bit further to Hammersmith in order to check out some of the op shops there for brooches which might go with our togas and help pin them together (we got two, both were cheap and really good) as well as look for other accessories (Sasha got a wicked headband which looked the part). Then to Al's, where we caught up with him over a cider while awaiting Nat's response and then we went to South Kensington to Nat's work to collect her house key. From there we trekked further on the tube and DLR to Nat's place, and dropped our things. We had an idea that we would visit the British Museum (we have been there before), but all the other stuff had taken quite some time already and we were going to the late night at the Zoo that evening, so we decided to put off going to the Museum. After re-arranging our things and had showers (it was a fairly hot day for London in the high-20's) and doing research about how we would get to the Zoo - I had the idea of going to Camden Lock and catching the Canal boat there, but turns out the tickets we had wouldn't let us ride the Canal boat so we flagged that idea. We headed out towards the Zoo via the tube, arriving not long after opening. We had been to a Science Museum "Lates" before together and I'd been to an additional one with some Britbound friends, so we had some expectation of what it might be like - but it wasn't quite the same as those, there wasn't much additional activities or exhibitions being put especially on, some of the enclosures were closed because of the animals night times but there was wine, beer and ciders to drink and in the heat we over-indulged in the wine. Al met us at the Zoo a bit later also, Nat was supposed to come but had forgotten to buy a ticket and when she remembered it was all sold out! It was good but not great on the whole, I'm glad to say I've done it but I wouldn't do it again and the Zoo itself, while it is definitely no longer the concrete jungle with too-small cages for animals (there were no pacing tracks in the tiger enclosure - so they are not bored at least!) there wasn't a lot of different animals there really and its not that big of a Zoo. We had fully intended to get some of the food on offer in the Zoo but that never happened, so we had dinner at a Pizza Express. I will admit that because of the aforementioned wine my memory is a bit patchy - I have no idea where that Pizza Express was, and afterwards on our way back to Nat's Sasha and I became separated on the DLR and we ended up at different stations (neither of which were the one we needed). Somehow I managed to get myself to Sasha's station, we found my Uber app would not accept any of my payment cars (no idea why) so we caught the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf and discovered that a lot of the bus stops were not operational. Wandering to find a bus stop buses would stop at took a long time, there were no taxi's floating around either and I think we ended up back at Nat's about 5am - certainly it was getting pretty light outside by this stage! We didn't get a lot of sleep before we got up and went and had breakfast with Nat, I think we were both feeling a bit under the weather but I certainly was. It wasn't super bad but certainly enough to be annoying! We did snooze a bit more after breakfast before getting up and heading out into London, possibly for the British Museum but definitely to check out the Maltby Street Market Nat had told us about and recommended. We found it, we bought one of the Goat Cheese and Honey sandwiches that Nat had recommended and it was brilliant - so much cheese! We also shared a chorizo scotch egg from another stall at the market, and had a Pims. By this stage I was feeling much better and the market had been very nice, definitely a hidden gem! We were rather close to Tower Bridge so we decided to wander there and then across it, and while we were walking across it the bridge started lifting and we watched a faux paddle boat go under the bridge. After walking across and having a sit down near the back of the Tower of London, we planned our next moves which was to go back to Nat's and get some drinks for that evening in the process. We had a few options - DLR from the nearby Tower Gateway (as the DLR from Bank was not running), go back across the river and catch the Jubilee Line - or, we could take one of the Thames Riverboats from Tower Pier to either the pier near Nat's flat or one stop further on to Greenwich which we reasoned should have better supermarket options. We opted for the latter, never having done it before. We needed the RB1 which was the only boat which stopped at Tower Pier - but it stops there in both directions so we needed the right direction. Turns out the very next one in a few minutes was in the right direction, and was also express to North Greenwich. We were the last ones on, and the boat was at full capacity so we stood on the rear platform in a spare spot. The boat was a fast ferry and had a lot of speed, which it kicked in with spectacular fashion a sufficient distance after we'd past under Tower Bridge and the wash from the jets started flicking back at a lot of the people seated at the back, dousing them! Sasha and I both got splashed a few times, which would have been fun except its dirty dirty Thames water. The trip from Tower Pier to North Greenwich was only about 10-12 minutes which was far far quicker than the half an hour it would have taken on the DLR or tube - however there was ferry congestion at North Greenwich and it was 10 minutes before our boat was able to berth at the pier for us to get off. It was quite hot, particularly for London and so we started going in search of supermarkets and ice cream - and found neither in Greenwich, most surprising. So we caught the DLR to Mudchute and went to the ASDA supermarket there, got the drinks (plus some safety pins for our togas) and caught the bus directly from the ASDA to Nat's as Sasha's feet were killing her in the sandals she was wearing. Not too long after we got back, Nat got back from the Library and we started talking about our plans for the evening. For dinner, Nat suggested we could get food from this cheap Asian restaurant in Greenwich and we could go to a park across the river and have it there. Sasha wasn't keen on walking through the tunnel so we thought we would have it on the Greenwich waterfront instead. So we caught the DLR to Greenwich, got our food at the Asian restaurant to take away and because Sasha and I were on the daily limit with our Oyster transport passes we talked about catching the DLR back one stop across the river to the park. In the end we walked through the Thames tunnel to the park, and ate our really tasty and filling food in the park at a picnic seat. Then we caught the DLR to Canary Wharf, changed to the Jubilee line and at Green Park changed to the Piccadilly line to get to Al's place for the toga party. We had a bit of a walk from the station at Baron's court as the cemetary was no longer open to cut through but this was ok. At the party, Sasha and I got changed into our toga gear in the lounge (where we were barged in on by 3 girls who wouldn't take "We're getting changed, don't come in" for an answer as we made the final adjustments to our outfits) and then we started mingling. The areas for the party were the small kitchen area and the outdoor space - we spent the majority of our time in the outdoor space as the kitchen was over-packed most of the time! There was also fireworks which Al let off about half ten, and even then only the big ones which were essentially skyrockets - the small backyard space was practically evacuated and everyone was standing in the side alley to the kitchen lest something go wrong, but it didn't. They were very impressive fireworks though! Somewhere around 1am Nat, Sasha and I decided to call it a night and we headed back to Nat's place using the night tube on the Jubilee line and then a bus as the DLR is not a part of the Night Tube scheme. It was quite pleasant knowing I was going to get a decent amount of sleep before waking up, unlike the previous night! Sasha and I were up at 9am to shower and pack our gear away, ready for a 10am departure with Nat to Kings Cross where we were going to have brunch with our friend Nicole. It took us slightly longer than we expected to get to Kings Cross as there was problems with the Jubilee Line so we caught a bus to Aldgate East and changed to the Tube there. Nicole had chosen the venue, a place called Caravan King's Cross in Granary Square and it turned out to be a brilliant venue - yummy food (I had the Jalapeno Cornbread with friend eggs, black beans, chipotle, lime and a heap of Avocado - Sasha and Nat both had this also) and we also sat outside in the glary, rather hot-but-not-too-hot sun. We talked for ages, and eventually migrated down to some astroturf-covered steps alongside the nearby canal and talked some more Nat and Nicole had to get on with their days. Sasha and I still had a bit of spare time before we were due to head to the airport, but couldn't really think of much to do and certainly nothing more we wanted to do in that time so we started making our way to Liverpool Street Station and had a bit of a look around there, as well as getting a milkshake from the Ed's Diner (where service was rather slow and it was rather hot inside) - we both got the Chocolate Milkshake, me eschewing my usual choice of the Oreo shake for once! By the time we'd had enough, it was just early enough for us to start making our way to Stansted Airport in order to arrive when check-in for our flight would be open. Not that we needed to check in, but we did need to get our Visa check (as it was Ryanair) and if our flight wasn't open for check in they might not let us get the Visa check. The journey to Stansted on the train was humdrum, although we did seem to go a different route than normal and even then a slightly different route than I had taken Friday morning for part of it. Visa Check was accomplished with little trouble, so then it was a matter of joining the hoardes for security. Stansted is, in my opinion, perhaps the worst airport in the UK for check-in security - it always seems to take forever. Gatwick is a breeze always, Heathrow can take some time but given its one of the world's busiest airports it can kind of be forgiven, the others you're not waiting long but Stansted is always a long wait. We watched a gentleman who clearly needed to get through the gates quickly in order to make his flight keep going to officials asking if he could get through, always to be told that he needed to go to Fast Track and get a pass, for him to reply that Fast Track had told him there were no passes left for purchase, and for the officials to say "Sorry but you'll need to talk to them". Eventually he joined the back of our mini queue which happened to be right next to Fast Track - there was no one checking whether the people coming in there were supposed to be going through Fast Track so he ended up doing what Sasha and I had already discussed is what we'd do in his situation - pass under the rope barrier and join the fast track queue. No one checked whether he should have been in that queue and he got through fairly quickly. Once we got through we joined the snaking throng of people winding past the shops, and were occasionally jostled by people running on their way to their gate (understandable if you've been waiting forever in the security queue and your flight has already started to board) before we doubled back, grabbed some Meal Deal food from the Boots Chemist to eat on the flight (nowadays much better quality than the stuff they have at the WH Smith) and found a seat to sit for a while until our gate got announced. Which it did after a time, we proceeded to the gate and found ourselves joining a forming line - which started moving forward about 5min later after those with Priority Boarding had been checked. Almost always with the likes of Ryanair, Priority boarding is an absolute rort - all it means is that you get to join the front of the queue for getting on the plane, but if you join the front of the normal queue you end up being right behind these people as you wait to get on the plane. And so this was - those Priority Boarding passengers just got to go ahead of everyone and stand in front of the big double doors at the end of the corridor, while we queued up behind and waited in the corridor some 20-30 minutes before the doors opened and we were able to board. Seriously if you are getting Priority Boarding because you are less mobile (which is one of the reasons why they tout it), being stuck in a corridor for 20-30mins with no seating and having a hoarde of passengers behind you is not what you want! We had a window seat and the seat next to it near the back of the plane (where it had been cheap) and although we saw very little of the UK in terms of land or features upon departure, we could see quite a bit as we came into land at Schoenefeld including a rather lovely sunset. From Schoenefeld, we caught the Airport Express train to the Ostbahnhof and then the bus from there to right near our new place. It certainly made it all very easy, and with that - journey done! It all worked out in the end, but what a funny start to the trip - it had echoes of the previous trip in March, where Sasha had already been in London and I met her there but we'd had some turmoil over flights, namely me getting to London thanks to airport strikes at Berlin. This time, Sasha had already been in London and I met her there, but we'd had a bit of turmoil over flights - Sasha missing hers back to Berlin a few days earlier! It all worked out for the best though and we had a good couple of days in London, with Sasha having a couple extra although just like the previous time she had to work during those extra days. It was fairly laid back also, we certainly did not try and pack a lot into the trip but we still managed to do a fair amount nonetheless. Once again it was very gracious of Nat to put us up for those few nights, and also for Al to put up Sasha at short notice. We had gone into the trip primarily to celebrate Al's birthday, but we also thought we had a lot of stuff we wanted to do in London and when we went to come up with a list of those things, well we kind of came up a little short. We even talked about seeing a Theatre show but didn't really know which one to pick as there was no obvious one that we hadn't already seen that we both really wanted to see and we never did anything about it. Have we done most of what there is to do generally in London? I know I kind of have on my list visiting Madam Tussauds and the Harry Potter Experience but neither of these things appealed this time and they kind of don't make me want to go out of my way to do them either strangely enough. Are we a bit Londoned out? Not sure. Everything was familar, kind of exciting to see again but you instantly get confronted by some of those London things you forgotten you hate - the always busy-to-crowded Tube no matter what the time of day, how slow the tube can actually be, how difficult walking along the footpaths with many people using them all the time can be and not the least of which, how noticeably dirty the air is. Berlin has a slower pace to things than London which is frenetic, but the pace in Berlin is about right. One last thing - when I was living in London, it was a city full of cranes in the air. Always always full of cranes, as new construction went up everywhere. This time, the cranes were noticeable by their absence - sure, there still were a few but there are definitely far fewer now than the entire time I was living there. Has Brexit knocked the confidence out of businesses from investing in new buildings in London, with those already under construction completed or nearly completed but no more going up until people know what's actually going to happen? maybe. I have said ever since I moved to London that cranes are a sign of a healthy city, a growing city with a healthy economy and people confident of investing in its future. Perhaps the lack of cranes is now a bad omen for London's future fortunes in the next few years, and by extension the UK as a whole? That's anyones guess right now. Only time will tell...
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A Kiwi out travelling in the UK and surrounding countries Archives
August 2019
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