Getting There and the First Few Days in London

Today I am actually indoors at my hostel in Vilnius, Lithuania as it is raining quite hard outside and I thought this would be a good day to do some posting of photos and present some evidence that I am actually on holiday somewhere and not just hiding out in my apartment pretending to be travelling.

                                            Chamberlain Street that is not the one I live on :-)

In the Beginning...

This trip featured something new for me - I travelled from Victoria Airport rather than using some other means of transportation over to Vancouver and leaving from there. On the one hand this was somewhat easier (particularly since I left at an hour that was conducive to getting to the Victoria Airport without getting up at the crack of dawn) but on the other hand I may not appreciate it so much when I am dealing with the 3 hour or so layover in Vancouver on the way back. But still - it is such a privilege to be able to travel at all - when so many do not have the means to do so - I am grateful.

I got an okay deal on the flight from Westjet - around $1100 Canadian return to Gatwick. One does have to take ones own food these days however as anything bigger than a pack of peanuts/pretzels or beyond juice, soda, coffee or tea must be paid for.

The flight to the UK was fine - I selected the seats just behind the bulkhead that separates business/premium/whatever the heck you call it these days from economy which has lots of leg room. I also used the easy bus website to secure a cheap (£1.99) bus ride to Victoria Coach Station. This ticket had the added advantage of being valid 60 minutes either side of the reserved time which is very helpful since one can never predict when you're going to breeze through customs and be out early or you'll be delayed and need some extra wiggle room time wise. Similarly when I fly back from Vilnius (Friday, October 4) I will use them again - for £2.29 this time - to get from Stansted to Victoria Coach Station.

London, Round 1 (August 21-27)

Since I arrived around 10:00 am on August 21st and knew that my hostel bed would not be ready until the afternoon I instead walked the mile or so (admittedly not much fun with the big suitcase) to the Vidal Sassoon Academy where I was able to get a haircut for £13. This left me with a head of hair much more suited to the hot weather and easier to let go days without washing.

I then set off walking again reaching my hostel sometime around 4pm I think (the haircut, done by a rather timid student, took a LONG time) but it was quite relaxing to sit in the chair and be fussed around. I then went out for something to eat (I think) and was in bed early and fairly well over my jet lag by the next day.

London didn't really involve any fabulous excursions just my usual kind of rambling around and looking at stuff (buildings, people, the Thames, shop windows). Maija and I did try to 'do' the Notting Hill Carnival but that was a bit of a bust as we were either too later or too early and saw no fabulously costumed dancers on parade. The highlight of that day was definitely the great value Indian vegetarian buffet (£6.95).

It was really quite hot - which seems like a distant memory now in Vilnius where it is raining quite hard and it is about 15 degrees C - and I ended up having to buy some cheap socks at the pound shop because I was getting blisters from my sweaty toes rubbing against each other.

One highlight of London was discovering the Barbican (I had always known about it but didn't realize until this trip that it has a whole area - called Level G - where you can sit for as long as you like without buying anything and use the free wifi and have access to coffee and bathrooms). I spent quite a bit of time there between wandering around forays.

I remained in London until the morning of August 27th when I caught the MegaBus (another bargain - particularly if you book ahead, cost me less than £6 to go from London to Bristol) to Bristol.