Mind you, we didn't see much of the 23rd. I'm pretty sure it was the 23rd while we were in Dubai, but basically we got on the plane in London on 22 September and arrived in Sydney on the 24th.
The flight to Dubai isn't too bad - it's the short leg on this trip. And, there was a spare seat beside Paul, which always makes things a little more comfortable. We arrived in Dubai about 7:30am local time and had about 2 hours there. You need to take all your carry-on luggage off the plane here, even though you'll be getting back onto the same seat on the same plane - they say it's all about security. So, even though we're only transiting we still had to go through customs and security but it went pretty quickly. As we did on the way to England at the start of the holiday, we went straight to the Emirates business lounge and had a shower and changed some of our clothes so we didn't feel too bad for the start of the long flight to Sydney.
As I've said before, this flight seems to go on forever, although we again had the magic seat71D for the whole trip. There was no spare seat beside us this time. However, I simply kept looking at a nearby young couple to remind myself that I was really having a comfortable flight compared to some people. This couple had two small children with them, travelling on their parents' laps, and the mum was pregnant. I don't think I would ever have been brave enough to try that!
I didn't feel to bad when we arrived back in Sydney - tired, and in desperate need of a shower, but ok. We had about an hour until our bus came, and I have to say this bus trip was almost the most disappointing and upsetting part of the whole trip. We had thought about a few different options for getting home - driving, flying, bus, train - but leaving aside hiring a car which isn't necessarily a great thing after 30-odd hours of travel, the bus was actually going to get us home before any of the other options and was also the least expensive.
We've travelled between Sydney and Canberra quite a few times with Murray's and have never had a problem. This time though - wow. It started badly - the Sydney-Canberra bus starts at Central Railway station and then picks up passengers at the International Airport. Every time I have caught this bus from Sydney, they have sectioned off a set of seats for the international passengers so people travelling together from the airport at least have a vague chance of sitting together. Not this time though - when we got on the bus the Sydney Central passengers had spread themselves one to a seat across almost the entire bus - there was only ONE pair of seats available. So, I had to sit next to this young man who turned out to be quite nice but probably went home horrified at having to sit beside my sweaty smelly self.
Then, it turned out that the driver was a lunatic - once we got out onto the highway he was constantly hitting the brakes, giving the bus this horrible rocking motion that ended up with me being physically sick. I was very unhappy by the time we got into Canberra and I'm certainly going to reconsider our options in future - I've sent an eMail to the bus company asking them if this was a deliberate change to their seating policy because if so, it's a deal-breaker for me. I got a reply from them apologising profusely and confirming that the seats for the airport passengers should have been roped off and promising that they'll chase up why it didn't happen, so I guess we were just really unlucky.
So, now it's back to work next week and dreaming of the next holiday.....
Thursday 25 September 2014
Day 42 - 22 September - London
We slept in a bit this morning but there was no risk of us being late, there was no rush to do anything today. We finished packing and then checked out - which amounted to handing back the key and the screwdriver we had been using to hold the bed together (don't ask!).
As planned we took our suitcases to Paddington Station and dropped them at the Left Luggage place. We then decided to go to the Imperial War Museum here in London - so we have now been to all but one of their museums.
It turns out that going to the IWM was a good decision. First, they have lockers where we could leave our backpacks so we had a comfortable time walking around without carrying all our travel stuff. And, also, the museum has just recently opened a new WW1 gallery which is wildly popular and for good reason - we spent almost 1.5 hours just in that part of the museum. Later today I got an eMail from Ticketek saying that 350 of the IWM's most important WW1 items are coming to Melbourne in April next year and offering me a place on the waitlist for tickets - I don't think I'll need to do this as I suspect I've seen most of them!
Anyway, by the time we had some lunch and then looked at the rest of the museum it was 3:30 and time to start heading for the airport.
I had a minor issue with the Heathrow Express tickets. I ordered them online a couple of days ago, and took up the option of getting them via SMS. The text arrived as soon as I booked the tickets but I didn't try out the link to the tickets until today. So of course, it didn't seem to work, and from the small amount I could see it looked like the tickets were booked for travel two days ago, and not today. However it finally worked out and they were for the right day.
I was a bit concerned that the train might be busy but there were only a few people in our carriage. Maybe the price puts people off because you can actually get a limo to the airport for less than the price for two train tickets, but the flexibility of these trains was the useful thing for me - there's a train every 15 minutes and you don't have to pre-book for a specific train, just for a specific day.
We got to the airport fairly early but Qantas as was happy to check us in. The lady who checked us in was really friendly and helpful, I suppose not in the least because the hordes hadn't started arriving yet - and because her previous customer was a dick trying to convince her that he should be exempt from some rule because he's travelling in first class and so we were also a pleasant change for her!
We managed to have problems at security as usual. Paul's shoes set off the security scanner so he had to have a full body scan. Then, when they out his shoes through the machine separately, somehow his passport and boarding pass ended up going through too, and he didn't pick them up. And, while picking up my stuff, I tried to move one of the trays that you put all your stuff in - which they ask you to do - trouble is, it was much heavier than I thought it would be and I managed to wrench my still sore wrist and elbow. Ouch.
However, since then, no real dramas. I'm writing this in the Admirals Club Lounge which is the American Airlines lounge here at Heathrow and is available to Qantas Club members too.
Unfortunately we have just missed Melanie - she arrived at Heathrow from the USA late this afternoon, but at a different terminal, and it was just too late for us to try to track each other down.
As planned we took our suitcases to Paddington Station and dropped them at the Left Luggage place. We then decided to go to the Imperial War Museum here in London - so we have now been to all but one of their museums.
It turns out that going to the IWM was a good decision. First, they have lockers where we could leave our backpacks so we had a comfortable time walking around without carrying all our travel stuff. And, also, the museum has just recently opened a new WW1 gallery which is wildly popular and for good reason - we spent almost 1.5 hours just in that part of the museum. Later today I got an eMail from Ticketek saying that 350 of the IWM's most important WW1 items are coming to Melbourne in April next year and offering me a place on the waitlist for tickets - I don't think I'll need to do this as I suspect I've seen most of them!
Continuing the theme - Paul with some really big guns - 15 inch naval guns outside the IWM London.
Inside the IWM
WW1 poster encouraging Australians to join up
View of the London Eye taken from the outdoor cafe seating at the IWM
Nose cone of the Lancaster bomber "Old Fred"
Anyway, by the time we had some lunch and then looked at the rest of the museum it was 3:30 and time to start heading for the airport.
I had a minor issue with the Heathrow Express tickets. I ordered them online a couple of days ago, and took up the option of getting them via SMS. The text arrived as soon as I booked the tickets but I didn't try out the link to the tickets until today. So of course, it didn't seem to work, and from the small amount I could see it looked like the tickets were booked for travel two days ago, and not today. However it finally worked out and they were for the right day.
I was a bit concerned that the train might be busy but there were only a few people in our carriage. Maybe the price puts people off because you can actually get a limo to the airport for less than the price for two train tickets, but the flexibility of these trains was the useful thing for me - there's a train every 15 minutes and you don't have to pre-book for a specific train, just for a specific day.
We got to the airport fairly early but Qantas as was happy to check us in. The lady who checked us in was really friendly and helpful, I suppose not in the least because the hordes hadn't started arriving yet - and because her previous customer was a dick trying to convince her that he should be exempt from some rule because he's travelling in first class and so we were also a pleasant change for her!
We managed to have problems at security as usual. Paul's shoes set off the security scanner so he had to have a full body scan. Then, when they out his shoes through the machine separately, somehow his passport and boarding pass ended up going through too, and he didn't pick them up. And, while picking up my stuff, I tried to move one of the trays that you put all your stuff in - which they ask you to do - trouble is, it was much heavier than I thought it would be and I managed to wrench my still sore wrist and elbow. Ouch.
However, since then, no real dramas. I'm writing this in the Admirals Club Lounge which is the American Airlines lounge here at Heathrow and is available to Qantas Club members too.
Unfortunately we have just missed Melanie - she arrived at Heathrow from the USA late this afternoon, but at a different terminal, and it was just too late for us to try to track each other down.
Monday 22 September 2014
Day 41 - 21 September - London
Today is our last full day in London.
We started the day by getting on the wrong underground train - well, the right train, but going in the wrong direction. Since the line is called the Circle line you'd think this wouldn't be a problem as you'd end up in the right place anyway - it being a circle and all! But that's not the case - turns out the Circle line consists of more than a circle!
So, we got off a couple of stations down the track and went around to the other platform to get the train going in the other direction. There was a somewhat bemusing incident on the train - they announced the next station was Farringdon, and the train stopped there but then the doors didn't open. This clearly came as a surprise to the people wanting to get off the train, and I was a bit worried that we were being kidnapped. It wasn't ever explained why the train didn't stop there.
Eventually we reached our target of Tower Hill station. First thing we looked at was some remains of the Roman Wall around London.
Then we walked to, and over, Tower Bridge. We thought about looking at their exhibition but decided against it. Here are three of the newer skyscrapers you can see from the Tower Bridge, followed by a few photos of the bridge itself.
Then we went to the Tower of London. We spent a bit more than 4 hours here and saw much of what's on display. As with the Churchill War Rooms the price was steep - £22 each - but in the end I think it was pretty good value.
A few more photos from around the outside:
And some photos of the inside - of course we saw a lot more than these few places but there are only so many photos you can post.
The Tube trip back home was interesting. Our first indication of a problem was that the entry to the platform was really crowded. We eventually managed to get onto the platform but it was also packed shoulder to shoulder. The next train (which wasn't ours) was quite crowded, and I couldn't see how people would be able to get on and off it through the crowds on the platform, but somehow they did. Then, our train came, and it was packed to the eyeballs already. Quite a few people got off but even more got on and in the end we couldn't get onto it. There was actually a fight between a couple of guys a bit further down the platform about wanting to get onto the train; it was a bit concerning but it all broke up fairly quickly. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the next train and this time the crowds on the platform and in the train were nowhere near as bad and the trip home went ok. And, this time Farringdon was officially closed - found out later that it was always intended for it to be closed today for renovations but that certainly wasn't obvious.
Back at the apartment now; we're going to have dinner and then start packing for the long flight home. We will have time in London tomorrow - we're going to drop our suitcases at the Left Luggage place at Paddington station in the morning and then pick them up there when we catch the Heathrow Express to the airport later in the day. This will cost us a fairly outrageous amount - £10 per suitcase since we're leaving them for more than 3 hours - but much better than trying to drag them around London for the day. The Heathrow Express is also quite expensive - £29 each - but it gives us much more flexibility than booking a shuttle or limo transfer.
We started the day by getting on the wrong underground train - well, the right train, but going in the wrong direction. Since the line is called the Circle line you'd think this wouldn't be a problem as you'd end up in the right place anyway - it being a circle and all! But that's not the case - turns out the Circle line consists of more than a circle!
So, we got off a couple of stations down the track and went around to the other platform to get the train going in the other direction. There was a somewhat bemusing incident on the train - they announced the next station was Farringdon, and the train stopped there but then the doors didn't open. This clearly came as a surprise to the people wanting to get off the train, and I was a bit worried that we were being kidnapped. It wasn't ever explained why the train didn't stop there.
Eventually we reached our target of Tower Hill station. First thing we looked at was some remains of the Roman Wall around London.
Then we walked to, and over, Tower Bridge. We thought about looking at their exhibition but decided against it. Here are three of the newer skyscrapers you can see from the Tower Bridge, followed by a few photos of the bridge itself.
Then we went to the Tower of London. We spent a bit more than 4 hours here and saw much of what's on display. As with the Churchill War Rooms the price was steep - £22 each - but in the end I think it was pretty good value.
A few more photos from around the outside:
They're still setting out the poppies
Paul and guns, of course
Traitors Gate - the way you entered the tour after your conviction as a traitor. If you sailed in through here you didn't have long to live
And some photos of the inside - of course we saw a lot more than these few places but there are only so many photos you can post.
Recreation of a room in the medieval castle
The White Tower - among other things this includes the Royal Armoury and Line of Kings displays
Paul and a hat
Which reminded me that I hadn't yet posted a picture of another new hat.
Paul standing in front of some French guns captured at Waterloo. Wellington insisted that all the captured guns must be kept.
Part of the Line of Kings display. This is a display of armour and weapons of Kings, and is the longest running visitor attraction in the world - it was set up in 1652.
The Tube trip back home was interesting. Our first indication of a problem was that the entry to the platform was really crowded. We eventually managed to get onto the platform but it was also packed shoulder to shoulder. The next train (which wasn't ours) was quite crowded, and I couldn't see how people would be able to get on and off it through the crowds on the platform, but somehow they did. Then, our train came, and it was packed to the eyeballs already. Quite a few people got off but even more got on and in the end we couldn't get onto it. There was actually a fight between a couple of guys a bit further down the platform about wanting to get onto the train; it was a bit concerning but it all broke up fairly quickly. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the next train and this time the crowds on the platform and in the train were nowhere near as bad and the trip home went ok. And, this time Farringdon was officially closed - found out later that it was always intended for it to be closed today for renovations but that certainly wasn't obvious.
Back at the apartment now; we're going to have dinner and then start packing for the long flight home. We will have time in London tomorrow - we're going to drop our suitcases at the Left Luggage place at Paddington station in the morning and then pick them up there when we catch the Heathrow Express to the airport later in the day. This will cost us a fairly outrageous amount - £10 per suitcase since we're leaving them for more than 3 hours - but much better than trying to drag them around London for the day. The Heathrow Express is also quite expensive - £29 each - but it gives us much more flexibility than booking a shuttle or limo transfer.
Sunday 21 September 2014
Day 40 - 20 September - London
We started the day with a walk to the British Museum - it's only about a 15 minute walk from where we're staying. This is an amazing place; we could have spent days here and still not have seen everything. However, we did manage to see the stuff that's of particular interest to us - their display about the Sutton Hoo ship, and other displays about historical England - particularly their Roman and Anglo-Saxon stuff, plus also a small but interesting (and very hard to find!!) display about the German view of WW1. We also looked briefly at a number of the other displays. I don't have any photos - all the really interesting things are behind glass.
We then caught the open top bus to Trafalgar Square. There was a large police presence here and we discovered it was because the idiots of the "England Defence League" were having a protest about wanting to kill all the Muslims. We walked towards Westminster and discovered the same morons protesting around there as well. However, we found our way past them.
We also had to find our way around the huge Open House queues - we had no idea that this was on until we started seeing the queues and signs. Basically it means that this weekend there are around 800 separate free events on in London, mostly giving free access to architecturally interesting buildings, walks and talks. Some of the queues were enormous; I saw one that was at least 250 metres long.
We then decided to go to the Churchill War Rooms. There was quite a queue here too, but it was moving relatively quickly. I was surprised when we got near to the top of the queue to discover that unlike some other Imperial War Museum sites, this doesn't have free entry. And in fact the price is quite significant - £17.50 each. However we decided to go ahead anyway and it was absolutely worth it. I had no idea that the tour was so detailed, and more than that there is also a Churchill Museum which is an amazing museum covering anything you'd want to know about Churchill. We spent a long time here.
After this we walked around to Westminster for a good (external) view of the Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament etc. By this time most of the attractions were closing, and we decided to make our way home.
We're staying in North Gower Street in London, but the building is on the corner and our room actually overlooks Drummond Street. Drummond Street is known for the number of Indian restaurants in the street and tonight we decided to try one of them. We went to one called Taste of India and all I can say is wow - this was just an excellent meal.
We then caught the open top bus to Trafalgar Square. There was a large police presence here and we discovered it was because the idiots of the "England Defence League" were having a protest about wanting to kill all the Muslims. We walked towards Westminster and discovered the same morons protesting around there as well. However, we found our way past them.
We also had to find our way around the huge Open House queues - we had no idea that this was on until we started seeing the queues and signs. Basically it means that this weekend there are around 800 separate free events on in London, mostly giving free access to architecturally interesting buildings, walks and talks. Some of the queues were enormous; I saw one that was at least 250 metres long.
We then decided to go to the Churchill War Rooms. There was quite a queue here too, but it was moving relatively quickly. I was surprised when we got near to the top of the queue to discover that unlike some other Imperial War Museum sites, this doesn't have free entry. And in fact the price is quite significant - £17.50 each. However we decided to go ahead anyway and it was absolutely worth it. I had no idea that the tour was so detailed, and more than that there is also a Churchill Museum which is an amazing museum covering anything you'd want to know about Churchill. We spent a long time here.
After this we walked around to Westminster for a good (external) view of the Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament etc. By this time most of the attractions were closing, and we decided to make our way home.
We're staying in North Gower Street in London, but the building is on the corner and our room actually overlooks Drummond Street. Drummond Street is known for the number of Indian restaurants in the street and tonight we decided to try one of them. We went to one called Taste of India and all I can say is wow - this was just an excellent meal.
Day 39 - 19 September - London
As a couple of people suggested, we booked an open top bus ticket for today. It cost £29 each and when we found we could extend it to a second day for only another £6 each we did that too.
So, we caught the Tube to Trafalgar and jumped on the first of their buses that came along.
This was a really good idea for giving us a good general look about London.
We stayed on the bus until the London Eye, and then got off and had a ride on the Eye. It was a good time to do this; the queue was quite short and we only had to wait a few minutes. The wait can be a lot longer; we were told later that the Eye was only meant to be in place for 5 years but it's still there 14 years later because its such a huge money-spinner - on a good summer's day they can apparently make £300,000 for the day! You can even get married in the Eye these days - prices start from £2,800
Unfortunately today there was a lot of mist / smog today and so many of the usual sights were unclear or not visible at all:
Regardless of this though, I thought it was well worth the money. This is our view of another pod when up high in the Eye:
After the ride on the Eye, we walked across the Westminster Bridge and got onto one of the free river cruises that comes as part of the bus ticket. We only went a fairly short distance - down to the Tower of London. We had some lunch there while trying to decide whether or not we'd go into the Tower and in the end we decided not to, not yet anyway; today was going to be a day for general touring around and we decided to stick with that.
So, we got back onto the bus and went back to Leicester Square, near to where we originally started. Then we thought we'd do another of their tours, this one their tour of Museums. I wasn't quite sure where to catch this bus, and while waiting to talk to one of their staff members a lady came up and started berating her about the apparent failure of this particular bus to arrive - she just kept shouting about waiting for 40 minutes. This was a bit of a concern but we thought we'd go and wait, and it actually only took about 10 minutes until one turned up.
Unfortunately, a few minutes into this ride, the promised "thundery showers" in today's weather forecast hit us, big time. And, this was the only bus we got onto today that didn't have a partial cover over the upper deck - we all had to dive downstairs.
It was pretty much a lost cause after this - first the downstairs started flooding from all the water pouring down from above, and then once the rain stopped it got really hot and steamy. So, we hopped off and decided to come back to the apartment to regroup.
I didn't go out again, but Paul did; there was a game shop not too far away that he wanted to visit and I took the opportunity to have a rest and start some serious looking at tomorrow's travels. However, in the end, we decided to leave the final decision until tomorrow.
A couple of other photos from today:
So, we caught the Tube to Trafalgar and jumped on the first of their buses that came along.
This was a really good idea for giving us a good general look about London.
We stayed on the bus until the London Eye, and then got off and had a ride on the Eye. It was a good time to do this; the queue was quite short and we only had to wait a few minutes. The wait can be a lot longer; we were told later that the Eye was only meant to be in place for 5 years but it's still there 14 years later because its such a huge money-spinner - on a good summer's day they can apparently make £300,000 for the day! You can even get married in the Eye these days - prices start from £2,800
Unfortunately today there was a lot of mist / smog today and so many of the usual sights were unclear or not visible at all:
Regardless of this though, I thought it was well worth the money. This is our view of another pod when up high in the Eye:
After the ride on the Eye, we walked across the Westminster Bridge and got onto one of the free river cruises that comes as part of the bus ticket. We only went a fairly short distance - down to the Tower of London. We had some lunch there while trying to decide whether or not we'd go into the Tower and in the end we decided not to, not yet anyway; today was going to be a day for general touring around and we decided to stick with that.
So, we got back onto the bus and went back to Leicester Square, near to where we originally started. Then we thought we'd do another of their tours, this one their tour of Museums. I wasn't quite sure where to catch this bus, and while waiting to talk to one of their staff members a lady came up and started berating her about the apparent failure of this particular bus to arrive - she just kept shouting about waiting for 40 minutes. This was a bit of a concern but we thought we'd go and wait, and it actually only took about 10 minutes until one turned up.
Unfortunately, a few minutes into this ride, the promised "thundery showers" in today's weather forecast hit us, big time. And, this was the only bus we got onto today that didn't have a partial cover over the upper deck - we all had to dive downstairs.
It was pretty much a lost cause after this - first the downstairs started flooding from all the water pouring down from above, and then once the rain stopped it got really hot and steamy. So, we hopped off and decided to come back to the apartment to regroup.
I didn't go out again, but Paul did; there was a game shop not too far away that he wanted to visit and I took the opportunity to have a rest and start some serious looking at tomorrow's travels. However, in the end, we decided to leave the final decision until tomorrow.
A couple of other photos from today:
Tower Bridge - we were told later that because the bridge contains parts that move over water, Lloyds of London insists it must be insured as a ship and so must always be manned by a captain and a number of other standard maritime crew members. This actually appears to be a true story!
Day 38 - 18 September - Travel to London
Had a slow and relaxed start to the day - finished packing, checked out, walked up to Manchester Piccadilly Station, had a coffee and then got onto the train. No trouble with seats or with finding space for luggage; our carriage was nowhere near full.
The guy at the hotel really put the hard word on us to do a Tripadvisor review. I'm torn about this; although it was still pretty good value none of the irritating things from last time have been dealt with - eg although they're all very pretty, none of the wet areas are in the slightest bit practical - and to be honest the room we were in at least was in need of a bit of maintenance. I'm not sure they'd be happy about an honest review.
I booked our train tickets in advance; they were for that specific train and Virgin Trains claimed we were getting a bargain at £38 each for a first class ticket. So, while we were waiting, I did a check to see how much a first class would have cost if we just rocked up to the station today. The answer - £229.50. Each!! So, either we really did get a bargain booking in advance, or the 'same day' ticket prices really are a total ripoff!
We got off the train at London Euston and started off to our hotel - apartment block actually. It's only a couple of minutes from the station but when we got to the street we couldn't find the place - there's actually no number 182 in this street. I was beginning to have a panic that we had been ripped off although I was quite careful to check for legitimate sounding Tripadvisor reviews etc. Turns out it was totally my fault - if your apartment building is at number 192 then looking for number 182 isn't going to help!
Also, another lesson learned today; don't rely on horrified American / Australian Tripadvisor reviewers to tell you when a hotel doesn't have lifts! I expected the B&Bs earlier in the trip to be lift-free, but not an apartment hotel in London. The receptionist said that she didn't want to change our room because it would have to be to a lesser value one, so I dragged both our suitcases up three flights of really narrow stairs. I'm glad I did though, because of course, no air-conditioning. And, up here there is a nice breeze which we're going to need, I think. Between the breeze and the fan - which we had to ask for - we should be ok.
Also, don't ever book a room in England without checking that they'll be able to give you two room keys - it goes without saying at home that you'll be able to get two keys but here this wasn't the case (and this wasn't the first time this happened to us either). We had hoped to go our own separate way for one day on the weekend but that's really difficult to manage when only one of you has a key!
The room itself is tiny; probably smaller even than the B&B room in Hastings. However, we've managed to get ourselves and all of our stuff into it, so we should be ok.
Once we recovered from the unexpected cardio routine of getting ourselves and our bags upstairs, we went out for a walk. Basically we wanted to get an Oyster card each and try out the Tube, and also to check out the starting point for the open top bus tour we're doing tomorrow. This was mostly easy - they sell Oyster cards via vending machines and the stations are all really well sign-posted. The real trouble I had was before this, in finding which station to go, and which train to get. The 'planner' on the official website is just useless - it assumes you know which is the best station to go to but of course not knowing that was part of my problem! However, eventually I found an app for the iPad which told me exactly what station to go to, what train to catch, in what direction, and where to alight. Once I knew that, the rest was a doddle.
We had a quick look at Trafalgar Square and took some photos, and then we walked all the way back to our apartment - about 2.6 kilometres according to google maps. Paul's pedometer said we did more than 25000 steps today; one of our better days. Unless of course he forgot to reset it this morning in which case not so good :-)
The guy at the hotel really put the hard word on us to do a Tripadvisor review. I'm torn about this; although it was still pretty good value none of the irritating things from last time have been dealt with - eg although they're all very pretty, none of the wet areas are in the slightest bit practical - and to be honest the room we were in at least was in need of a bit of maintenance. I'm not sure they'd be happy about an honest review.
I booked our train tickets in advance; they were for that specific train and Virgin Trains claimed we were getting a bargain at £38 each for a first class ticket. So, while we were waiting, I did a check to see how much a first class would have cost if we just rocked up to the station today. The answer - £229.50. Each!! So, either we really did get a bargain booking in advance, or the 'same day' ticket prices really are a total ripoff!
We got off the train at London Euston and started off to our hotel - apartment block actually. It's only a couple of minutes from the station but when we got to the street we couldn't find the place - there's actually no number 182 in this street. I was beginning to have a panic that we had been ripped off although I was quite careful to check for legitimate sounding Tripadvisor reviews etc. Turns out it was totally my fault - if your apartment building is at number 192 then looking for number 182 isn't going to help!
Also, another lesson learned today; don't rely on horrified American / Australian Tripadvisor reviewers to tell you when a hotel doesn't have lifts! I expected the B&Bs earlier in the trip to be lift-free, but not an apartment hotel in London. The receptionist said that she didn't want to change our room because it would have to be to a lesser value one, so I dragged both our suitcases up three flights of really narrow stairs. I'm glad I did though, because of course, no air-conditioning. And, up here there is a nice breeze which we're going to need, I think. Between the breeze and the fan - which we had to ask for - we should be ok.
Also, don't ever book a room in England without checking that they'll be able to give you two room keys - it goes without saying at home that you'll be able to get two keys but here this wasn't the case (and this wasn't the first time this happened to us either). We had hoped to go our own separate way for one day on the weekend but that's really difficult to manage when only one of you has a key!
The room itself is tiny; probably smaller even than the B&B room in Hastings. However, we've managed to get ourselves and all of our stuff into it, so we should be ok.
Once we recovered from the unexpected cardio routine of getting ourselves and our bags upstairs, we went out for a walk. Basically we wanted to get an Oyster card each and try out the Tube, and also to check out the starting point for the open top bus tour we're doing tomorrow. This was mostly easy - they sell Oyster cards via vending machines and the stations are all really well sign-posted. The real trouble I had was before this, in finding which station to go, and which train to get. The 'planner' on the official website is just useless - it assumes you know which is the best station to go to but of course not knowing that was part of my problem! However, eventually I found an app for the iPad which told me exactly what station to go to, what train to catch, in what direction, and where to alight. Once I knew that, the rest was a doddle.
We had a quick look at Trafalgar Square and took some photos, and then we walked all the way back to our apartment - about 2.6 kilometres according to google maps. Paul's pedometer said we did more than 25000 steps today; one of our better days. Unless of course he forgot to reset it this morning in which case not so good :-)
Thursday 18 September 2014
Day 37 - 17 September - Manchester
Today we visited the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) here in Manchester. We walked there from our hotel, and on the way got a much closer look at the Beetham Tower and the Castlefield Roman Ruins that I've mentioned in previous posts.
The MOSI is located in a group of 5 separate buildings, one of which is the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world. They still occasionally run steam trains from it, but it's not part of the main train system. It is still in quite good condition though. The other buildings are all relatively old and contain a huge range of displays from historical information and items about the area as far back as Roman times, right through to a display about the nearby Hadron Collider and all sorts of things in between. Of course as you'd expect, the displays concentrate on science, technology and industry.
Just as we arrived they were about to start a talk and demonstration about cotton spinning and weaving which was a huge industry here up to the early 20th century. They have samples of all the machines used in the process, most of them still in working order although they didn't use all of them in the demonstration. They handed us a number of samples of cotton at the various stages of production. It was really well done. I have to say - I'd be astounded if anyone who worked in the cotton mills had any hearing left after even a short period working there - even one at a time some of the machines were deafening and there'd have been dozens or hundreds of them in each factory.
This high quality of displays extended through much of the museum - well presented, interesting information. I'd like to let some pictures do the talking here, but the internet access tonight is just terrible - I've been trying to upload three pictures to my report on Leeds for 15 minutes now! So, some pictures may or may not appear here.....
It's now our last night in Manchester - the 'Rainy City' - and we seem to have caused a drought. It has not rained on us once in the 9 days we have been here, and there has even been some direct sunlight!! Actually I've just googled it and am told the rainy city thing is a myth; they say that Manchester is often overcast but not overly rainy at all....
The MOSI is located in a group of 5 separate buildings, one of which is the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world. They still occasionally run steam trains from it, but it's not part of the main train system. It is still in quite good condition though. The other buildings are all relatively old and contain a huge range of displays from historical information and items about the area as far back as Roman times, right through to a display about the nearby Hadron Collider and all sorts of things in between. Of course as you'd expect, the displays concentrate on science, technology and industry.
Just as we arrived they were about to start a talk and demonstration about cotton spinning and weaving which was a huge industry here up to the early 20th century. They have samples of all the machines used in the process, most of them still in working order although they didn't use all of them in the demonstration. They handed us a number of samples of cotton at the various stages of production. It was really well done. I have to say - I'd be astounded if anyone who worked in the cotton mills had any hearing left after even a short period working there - even one at a time some of the machines were deafening and there'd have been dozens or hundreds of them in each factory.
This high quality of displays extended through much of the museum - well presented, interesting information. I'd like to let some pictures do the talking here, but the internet access tonight is just terrible - I've been trying to upload three pictures to my report on Leeds for 15 minutes now! So, some pictures may or may not appear here.....
Part of the spinning and weaving display
Part of the Underground display - all about the history of water and sewage in Manchester. Far more interesting than it might sound actually.
Makes me a bit nervous about walking around the city :-)
Replica of Baby - the first computer in the world to store and run a program. Alan Turing came here to work on the original one. The iPads on display in front of it each have about 10,000 times more processing power than Baby did.
Lots of planes
And cars
It's now our last night in Manchester - the 'Rainy City' - and we seem to have caused a drought. It has not rained on us once in the 9 days we have been here, and there has even been some direct sunlight!! Actually I've just googled it and am told the rainy city thing is a myth; they say that Manchester is often overcast but not overly rainy at all....
Day 36 - 16 September - Leeds
Today we went to Leeds to visit the Royal Armouries Museum.
In my blog notes yesterday I said we had decided to go with Northern Trains today in the hope of a couple of slow and relaxing train trips. In retrospect this may not have been the best decision - we got the slow, but the relaxing sort of escaped us. We had an Anytime Day Return for today, so there was no need to rush to catch any particular train, and once we got to the station there was a train due soon. However, we waited, and waited, but it didn't come. Then the next Leeds train came but the Northern Rail guy on the platform said it wasn't the Leeds train - even though the sign on the train said it was. Then he asked the driver who also didn't seem sure, which was just a bit disconcerting. Finally though he called someone who said that yes, it's the Leeds train, so we jumped onboard. Of course it was a bit more crowded than we expected because of the one that had gone missing, but we got seats and settled in for the trip.
Eventually we got to Leeds and found our way to the Museum, of course after a small delay for coffee :-)
We spent about 3 hours looking at the exhibits - mostly they're behind glass so photography is a lost cause, but we did have a really good look around. Here are a couple of photos anyway:
This museum always gets favourable reviews, and I can see why - there's a huge range of items on display and they're all explained well. There are also other displays of course - movies and models and screen based information. I did two separate computer based 'tests' where they explain to you the background of a battle and then offer you some simple options about what decision the commander who ultimately lost should make at a particular point. I'm pleased to say that at both Isandlwana and the Battle of Pavia I got better results than the original 'man in charge'! The only major disappointment was a huge model of the battlefield at Waterloo that seemed to have been set up so that lights over it would come on in conjunction with a video display, but the lights weren't working.
Here are a couple of other photos of Leeds:
Due to our late start and delayed train, once we had finished in the museum it was basically time to go back to Manchester but this trip was even more problematic than the trip to Leeds. There were four trains due to go to Manchester in the next hour and all but one of them was showing as delayed, or probably delayed, because of an accident earlier in the day.
"Delays" wouldn't normally throw me, but these particular delays included having to catch a bus for a segment of the trip and I wasn't really comfortable with that idea, given that we don't know the problem area (Halifax / Bradford) at all.
So, we decided to catch the one that wasn't delayed (it didn't go to those stations), only to have that train completely vanish from the monitors. OK, I thought, we may as well catch the earlier 'delayed' one so we got on what we hoped was the right train, although we weren't at all sure. Eventually the guard made an announcement that it was the train we thought it was, and that the line had now been re-opened and there was no need for bus transfers.
All good, but then part-way through the trip they announced that we would now be stopping at about 8 or 9 more stations than originally planned :-)
Anyway, we eventually got back to Manchester, only 20 minutes or so late. Not a huge drama for us of course, we're on holiday, but on both trips there were a lot of disgruntled passengers muttering not so quietly about missed appointments and hopeless train companies ....
I'm also not going to pretend to understand how they decide whether or not to check the tickets on a train. On the way to Leeds they checked the tickets twice, and both times I got caught out and had to hunt for my ticket in my purse. On the way back I held it in my hand the whole way and they didn't check once......
We only have one more big train trip now - the trip to London on Thursday. It's with Virgin Trains which still makes me nervous, so we'll just have to see how it goes.
In my blog notes yesterday I said we had decided to go with Northern Trains today in the hope of a couple of slow and relaxing train trips. In retrospect this may not have been the best decision - we got the slow, but the relaxing sort of escaped us. We had an Anytime Day Return for today, so there was no need to rush to catch any particular train, and once we got to the station there was a train due soon. However, we waited, and waited, but it didn't come. Then the next Leeds train came but the Northern Rail guy on the platform said it wasn't the Leeds train - even though the sign on the train said it was. Then he asked the driver who also didn't seem sure, which was just a bit disconcerting. Finally though he called someone who said that yes, it's the Leeds train, so we jumped onboard. Of course it was a bit more crowded than we expected because of the one that had gone missing, but we got seats and settled in for the trip.
Eventually we got to Leeds and found our way to the Museum, of course after a small delay for coffee :-)
We spent about 3 hours looking at the exhibits - mostly they're behind glass so photography is a lost cause, but we did have a really good look around. Here are a couple of photos anyway:
Battle armour for an elephant. It take three staff members just to lift the headpiece.
The obligatory photo of Paul with guns.
This museum always gets favourable reviews, and I can see why - there's a huge range of items on display and they're all explained well. There are also other displays of course - movies and models and screen based information. I did two separate computer based 'tests' where they explain to you the background of a battle and then offer you some simple options about what decision the commander who ultimately lost should make at a particular point. I'm pleased to say that at both Isandlwana and the Battle of Pavia I got better results than the original 'man in charge'! The only major disappointment was a huge model of the battlefield at Waterloo that seemed to have been set up so that lights over it would come on in conjunction with a video display, but the lights weren't working.
Here are a couple of other photos of Leeds:
Statue of the Black Prince
Interesting bridge over the canal / river
Due to our late start and delayed train, once we had finished in the museum it was basically time to go back to Manchester but this trip was even more problematic than the trip to Leeds. There were four trains due to go to Manchester in the next hour and all but one of them was showing as delayed, or probably delayed, because of an accident earlier in the day.
"Delays" wouldn't normally throw me, but these particular delays included having to catch a bus for a segment of the trip and I wasn't really comfortable with that idea, given that we don't know the problem area (Halifax / Bradford) at all.
So, we decided to catch the one that wasn't delayed (it didn't go to those stations), only to have that train completely vanish from the monitors. OK, I thought, we may as well catch the earlier 'delayed' one so we got on what we hoped was the right train, although we weren't at all sure. Eventually the guard made an announcement that it was the train we thought it was, and that the line had now been re-opened and there was no need for bus transfers.
All good, but then part-way through the trip they announced that we would now be stopping at about 8 or 9 more stations than originally planned :-)
Anyway, we eventually got back to Manchester, only 20 minutes or so late. Not a huge drama for us of course, we're on holiday, but on both trips there were a lot of disgruntled passengers muttering not so quietly about missed appointments and hopeless train companies ....
I'm also not going to pretend to understand how they decide whether or not to check the tickets on a train. On the way to Leeds they checked the tickets twice, and both times I got caught out and had to hunt for my ticket in my purse. On the way back I held it in my hand the whole way and they didn't check once......
We only have one more big train trip now - the trip to London on Thursday. It's with Virgin Trains which still makes me nervous, so we'll just have to see how it goes.
Tuesday 16 September 2014
Day 35 - 15 September - York
We have been to York before - if you look back here you'll see the blog entry. However, we didn't get to spend much time there, it was pouring with rain, and it was the day after I had hurt my ankle (and of course I discovered after our return to Australia that I had actually broken a bone in it, so no wonder it wasn't all that comfortable). All things considered our time in York was not a high point of that holiday.
Today though I could at least walk, we only had about 6 drops of rain - this was the first rain since Hastings and it had stopped by the time we got our umbrellas out. And of course we had much more time today.
We started the day at the Jorvik Viking Centre. We had pre-booked our tickets for 11am because you read lots of reports of people waiting for ages in queues here. Turns out this was a brilliant plan because when we showed up at about 10:20 to ask about collecting our tickets they let us straight in - in front of the queue and without having to wait until our 11am time-slot, which gave us more time for other things later. Some people have posted reviews of this place saying that it's cheesy or not worth the money, but we were actually quite impressed, not so much with the ride (which is pretty cheesy actually) but with the exhibits and displays that you see after the ride.
We then went to Clifford's Tower, which is pretty much all that's left of the old York Castle.
After this we wandered back towards the city and found a really nice place for lunch where we both ate far too much (what a surprise!)
We then walked through the Shambles and on to the York Minster. This time we did a tour, run by a volunteer guide. It lasted for about an hour and we learned far more about the Cathedral and its history than I could ever write down here. It's a fascinating place and well worth a visit or two.
Just one of the many interesting things we learned about:
If you look closely you'll see that this isn't a window - it's a blind with a picture of a window on it. This is the Great East Window which is currently being preserved (renewed, new lead etc) while repair work is also being done on the stones around the window which have degenerated to the point where a large number of them need to be replaced. The blind isn't actually as big as the real window - they couldn't find any company that could print a picture of the actual size, which is around the size of a tennis court.
The blind was made as a condition of getting some funding from the National Lottery which has provided around £10,500,000 of the £18,000,000 needed for the restoration - the National Lottery required that people should be able to see something while the restoration work is going on. As well as the blind, the church has built an enclosed viewing area where 5 of the real panels from the window are on display and this is simply amazing - they're so colourful and detailed they truly left me speechless. This was a brilliant opportunity; in a few year's time all the glass will be back where it belongs and although the overall sight will no doubt be amazing, the chance to see some of the panels up close was just brilliant. Here's a picture of one of those 311 panels:
Once we were finished at the Cathedral we started to walk back towards the railway station. Here's a small part of the walls - we didn't walk all around them as we did in Chester.
While we were walking back to the station, we saw a Google Street View car, presumably filming. I've never seen one before.
So, if you're looking at Google Street view of Museum Street or Station Road in York sometime in the future, and you see a fat lady in a purple top and black skirt - that's probably me!
By the time we got back to the Railway Station it was around 4:30. We had thought about going to the National Railway Museum which is in the railway precinct but we had pretty much run out of time, so instead we got train back to Manchester.
The train trips today were both quite comfortable - first class tickets on TransPennine trains. Tomorrow we're going to Leeds, but with Northern Rail so back to a long slow all-stations ride. That's not a bad thing though; we expect the train to be pretty much empty when we board because we're going against the peak hour traffic both ways, so it's a nice way to relax before and after all the walking.
Today though I could at least walk, we only had about 6 drops of rain - this was the first rain since Hastings and it had stopped by the time we got our umbrellas out. And of course we had much more time today.
We started the day at the Jorvik Viking Centre. We had pre-booked our tickets for 11am because you read lots of reports of people waiting for ages in queues here. Turns out this was a brilliant plan because when we showed up at about 10:20 to ask about collecting our tickets they let us straight in - in front of the queue and without having to wait until our 11am time-slot, which gave us more time for other things later. Some people have posted reviews of this place saying that it's cheesy or not worth the money, but we were actually quite impressed, not so much with the ride (which is pretty cheesy actually) but with the exhibits and displays that you see after the ride.
We then went to Clifford's Tower, which is pretty much all that's left of the old York Castle.
This is the tower - anyone can walk up the steps but to go inside and right up to the top you have to pay. However, since it's an English Heritage site our membership got us in for free.
This is a model of the tower and Castle.
This is a view of the inside of the tower, from part-way up the stairs to the upper viewing area.
View of York from the top of the tower, showing why it's worth making the climb!
View of York Minster from the top of the tower.
After this we wandered back towards the city and found a really nice place for lunch where we both ate far too much (what a surprise!)
We then walked through the Shambles and on to the York Minster. This time we did a tour, run by a volunteer guide. It lasted for about an hour and we learned far more about the Cathedral and its history than I could ever write down here. It's a fascinating place and well worth a visit or two.
Just one of the many interesting things we learned about:
If you look closely you'll see that this isn't a window - it's a blind with a picture of a window on it. This is the Great East Window which is currently being preserved (renewed, new lead etc) while repair work is also being done on the stones around the window which have degenerated to the point where a large number of them need to be replaced. The blind isn't actually as big as the real window - they couldn't find any company that could print a picture of the actual size, which is around the size of a tennis court.
The blind was made as a condition of getting some funding from the National Lottery which has provided around £10,500,000 of the £18,000,000 needed for the restoration - the National Lottery required that people should be able to see something while the restoration work is going on. As well as the blind, the church has built an enclosed viewing area where 5 of the real panels from the window are on display and this is simply amazing - they're so colourful and detailed they truly left me speechless. This was a brilliant opportunity; in a few year's time all the glass will be back where it belongs and although the overall sight will no doubt be amazing, the chance to see some of the panels up close was just brilliant. Here's a picture of one of those 311 panels:
Once we were finished at the Cathedral we started to walk back towards the railway station. Here's a small part of the walls - we didn't walk all around them as we did in Chester.
While we were walking back to the station, we saw a Google Street View car, presumably filming. I've never seen one before.
So, if you're looking at Google Street view of Museum Street or Station Road in York sometime in the future, and you see a fat lady in a purple top and black skirt - that's probably me!
By the time we got back to the Railway Station it was around 4:30. We had thought about going to the National Railway Museum which is in the railway precinct but we had pretty much run out of time, so instead we got train back to Manchester.
The train trips today were both quite comfortable - first class tickets on TransPennine trains. Tomorrow we're going to Leeds, but with Northern Rail so back to a long slow all-stations ride. That's not a bad thing though; we expect the train to be pretty much empty when we board because we're going against the peak hour traffic both ways, so it's a nice way to relax before and after all the walking.
Day 34 - 14 September - Manchester again
Again, staying in Manchester today - we decided that it would be easier to avoid "touristy" places like York in particular on the weekend.
So, we caught a tram out to the Media City UK Station to visit the Imperial War Museum North. This is a picture of the museum taken from one of the pedestrian walkways across the shipping canal.
We spent a lot of time here; there are lots of displays and also live presentations and movies. Movies isn't really an accurate description though; the large exhibition area is partly divided up into smaller spaces and the movies are shown all over the walls (once an hour, not continuously).
We didn't take any pictures of the exhibits and displays; photography wasn't allowed in the first exhibition room we went into and after that we were caught up in the displays.
After we were finished looking at the museum we went up onto the viewing platform in the Air Shard - the high part of the museum - and we did get some photos there.
This is the Beetham Tower.
We actually first saw this tower during the open top bus tour yesterday; it's the tallest building in the UK outside of London. The guide explained to us that it was designed by an architect called Ian Simpson whose company designed quite a lot of the newer buildings around Manchester. Seems he has made a reasonable profit since he lives on the top three floors of this building, and his living area up there includes a grove of fully grown olive trees that were winched up there while the building was being constructed.
This is another view from the Air Shard, looking down over the canal area:
This is Paul, standing in front of yet another weapon - this time a T55 tank:
After we left the museum we went to the Lowry Outlet Mall, which is quite close by. Yesterday our bus tour was delayed for a few minutes because of the sheer number of coaches parked outside the Mall; it's apparently hugely popular. It wasn't quite so crowded today although there was an inordinate number of people wearing red shirts - there was a Manchester United home game starting at 4pm and a lot of people had apparently decided to check out the mall before the game.
So, we caught a tram out to the Media City UK Station to visit the Imperial War Museum North. This is a picture of the museum taken from one of the pedestrian walkways across the shipping canal.
We spent a lot of time here; there are lots of displays and also live presentations and movies. Movies isn't really an accurate description though; the large exhibition area is partly divided up into smaller spaces and the movies are shown all over the walls (once an hour, not continuously).
We didn't take any pictures of the exhibits and displays; photography wasn't allowed in the first exhibition room we went into and after that we were caught up in the displays.
After we were finished looking at the museum we went up onto the viewing platform in the Air Shard - the high part of the museum - and we did get some photos there.
This is the Beetham Tower.
We actually first saw this tower during the open top bus tour yesterday; it's the tallest building in the UK outside of London. The guide explained to us that it was designed by an architect called Ian Simpson whose company designed quite a lot of the newer buildings around Manchester. Seems he has made a reasonable profit since he lives on the top three floors of this building, and his living area up there includes a grove of fully grown olive trees that were winched up there while the building was being constructed.
This is another view from the Air Shard, looking down over the canal area:
This is Paul, standing in front of yet another weapon - this time a T55 tank:
After we left the museum we went to the Lowry Outlet Mall, which is quite close by. Yesterday our bus tour was delayed for a few minutes because of the sheer number of coaches parked outside the Mall; it's apparently hugely popular. It wasn't quite so crowded today although there was an inordinate number of people wearing red shirts - there was a Manchester United home game starting at 4pm and a lot of people had apparently decided to check out the mall before the game.
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