Day 83 August 4th

Travel day again today and this time it was on the train from Edinburgh to London. Even though the trip itself is a lot longer than flying, from door to door it is actually quicker than flying by the time you normally spend at the airport just waiting around.

I had to get the tube to Hammersmith which I knew was on the Picadilly line but when I went down the stairs there was a sign for Hammersmith so I went there. It turns out that there were two different lines from Kings Cross to Hammersmith and the one I took terminated there, that is why it had the name listed. Got there OK, checked in and had a look around the area to get my bearings ready for expolring over the next few days.

Day 84 August 5th

I met up with Mai, a lady I knew in the Philippines when I worked up there about 14 years ago. She and her husband are now Londonites and she volunteered to show me around. We caught the tube to Westminster and right there at the station was Big Ben along with the houses of parliament. We crossed over the Thames and walked along Southbank to Tower Bridge and crossed back to the Tower of London. It was near closing time by then so we didn't go in but that is on my list to do if I can.

It was a walk back through the streets on the north side of the river and past St Pauls and many other monuments to Trafalgar Square. There were still heaps of people in the square even at a latish hour, in fact there were heaps of people everywhere. It didn't seem like a long walk on the map but we were pretty worn out by then, so caught the bus back to Hammersmith. Lucky Mai knew where she was going otherwise there was no way I would have got on a bus in London. It was a lot slower but better than the tube as you actually got to see some of the city.

Day 85 August 6th

No. 2 daughter Sarah and her friend Alli were due to arrive at 1:15pm today, so it wasn't worth heading into the city and then getting to Heathrow to meet them. Mooched around in the morning not doing too much and then caught the train to Heathrow. Didn't have too many problems getting there and then it was the long walk to terminal 3.

They were on time and I didn't have to wait too long before they came through. Considering they had left 28 hours before they both looked quite refreshed - I guess the jet lag comes later. We followed the signs to London trains but this actually took us to the Heathrow Express which is quick but very expensive and not what we wanted. I knew it was a different way from when I had arrived, but thought it might have been just another way. If you just followed the signs and didn't know you would have taken it. We did find the right station and got back to Hammersmith with no problems.