EUROPE – This time LONDON
October 25 2007
Landed in Heathrow about on time, waited 30 minutes in the immigration queue to then be questioned for 10 minutes by the authority re what I was doing in that country. Travel and tourist wasn\’t sufficient I ought to have had a flight out planned, and documentation to show that with me. I had eventually shown a copy of the YHA accommodation which sorted him out a bit – but one never knows what they are going to do. I had been questioned in Germany, or leaving Munich Germany as to why, when, what etc I had been doing there! Maybe I had that terrorist or dealer look about me this day. Just to say one is a tourist is not sufficient particularly if one doesn\’t have a booked flight out of the country.
The instructions to the YHA at St Pancras were quite clear, and anyhow, quite easy to reach. Take the train directly from Heathrow and get off at Kings Cross/St Pancras stations. It has had a 4year renovation in progress, for travel and for accommodation.
See http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-foreign28oct28 OR http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/47 will give some info on the station upgrade. I saw a piece on CNNNNN about this upgrade and it will be a magnificent station, using the old place, but the rest of the magnificent building has been sold off into million pound and more apartments. And it will have the longest \’champagne and oyster bar in the world\’! what does that mean I wonder.
But back to the YHA. The room is good, the place is well run, and at King\’s Cross which mustn\’t be the better part of town. A great breakfast is provided too and they also have a kitchen for the guests to cook and keep food, some hostels no longer provide this facility. The food has been great, the staff and servers of the kitchen and cafe, not so. It is very central and I walked to Oxford Street, Tottenham Road, saw Harley Street, Wigmore Road, and \’Barrets\’ of Wimpole Street (for you older ones), and visited the \’Wallace Collection\’ a house full of artworks, armory, wax art, furniture, old swords and fighting implements, and china. A great exhibition and then I walked home via the BBC, and onto Euston Road which is the YHA situation.
October 27 – Today I went to Knightsbridge on the Underground Piccadilly Line, same as YHA, all so easy, and popped into Harrods where there was an animal rights protest. Harrods is selling furs now and all other major stores no longer do. So got a bit to eat there, ate on the street, walked from there up Knightsbridge to Hyde Park Corner and the way to Buckingham Palace (I\’ll go there another day), up Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus, along to Charing Cross Road where I bought a couple of books, and to this inet cafe which I found is very cheap so I am here. It is £1 for 2 hours. At the moment the rate of exchange for the aussie dollar into british pounds is 2.27, the american dollar is not far behind at about 1.96 or 1.98. the euro is 1.6. Now I am off walking back home or maybe I will see about taking a bus, a double decker which I\’ve not taken yet. But I walked past Marks and Spencers, Waterfords Crystal, The Ritz Hotel, and lots lots more. And still haven\’t seen the Thames yet. Think tomorrow will have to be the day for that as on Monday want to go see the Changing of the Guard and the Royal Horses. I leave this YHA on tuesday morning but as yet no farm or farmlist to work with!
I do love London. The people are very much like Australians, and so different to the Germans, Austrians and Romanians I have met. I enjoy moving around the Germans and Austrians. The poms are a little slouchy and sloppy and move differently and with less surety I think, but a fellow from lancashire told me that the poms can get rattled and will think before doing whereas the others cant! Till next page. More comment to come.