Into London–31 May

Another of those days where 3 hours of travel end up taking the entire day to complete.

My very enjoyable stay at Bruges came to an end, but not without a minor hiccup.  The train to Brussels I was booked on was delayed over 30 minutes (trackwork), and so I arrived at Brussels Midi station a few minutes too late for check-in on the Eurostar.  That meant a wait of 2 hours for the next cross-channel train.  I must say it is the easiest and quickest trip from the Continent to England I have ever had.  1 hour from Bruges to Brussels; 2 hours from Brussels to Kings Cross in London (20 minutes under the channel in the tunnel).

Of course I arrived later than expected, just at the start of peak hour.  London is completely bogged down in rows of red double-decker buses that nothing can get past.  As we headed towards the Thames we ran into an accident and police diverted all traffic west.  Cabbie kept apologising as the meter kept ticking over.  I reckon he took me past more London sites than the hop on-hop off bus covers!  After an hour and 10 minutes of frustration we finally arrived at St George’s Wharf (fare £45). 

Lady was waiting to book me in.  Very nice modern apartment, 3rd floor.  Well equipped, but as I have already discovered elsewhere in my travels, no cooling- just heating.  Place was pretty stuffy last night after a warm day. Right on the bank of the Thames, with a ferry stop at the back door.  On Sunday at 3.10 pm the Queen will be rowed past with an armada of up to 1000 other boats!

Did a small buy up at Tesco Express next door.  Settled on a microwave dinner .. bangers and mash!  (John and Debbie would be horrified at such gastronomic paucity.)   Was pretty weary, so the day ended a little earlier than I have been used to.

Camera never came out of its case all day today.