Life in London

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Sunday afternoon I returned by coach to London. I bought an Oyster card (public transport) and made my way to Elephant and Castle where I would be staying. I checked in, left my bags, and ran off to meet up with Divya and Anoop at King's Cross station. Of course I was late. I tried to text Divya to let her know, but there wasn't any signal in the underground (no big surprise). Turns out that they had also arrived a little late, so no big deal. I was going to do my Platform 9 3/4 photo then, but the lineup was quite long, so I said I'd come back on my own.

We had a really nice lunch where we chatted about Toronto, Lindy Hoppers, work, their wedding, their honeymoon, and whatever else came up. Anoop was very quiet, so I'm hoping we didn't bore him too much! We took the underground up to Harrow, where I was able to look around at their new house, mid-renovation. It was pretty dusty, and still has a long way to go, but I think that in the end, it will be quite nice.

It was time to say goodbye for the evening, so I made my way back to Elephant and Castle. I picked up some food, and considered going swing dancing. Seeing as most things started fairly early that day, I decided against it. I made myself some almond butter on pancakes (cold) and went to bed early.

Monday I decided to head to head again to King's Cross station. Another big lineup! I gave up and left. I decided to do a Harry Potter walking tour, so I found the station, met the group, and we were off. Would you believe that there were four Canadians (from Caledon!) on the tour? We walked around London, saw where some of the movies were filmed, took some photos, and had a really nice day. Then the underground decided to be evil. I took the tube to Waterloo station, and didn't realize that I had to use my Oyster card at the top of the stairs. I tried to go through another gate with it (you have to "swipe" it both upon entry and exit) and it didn't like that. At that point I was out all the money I had put on the card. There should have been enough for another whole day! Fortunately the agent on duty took pity on me and reversed the charges for my mistake.

Then I decided to go to Charing Cross and Leicester Square to see if I could find the street that may (or may not) have inspired Diagon Alley. I did, and it wasn't that thrilling. I also checked out the nearby tourist office to find out what shows might be playing, but nothing for a Tues. matinee piqued my interest or was in my price range. I decided to go for the slightly discounted Tower of London ticket. I then headed over to meet Divya for dinner, and passed the Museum of Natural History (I think?) along the way and took some photos. They had really cool grotesques on the building! I took lots of photos, of course!

I met Divya for dinner and we had some really good pizza. Apparently it was the same location that she and Anoop had held their pre-wedding friends dinner. We chatted some more, and then after tiramisu, headed for the subway. This is where I took the wrong train. Why would you have two different lines use the same tracks? After a bit of a mix-up, and a retracing of steps, I headed back to my hostel to change and head out for swing dancing. Apparently people leave early on a Monday night, right after classes, as there was hardly anyone left at the venue when I arrived. The band hadn't shown, and most people had headed home. I got about 5 dances in (and no one charged me a cover!) and headed back to the hostel earlier than I had anticipated. And I chose the venue that said it went till late! Oh well.

Tuesday morning I packed up all my stuff and left it in the left luggage room. I then headed out to King's Cross station again (3rd time's the charm!) and finally got my Platform 9 3/4 photo. It took about 45 min. waiting in line. I think that there must always be a lineup there now. I grabbed some lunch and headed to the Tower of London. After lining up for another half hour, I got into the site. Holy moley were there a lot of people!!!! I walked around and around and around, and finally when I got tired (3 hours later!), I left without seeing the Crown Jewels. That lineup would have been at least an hour long. I am now really sick of tourists, their meandering walking, and their complete inability to look ahead or around to see if there are other people about. This is where the London Underground played its evil hand again....

I tried to use my Oyster card to get onto the tube, but apparently I needed to top up. I guess when I had gone through the system on the way to the Tower of London, it didn't read my card upon exit, and charged me lots due to this error. I got the attendant to reverse it, but it was only enough for one trip back to the hostel. Grrrr. I should have had exactly the right amount on my card for my entire stay, as it is supposed to hit a cut-off level after lots of use during a day, and then stop charging until the following day. Apparently with another charge reversal on my card, it didn't do that.

I picked up my stuff from the hostel, put money on the Oyster card, and headed to Victoria Station to pick up a train to Horley, where I would be staying overnight before my crack of dawn flight to Croatia. The Underground screwed me over again. With an extra 25kg on me (40 lbs?) I took the wrong train, had to retrace steps and try again. I was soooooo glad to be leaving London! That Underground didn't like me one bit, and the feeling was mutual. I will be much more wary on my next trip to London, when I go back to see Divya and Anoop....

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