Ballinasloe to London

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October 27 – Saturday – Ballinasloe to London – 8:30 - I got up early this morning about 06:30 and went downstairs and drank some tea while checking on my flight. I went to the British Airways online check-in and checked in on my flight. I didn’t like the seat I was assigned to as it was a window seat and I changed it to an aisle seat. Frankly being able to get out of my seat and to a bathroom without having to climb over others is more important to me than being able to look out the window. The flight shows to be only an hour and 20 minutes so that isn’t too bad.

Brian got up about 8AM and lit the fire in the stove which goes out every night. He then started fixing up the stew for our lunch. I will just have my usual tea and a banana for breakfast. We will have the stew around 11:30 and I will catch the X20 bus at 12:25 to go to Dublin airport.

It is really amazing how my attitude about going to Europe is changing. It now seems no more of a task than visiting San Antonio or Port Aransas (with a side day trip Corpus Christi).

Once you arrive here going from country to country is fairly unrestricted….at least if you are an American…..and have some money…….or at least look like you have some money.



October 27 11PM – Hounslow near Heathrow Airport - I arrived safely in London around 8PM. I had a look around Heathrow airport. It is huge. When I got to the ticket booth for the tube I bought an Oyster Card for £30. The card cost £5 and that gave me £25 worth of use. The cards are good for a year. It also gives a much reduced rate per trip while riding the tube. It is good on both the tube and busses. It is very convenient as all I have to do is swipe my card when I use the underground or the tube. On the tube I swipe it both going in and exiting. On the buses I just swipe it getting on the bus not getting off.

I took the Piccadilly line to the hostel and instead of looking at my notes on my piece of paper I relied on memory and got off at Hounslow Central instead of Hounslow East tube station. I walked up the road by the station and when the road "y"ed I knew I was on the wrong road. It really didn't look like the part of town a guy alone would want to walk down at night. Especially with a suitcase which marked him as a traveler. But using my usual indicator of seeing women walking around I knew it was OK.

I talked to a guy at a bus stop and he told me that the bus he was waiting on went to the bus station in Hounslow and from there I could walk to Hounslow East tube station and Kingsley Road was in front of it. Kingsley Road was the road the hostel was on. I was staying at the Heathrow Hostel at 198 Kingsley Road. It is about a 3 minute walk from the Hounslow East tube station.

So I caught the bus to the bus station in Hounslow and from there made my way to the Hounslow East station and walked up Kingsley Road till I found the hostel. So I am settled in for the night in a room of my own as I am the only guy here and all the rest are young girls. Quite attractive young girls as a matter of fact. Oh to be 20 again.

While on the tube Piccadilly line I did notice that if I had stayed on I could have gotten off at Hammersmith Station and so stayed at the hostel I stayed at last trip.

When I got to the Hostel the entrance is in the pub that is downstairs. The lady in the pub checked me in and helped me with one of my bags up the stairs to show me my room. I was lucky as I had a room to myself. I appear to be the only guy here. All the others are young women. There are no plugs in the rooms (or at least in mine) so they sat out in the hall on their laptops/ phones etc. and discussed things. Generally they discussed US (guys).

I was pretty tired after the long day and after a quick unpacking and getting a cup of water from the kitchen went to bed. There was the noise of the music from the bar downstairs but it was nowhere near as noisy as my sisters TV at home so I had no trouble sleeping.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I will head to Weymouth.

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Photos

My bottom bunk
The beds in the back have "blackout curtains" for those who want it darker while they sleep. I have a12 hour layover at Heathrow when I return on the way back from Greece in a few weeks. It might be worth comin here to nap a bit.

Plugs
I plugged my laptop into here and ran the cord into the room. The wifi was good. Young girls sat out here and used the plugs for their electronic devises. They mostly discussed us (guys).

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

You really have gotten comfortable jetting around Europe
The Oyster card sounds like a great deal. You've become a real world traveler. Keep those wonderful blogs coming.

[Sojourner1208]

My 300th blog
Thanks. I had a milestone of a sort today. I sent out my 300th blog.