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Published: July 12th 2005
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Map of the Subway
Dan created this map to illustrate where we were in reference to the blasts. This shows zone 1 of the six subway zones. but our luck could have been much worse.
A few quick words:
My travel buddy, Dan Calderon, has started his own travel blog on travelblog.org… his can be found
here. In case you couldn’t get enough info and pictures… there’s now more.
As for our trip to Pamplona, Spain to run with the bulls??
In short… it didn’t happen… but we ARE lucky to be alive (see my parting words in my July 5 post).
Dan and I were riding the London subway system at the exact moment it was bombed on Thursday, July 6. In fact, we just a few interchange stations away from the blast at Edgware Road station.
Here’s a brief recap leading up to that point:
Dan and I flew in to London’s Gatwick airport just after 10:00 PM…. I lost my digital camera… we missed our train to London… I filled out a lost item report and we took a later train…. we arrived in London at 2:00 AM…. we got lost… a police officer gave us a ride to the Albert Hotel way across town (easily worth a $30-$40 cab ride)… we were locked out… we rang and knocked until a German college-aged kid with blonde hair let us in the door… we missed our reservation... we slept poorly on the couches of the hostel’s basement lounge as two other German 20-somethings (a guy and a girl) stayed up late watching the
English Patient on DVD.
Bad luck? Mostly.
Now that you're up to speed...
The next morning, Dan and I planned to meet for coffee with my friends Megan and Ben -- both of whom worked with me at the Kansas statehouse. The timing wasn’t working as expected and we soon realized that we needed to start making our way across town to Stansted airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:30 PM. Standsted was easily 75 minutes away.
“Let’s take the tube.”
Dan and I bought our tickets at Gloucster Road station for 2 pounds (roughly $4). This is the Kensington area of London, just south of western Hyde Park. Our goal was to take a train to the airport from Waterloo station.
On the train, there were mostly business types around me… many men dressed in suits and ties… many people reading the newspaper. It was very packed.
At 8:50 AM, our train came to a sudden stop. I recall looking at my watch at that moment. A woman’s voice came over the intercom and said, “there has been a power failure at tower hill.” Dan and I disagree about what she exactly said after that point… but it was some kind of remark advising people to exit the train and chose an alternate course. Everyone got off the train.
At this point, we were each consumed with the logistical details of getting to the airport. We had no knowledge of the gravity of the situation (50 dead; 700 wounded).
Above ground at Victoria Station, the streets were filled with people exiting the subway. Dan and I spotted an information booth. Dan waited in line to ask about finding the nearest bus to take us to the airport. Meanwhile, I parted my way through a sea of people inside of Victoria Station’s lobby, trying to find a Stansted train listed among the many outgoing trains from that station. I couldn’t find one.
I met back up with Dan and we heard an announcement that the entire subway system was closed. To this point, we had thought it was just
one station or
one line. The man working at the information booth who Dan had spoken with was visibly surprised when he heard this.
To everone in London, this was a big deal. To Dan and I, this was just our luck. No surprises considering what had already happened.
We finally managed to catch a bus to Stansted -- the Terravision on the GreenLine. It arrived late. At this point, we had started to hear the word “explosion” more in people's conversations regarding the subway shut down. Before we departed, a younger girl working for GreenLine told our bus driver that he may have to take a different route… presumably because of the increased traffic.
We finally got to Standsted Airport just after 12:00 PM... our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:30 PM. Dan and I sprinted inside. I had no idea where I was going… but I felt better to run.
We missed our check-in time by 15 minutes. We were not flying to Valladolid, Spain on that day.
A younger girl with a heavy British accent working for Ryan Airlines first told us about the multiple bombings. We were horrified. She suggested that we wait in line at the ticket counter to arrange another flight.
As we waited… we began to hear more people talking about the “terrorist attack” or the “bombings.” We personally began to evaluate the closeness of the attacks in proximity to where we had been… and the fear that news of the bombings would generate in our loved ones. We gathered more information. I called home.
Ultimately, Dan and I picked up stand-by tickets to Barcelona on the slight chance that we would still make to Pamplona by train. Our flight departed at 2:30 PM.
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Aden-Sydney Australia
non-member comment
Cool Entry!
Hello, I was doing some research on the net and came across your journal entry. I live in Sydney Australia and am moving to London in Jan 06. Sounds like you had a hectic day. I enjoyed reading your entry :-) Have an awesome time travelling! Aden from Sydney Australia