:: travellingcari.com ::

*blink* *blink* what country am I in again? It’s been a fun ~48 hours, but it’s also been a whirlwind.

8 AM flight from EWR to LHR on Thursday was uneventful and I cleared immigration in good time due to there being very few non-EU/UK passport holders on the flight so our line zipped ahead. Because my backpack was checked through to Prague, I had nothing to collect or declare. A quick call to Gemma and I was on my way to meet her at Leicester Square. V. impressed at the easy tube connection at Heathrow.

Friday morning I was indecisive about what I was going to do, so Gemma and I split at her office and I meandered down to the Circle Line before exiting at one of my favourite views on the banks of the Thames. I was craning my neck to look at a map that was posted about knee high on a barricade to figure out which side of the river I wanted to be on when a woman offered me a copy of the posted map and asked if I needed help.

Turns out the map was a brochure for BigBus and after looking at it and thinking, I decided to go for it. I had only about three hours before I was to meet Gemma for lunch and then head to the airport and there was so much I wanted to re-see. As I said to Gemma, “I didn’t have a digital camera last time.” Of course this time Ididn’t have an empty memory card so I had to quit at 83 pics. A handful are posted, but I still need to go through and re-size more. The Tower of London is still one of my favourite sights in the city, as well as the Houses of Parliament/Big Ben. Although I didn’t have time to visit any of the stops, I got some good photos and the weather was fabulous for a ride atop a double decker bus. Yes, the current exchange rate hurts, but overall I didn’t find London on a price basis to be much worse than NY or Osaka.

After lunch, it was unfortunatley time to head back. Time with Gemma and in London was all too short. Had I known how delayed my flight would be, I would have taken my time. We were due to leave at 18:20 but didn’t take off until just shy of 21:00. Owing to the delay and the time difference, we didn’t make it to Prague until 11pm+. By the time I cleared customs and immigration–just a factor of time in line and to collect bags since neither inspector actually spoke to me–it was nearly 12.

Due to being slightly jet lagged and just plain tired from the day scampering around the city, I’d decided to just suck it up and stay in a hotel. Except due to the time the only two realistic options were the Tranzit Hotel and Marriott at the airport which are exorbitantly priced. So, like most of the rest of the people who were in late/leaving early, I made use of the transit lounge. Vending machines, tables, somewhat functioning net kiosks and read two books. Need to quit that if my books are going to last through the train to Switzerland.

I waited until about 8:30 when I went to get a shuttle here, which ended up being a direct ride owing to no other passengers.  The landlord was here and I’m in my room, which is really nice. It’s bigger than I imagined and nice and airy and light. Only bad thing is that linens haven’t arrived yet. I suppose that’s good for staying awake as I’d planned to have a shower and a nap to keep the jey lag at bay, but having been up 29 hours is a little tiring.

I think I’ll go explore and hope the linens arrive by then. It’s definitely a good thing that for both Zurich and Geneva, I don’t get in late and the hostels are within walking distance of the train. So far, so good. Off in search of food that’s not diet coke