Day 48/49 - Home

The trip home is like the day that never ends...

We were up at 5.30am for the final pack and trip to the airport. In stark contrast to our most recent spine tingling journey to an airport, this one was very sedate, very quick and very efficient...perhaps a little too much so as we arrived 30 minutes before we were even able to check in. This allowed a leisurely breakfast before we checked in our bags - mine was bang on 23 kg (the baggage allowance) and Carly's was a tad under so we were very pleased by our restraint over the previous 7 weeks. Carly's was only 13kg (and mine 18kg) or so when we started so I guess we did add to it a bit after all.

We had plenty of time to shop (Carly) and blog on free airport wifi (me) and then boarded the plane where we left a little bit late at about 10.45am for the 13+ hour flight. As it was during the day (Dubai time) there was little opportunity or inclination to sleep so I only slept for an hour while Carly managed two. This left a lot of free time that we filled with movies - I watched five I think!

With the seven hour time difference when we finally arrived in Sydney at 7.15am local time it felt like 12.15am in Dubai. Gary was there to collect us and it was then the 2 hour or so journey up the F3 to drop Carly at home and then on to Newcastle where I was greated with a freshly painted apartment (yay!).

Carly was able to present Rhys with his souvenirs:

 

Rhys undies of the world (I got one from nearly every country but I think Switzerland and Austria were too classy to sell them) and of course his fav gift - a sling shot from Greece

Well, it has been a great trip - we both agree that pretty much we wouldn't change anything. We have seen some awesome places, experienced wonderful moments and met some incredible people. Thanks for sharing our journey with us...now I'm off to unpack...

Day 47 - Dubai 2

Well after a great night’s sleep, another buffet breakfast to die for, we were ready for some serious pampering at the spa. We got scrubbed, we got wrapped, we got lotioned and came out the other end all relaxed. Carly spent some quiet time watching TV while I lazed by the pool and had a little swim.

 

At 3pm we were in the lobby waiting for our ride to go on a Desert Adventure Safari. This consisted of a group of 20 or so 4-wheel drives each carrying 6 passengers, driving an hour or so outside Dubai to the desert. We then stopped at the beginning of the dunes while the air was let out of the tyres and got our first close look at the beautiful red, fine sand.

 

The next 20 to 30 minutes may have been the scariest of my life. We flew up and down sand dunes, slid sideways, bounced, twisted and turned our way across acres of dunes. I’m not sure what we were doing at all intervals as my eyes were closed tight more than half the time. Carly wasn’t scared at all…go figure!

 

 

 

We did stop half way through for more photo opportunities – and more time to freak out about what was to come.

 

Anyway, we eventually arrived at an area where a BBQ was set up, camel rides were available, you could get henna designs painted and much more. Unfortunately a friend, (you know who you are Alex), had told us we might get car sick so we had dosed ourselves up on medication which not only ensured we weren’t sick but made us drowsy as well. So we sat quietly and watched all the action. The dinner was very nice, the belly-dancers were entertaining, and then it was back in the dreaded 4WD for (thankfully on tarmac) trip back to the hotel.

 

We arrived back at 9pm, watched Erin Brockovich, (well I did, Carly slept), on TV and in bed by midnight ready for our final journey home tomorrow.

Day 46 - Dubai 1

So the staff at the hotel were wonderful and found us a room when we checked in at around 9am when check in is not really until 2pm. Boy did we need it! Two hours sleep is clearly not enough to get by on so, after a fantastic buffet breakfast consumed while they got the room ready, we showered (ahhh) and grabbed another 2 hours sleep.

 

(View from our room)

We then decided it was time to be pampered and so had booked in for a deluxe foot massage…and it was awesome! It was a very luxurious & fancy spa treatment – nice enough that we have booked in for a different treatment tomorrow. Hey, our bodies have taken a battering over the last six and a half weeks – they need some serious pampering.

 

The hotel has a shuttle bus that goes into the Dubai Mall so we grabbed a ride to check it out. It was pretty amazing – full size ice rink, aquarium, indoor theme park, massive waterfall, and a spectacular fountain that plays to music…and we saw it all. We walked, we ate, we walked, and then we caught a taxi back to the hotel. All this with the aim to stay awake until at least 9pm – mission accomplished.

 

 

Day 45 - London 4

Last day in London…awwww. We did our final pack, checked out of the hotel (leaving luggage in storage), and caught the tube to Baker St to be at Madame Tussaud’s by our appointed 9.30am slot. Apparently it normally takes 2 – 3 hours to see everything but we were lucky that the crowd was very light, allowing us to get through in a little over an hour and a half.

 

It was very good – the wax figures are very life-like and it was good that you could actually touch them and be photographed in different poses. There was also a 4D movie experience and a “ride” that were pretty cool too.

 

So we did some last minute shopping on Oxford St (as you do) and then it was back on the tube to meet Carley for lunch at her workplace, the famous “Gherkin”, where we were booked in at the restaurant on the top floor. Once again we got lost – it seems when we ask for directions people send us the wrong way – what’s the go with that? Anyway, we finally found it and were signed in to the building, got through security, and then it was up on a series of elevators until we were at the very top with a wonderful view of London – who needs the London Eye? Lunch was amazing – really yummy food and very artistically presented. So we farewelled Carley, who presented us with some much appreciated emergency chocolate and biscuits for our journey. Thanks Carley for being such a great guide and friend!

 

 

 

A bit more shopping on the way back to the hotel and then it was time to wait for the shuttle bus we had booked for 4.30pm. Can I just tell you that it was the trip from hell…and that may be understating it? The driver had no idea where he was going, picked up numerous people, got lost numerous times, and then dropped everyone else off at every Heathrow terminal prior to dropping us at our terminal where we checked in with literally 30 seconds to spare. I am not exaggerating – 30 seconds to spare or we would not have been allowed to check in…and we sprinted (with about 30 kg of luggage each) the last few hundred metres to make it on time. So with hearts beating at a million miles an hour we then joined the longest line you have ever seen (I’m serious, you have EVER seen) to get through security and customs. It was touch and go but after another dash to make it to our boarding gate we eventually made it to the flight with minutes to spare. They almost gave us a heart attack as the board said the flight was closing so we were sprinting through the terminal only to find when we got to the gate that actual boarding had not even started.

Suffice it to say we were just happy to be on board, enjoyed a nice meal, watched a movie and grabbed a couple of hours sleep before landing at Dubai at 7am local time the next day…or 3am body clock time.

 

Day 44 - London 3

Today was the sight-seeing day – we walked for about 10 minutes to join the Hop On Hop Off bus for our tour of London. Once again it was very cold but we were somewhat sheltered on top of the double decker bus and enjoyed the scenery. The first time we hopped off was to look at St Paul’s Cathedral…which we did for a few minutes before we started to really feel frozen…so we hopped in to a nearby pub where we spent a pleasant hour eating lunch (steak & ale pie with vegies) and having a drink.

 

We hopped back on and continued the tour, hopping off at Westminster Abbey and walking via Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. The cold had started to seep into our bones so we hopped back on and finished the loop, arriving back at the hotel at about 4pm.

 

Our next adventure was to head out to Stratford to meet up with Carley, (Carly’s friend), and go to dinner at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Jamie’s Italian. Carley had been in Amsterdam for the weekend and was delayed getting back so Carly & I went by ourselves…and we were glad that we did. It was really nice food and also had a good vibe to it as well. Then it was back on the tube to the hotel – our last night in London – we leave for Dubai tomorrow…not long now til we’re home.

 

 

 

Day 43 - London 2

OK – it is officially very cold, possibly freezing! We started the day with a visit to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park which is a combined Christmas Market and fun fair. We looked through the markets and watched the crowd grow…and grow…so by 11.15am we were ready to go.

 

After dropping our purchases off at the hotel we were back on the tube again to meet Slug, (James’ mate Michael), who is currently living in London. We went to a pub (ironically named The Temperance) for lunch and a few drinks before heading off to the football. That’s right. Finally it was game day and we were excited to be going to see Fulham v Tottenham Hotspurs. It was a short walk to Craven Cottage where we joined about 25,000 others to (unfortunately) see Spurs thrash Fulham 3-0. The atmosphere was pretty awesome though the Spurs fans were a lot more vocal than the Fulham crew, possibly due to the fact they had more to cheer about. It was a great experience!

 

After the game we (along with about 20,000 others) walked the 20 min or so back to the tube station. It was slow going with such a big crowd of people yet we eventually got on a train and headed back to the Winter Wonderland markets. It was nice to see them at night but it was exceptionally cold. We were only there because Carly had accidently dropped and cracked one of her purchases from the morning’s expedition so we needed to replace it. It was a well-planned mission – we were in and out – which was just as well because the crowds were huge…and did I mention it was cold?

 

We couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to have a warm shower and thaw out…I may have mentioned, it was really cold.

Day 42 - Cardiff

Another chilly, frosty morning greeted us as we set out to walk the 20 minutes or so to Paddington station to catch the 10.15am train to Cardiff. Unfortunately due to recent flooding and landslides in Wales the train was cancelled! Luckily another train went half an hour later which was a relief as we thought we may have done our dough - £67 each. Because they had to re-route the journey it took two and a half hours to get there but it was very pleasant – they even have personal entertainment screens like on international flights.

 

We were pretty peckish by the time we arrived in Cardiff so went and grabbed lunch at a pub. I had chicken & leek pie – you’ve got to eat the local delicacies! So after a lovely break there we wandered around to look for Cardiff Castle and finally stumbled upon it – OK, maybe we should have asked directions, but we figured it was pretty big and we would find it eventually.

 

As time was marching on we high tailed it into the castle and looked around. I climbed to the top of the Castle Keep while Carly chose to stay down the bottom. Wise woman – I’m sure I’m getting worse with heights every day! We looked all over the complex and then spent some time in a souvenir shop – the only one we saw all day – that must be a record.

 

Unfortunately we had missed the last hop on hop off bus so we decided to make our way back to the station for our return journey. Although it was only 4pm it was getting darker, colder and we also felt a few drops of rain so it seemed time to move back under cover. Because of the disrupted service, half of the trains were cancelled so we were only able to squeeze on to the train and were standing, crammed in like sardines, cursing the railway (and the first class passengers where the carriages were half empty). This is how revolutions start! Thankfully we were both able to jag seats at the first stop when some people got off – I don’t think I could have stood up for 2 and a half hours!

 

Back in London and we decided it was time to do some laundry – we found a good laundrette close by to the hotel et voila one hour later we had sparkling clean (well…cleaner) clothes. We grabbed some pre made meals from Marks & Spencers and warmed them in a microwave at the hotel for dinner – very yummy and very cheap! It has got very cold & icy - looking forward to the football tomorrow – maybe the crowd will keep us warm.

Day 41 - London

Wow, what a day! I can’t believe we did so much. Carly and I started the day by going for a little wander around the neighbourhood in which we find ourselves…and a very nice area it is too! Lots of lovely houses and gardens, very much like the scenes in Notting Hill. Speaking of which, that was our first adventure for the day.

 

Carly’s friend Carley is living in London and (was) volunteered to act as tour guide for us today in London. She started off brilliantly by conducting us on a walking tour of Notting Hill, reliving many of the scenes from the movie (one of my all time favourites). We saw the famous blue door, the private garden they invaded, the markets in Portobello Rd and various shops and houses depicted in the movie. I was actually surprised that they were all close together and pretty much placed as you would expect them from the movie, just around the corner from each other. It was great fun chasing them all down.

 

In the middle of that we also managed to find a very lovely café and have a wonderful breakfast – porridge, omelettes, crepes…the stuff of legends. It was then a lesson on buying an Oyster card and topping it up with funds to ride the underground for the day. Next we were off to Camden to check out the markets and the lock before we were back once again on the tube heading to Leicester Square to buy some theatre tickets for tonight. After some discussion we decided on “We Will Rock You”, bought the tickets and finally sat down to some lunch at a restaurant on the Square. The desserts were amazing!

 

Some more wandering found us at Trafalgar Square, the M&M World store, Oxford Circus to view the Christmas lights before we farewelled Carley as she was travelling to Amsterdam for the weekend (as you do) and needed to get to the airport. A better guide we could not have hoped for!

 

Carly & I were then back on the tube to have a look at Harrods which was extraordinarily crowded and hot! Nevertheless purchases were made and we were heading back to Tottenham Court Rd Station to get to the theatre as it was now about 6.30pm. All the bars and pubs were too crowded and we were still full from lunch so we simply went in and sat down in our seats. Although it was pretty early our feet certainly appreciated the rest!

 

The show was amazing! Absolutely incredible! We were singing and clapping along and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was then back onto the tube for the trip back to the hotel where we finally arrived at about 11pm. What a big day…and a great day!

 

 

Day 40 - Glasgow to London

We took it easy this morning and took our time, finally checking out about 10.30am. As we were walking into town I noticed that my jacket was falling apart so what else could I do but buy another one? The homeless guy out on the street seemed to appreciate the donation of my old one so it was a win win situation I believe.

 

We spent a pleasant hour or so at the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens. It gave a social history of Glasgow which I found very interesting.  After educating ourselves we walked back into town, bought another macaroon each (yes, we’re officially addicted), and then had a yummy lunch of fish and chips at a pub. It was then back to the hotel to pick up our bags, a walk to pick up the shuttle bus and then the flight to London. Once again we battled the underground, though this time we had to change lines and negotiate stairs with our heavy bags. I just keep telling myself it is all part of the adventure!

 

So we found our hotel where we have a great room with 2 double beds and 5 days ahead of us in London!

Day 39 - Glasgow

It takes some getting used to – the late sunrise. When we awoke we swept open the curtains to greet the new day to find our view of the motorway packed with early morning traffic but pitch black as if it were midnight…and it was 7.30am. It stays really dark and then suddenly (at about 8am) it is daylight, and in the case of today, the sun was shining. Yes, the weather continues to smile upon us against all the odds. We were discussing it today and in the last 39 days we can only recall a total of a few hours of rain…and only 20 minutes of that was heavyish, the rest was drizzle.

 

After another scrummy breakfast (I love the automatic pancake making machine!) we headed off on foot to get to town by 10am where we joined the Hop On Hop Off bus to do the full circuit. This took 1 hour 45 minutes and was really good. I took heaps of photos (ironically the sun was not helpful as it put a glare on the window of the bus) and enjoyed the recorded commentary. I really love Glasgow and hope to come back one day to look at some of these gardens, museums and other assorted attractions. We can use the bus ticket again tomorrow and may have time to see some of what’s on offer.

 

We met David, Sheila & Derek at midday for lunch and had a wonderful time. Davey had a reunion with Greg and Alex (ha ha) and we had so much food there was no chance of ever getting through it all though it was very nice indeed. It was great to catch up with them and hopefully we’ll catch up with them again in Australia soon.

 

 

 

After lunch we did a bit of shopping on the way back to the hotel and Carly discovered she had not mastered the Scottish accent to quite the extent she had first thought. As we were coming out of Tesco a fellow was collecting for charity and said something like “Any small change for the hospital?” Carly said “Pardon?” to which he repeated himself and she still had no idea and said “thank you”, wondering why I was killing myself laughing as we walked down the street. Anyway, we rested in the room for an hour and watched some game shows (The Weakest Link and another bizarre word game) and then headed back into town to go to a movie. We saw Gambit which was not at all what I expected – quite a strange movie. We came home via the Christmas Markets (again) and devoured another macaroon each – they are awesome.

 

So it was just a jam roll and fruit for dinner – too much food earlier in the day. Last night in Glasgow tonight and then it’s back to London tomorrow.

Day 38 - Edinburgh

After a fantastic night’s sleep Carly & I enjoyed our gourmet breakfast (gotta love the Hilton!) and then headed off to investigate how to get to Edinburgh by train. It was very easy in the end. We walked for about 20 minutes, bought our tickets and at 10am we were on the express train headed for Edinburgh. The weather was again very kind to us – no rain, slightly overcast and about 6°. I can honestly say I never thought I would describe 6° as mild but after Austria and Switzerland it doesn’t seem too bad!

 

It was a very pleasant journey of about 50 minutes flying through the lush green Scottish countryside. We had reached Edinburgh Waverley Station by 10.50am and were ready to take the town by storm. After stopping at the tourist information kiosk for a map and some advice, we hot footed it up some stairs and a pretty steep hill to find ourselves at the famed Edinburgh Castle. The views were amazing and Carly and I spent ages trying to take a “selfie” photo that included the castle in the background…in the end we gave up, though you can sort of see a bit in the corner of the photo!

 

 

 

Carly is a bit over castles so we decided not to pay the £15 entry fee and just admired it from the outside. We then walked down the Royal Mile towards Hollyrood Palace, stopping at just about every souvenir shop on the way (and if you’ve been there you will agree that’s some serious shopping). We admired the architecture, the occasional church and the odd statue or monument as we continued down through the Old Town. We stopped at a pub for lunch where Carly had an awesome beef stew – check it out!

 

This was but a brief respite and we were back out in the cold continuing on our walk to the palace. We circled the grounds, took a few photos and headed back up towards the shops – Carly is over palaces too so we admired it from afar only.

 

It was then over to the New Town and some serious shops that all seem to be beautifully decorated for Christmas. By 3pm and almost 4 hours of walking by mutual consent we decided to head back to the station for our return journey. The trains run every 15 minutes so we had only a few minutes to wait before we were heading back to Glasgow – a great service.

 

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to call in to the Christmas Markets on the way back to the hotel and grabbed some fudge and two of the nicest coconut macaroons you have ever tasted – Carly says she has to go back tomorrow to get more. We were in our room by 5pm where we watched a strange game show called The Chase, went downstairs for a pizza in the bar, and then chilled out, resting our tired tootsies.

We are meeting David, (my friend from work), and his family, tomorrow for lunch which should be really good so I’m quite excited to see them again. We are also planning to explore Glasgow a little further.

Day 37 - London to Glasgow

We are so clever! Once again we made our own way from the hotel in London to Heathrow on the Underground AND when we arrived in Glasgow we caught the shuttle bus into town and found our hotel with no trouble at all. What seasoned travellers we are. We are staying at the Glasgow Hilton as our travel agent found us this amazing deal…and I must say it is a cut above where we have stayed up to now. It has an indoor pool, Jacuzzi, gym, very nice rooms and I’m sure we’ll have a lovely 3 days here.

 

Our flight was delayed slightly and we arrived at the hotel at 2.20pm, dropped our stuff in the room and then headed off to grab some lunch at a nearby pub, the Bon Accord. Lunch was amazing – I had an incredible thing that was vegie sausages, mashed potato & gravy all in a massive “yorkie” or Yorkshire pudding.

 

We then saw that there were some markets at the other end of the city so we hightailed it through the shopping district just to discover that the Barra Markets had just packed up when we arrived at 4.15pm. Oh well – we got slightly lost and stumbled upon St Andrew’s Church so it was not a wasted trip.

 

We wandered back through the shops and were excited to see that there were also some Christmas Markets that we had previously missed. They were fantastic but unfortunately we weren’t hungry after our late lunch so we only bought one small French pastry. Hopefully they will be open again while we are here so we can go back and eat some of the yummy food. I had never heard off or seen Christmas Markets before but they have been on or about to open in many of the countries we have visited.

We got back to the hotel at about 6pm and decided to do some washing and generally take it easy and plan our next few days. I love Glasgow!

Day 36 - Amsterdam to London

Very early start today as Patricia wanted us to beat the traffic to make the 12.30pm ferry from Calais to Dover…so we were on the bus at 6.45am (that’s right…6.45AM). It was a fairly uneventful trip as we travelled through Belgium, though it was difficult to know what anything looked like as everything was shrouded in fog once again.

 

We did have a brief stop and we managed to grab some Belgian chocolate – what can I say…when in Rome…you can’t be in Belgium and not try their chocolate! We made it to the port in plenty of time and were on the boat by 12pm after saying our goodbyes to Patricia & Rocko. It was incredibly empty – there was hardly anyone on the boat besides us so it was easy to grab some lunch and relax. It was a good crossing – no problems with the high winds that were predicted.

 

Eventually we sighted the white cliffs of Dover and we were soon off the boat and transferred to a new coach for our drive to London. We were told this would take 2 hours but it was three and a half hours before we finally made it to our hotel. Grabbed some soup in the bar for dinner while we used the Wi-Fi to look at what we can get up to in Glasgow where we fly to tomorrow.