25 Hours in London

Below lies a timeline detailing our whirlwind, roller-coaster 25 hours in London before we left for Uganda.

Wednesday 18^th of June

8pm – Plane lands, enter border control.

9pm – Finally clear border control, took a while but we had a nice chat to a man along the way. We are officially on holiday!

10pm – Arrive at hostel, laugh at our “deluxe double room”. Think large, clean cupboard in a tropical country with a bed and a bathroom. Technically ticks all of the boxes.

10:30pm – Clean ourselves of 24-hour plane trip grime.

11pm – Fall asleep in a fit of exhaustion from all the travel.

Thursday 19^th of June

7am – Next door neighbour’s alarm goes off. Apparently, thin walls count as deluxe. Remind ourselves there is no rush for us to get up as we are unemployed and on holiday YAY!

9:00am – Set off in search of free WiFi and breakfast.

9.30am – Find a cute French café in Piccadilly Circus. The food was delish and the staff were fantastic. After finishing, realise there was no WiFi.

       

10.30 – Get a coffee at Café Nero so we can utilise the free WiFi. Message TJV to arrange a catch up and let everyone know we arrived safely. Turns out, drink purchase is not necessary to access WiFi password. Remember this for future use.

11:15: Point our noses in the direction of Parliament House. Fingers crossed we can get in to the Houses of Commons or Lords in action. #politicsnerds

12pm – Arrive at Parliament House. As Parliament was sitting we were unable to take a tour of the building but were allowed to watch the debates in the House of Commons. The topic they were debating was “The UK’s relationship to Africa”.  It was bizarre seeing politicians speaking politely instead of yelling and jeering. Conclude that Australian Politicians are animals and that Westminster is an incredible building

1.30pm – Lunch at Pizza Hut. Why do we always think this is a good idea? Promised ourselves that we won’t go here again.

2.20pm – Walk from Piccadilly to Millennium Bridge along the river. Was a really nice walk and were impressed by the amount of joggers.

4.30pm – Reunited with TJV and he takes us to a fantastic café near Brick Lane called Vintage Emporium. TJV gets a chai latte, JM gets a macchiato. There is a major size difference and everyone laughs.

 

6:00pm – Catch the tube back to Hammersmith to get our bags. Realise we meant to visit Primark for K to get some bathers. Success find out there is one near our hostel

6:30 – Quick trip to Primark, J has to find free WiFi so we can transfer some euros into pounds on our card. K does get some nice bathers

7:20pm – JM casually glances at his watch, 7.20pm, check in closes at 7.55pm. Stress levels begin to rise.

7:25pm – Sprint to hostel and get bags, no time to change. K desperate for a pee but there’s no time dammit! Stress levels increasing.

7:30pm – Run (or rather waddle quickly thanks to our bags) to tube. Traffic lights are frustrating.

7.35pm – Get on train, K is a red as a tomato. Stress levels are high but steady, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

7:45pm – That light turns out to be a trap. Train terminates 6 stops before Heathrow. K loses all hope now but JM has faith in airlines.

7:55pm – Check in closes.

8:10pm – Arrive at Heathrow station, check in closed 15 minutes ago. Obstacles include kids playing on travelator, mum tells them to get out of our way or we will miss our flight. Thanks mum! Sprint to Emirates Check in. Blood is pumping, not from the exercise.

8:15pm – 20 minutes after check in closes. Get to Emirates Check in desk, let out a sigh of relief. We are informed that it is actually a Qantas flight and we need to go to the Qantas check in. The Emirates staff member does not know its location. Panic 2: Electric Boogaloo.

8:18pm – 23 minutes after check in closes. Locate Qantas check in, staff member gets us checked in! JM narrows his eyes at how little fuss was made. K is feeling on top of the world as we made it.

8:25pm – K can finally pee! Use the opportunity to get changed into plane clothes

8:30pm – Head to security, our feet are pounding from all the running and can’t wait to settle into our seats. Endorphins are flowing, spirits are high.

8:20pm – Wait. Where is K’s passport? K empties her backpack onto the ground

8:35pm – JM repacks the backpack while K runs to the toilets. K calls herself lots of bad things in her head. Nice Lady has found the passport! Nice Lady scolds K for losing it, K scolds K for losing it.

8:40pm – Get taken to special Fast Track security check. Can’t find the carry on toothpaste, JM empties his bag onto the xray conveyor belt, staff scan each piece. JM repacks his bag. Toothpaste nowhere to be seen.

8:45pm – JM pushes through crowd to the furthest flight information screen, begins to sprint to the gate. Realise that boarding only just started.

8:50pm – Board Plane and breathe a sigh of relief, give ourselves high fives, vow to never do this again.

Moral of the Story: Arrive late to flights and skip all the lines.