Hello London, It's Me Again

There’s always a ‘getting there’ day when you travel. Today was that day. Now I have to say that flying from Bologna to London is a whole world away from flying Sydney to London, figuratively and literally. Our early morning flight at 7am left a tad early because the plane was ready to go and the tower evidently agreed and sent us on our way. The flight was supposed to be one hour fifty minutes but with winds in our favour, the captain told us we would get there early. I didn’t hear anyone complaining.

We had arisen at 4am to make sure we were at the airport by 5am to do all the check in and security stuff, so by the time were at cruising altitude, I was already tired. However, I courageously took out my book, The Medici, and ploughed back into it. It will come as no surprise that ten minutes in, my head was becoming heavy and noddy, and not even the triumphant return to Florence of Cosimo de Medici from exile, as adrenalin-packed as that was, could keep me awake. I closed the book and slept soundly for half the flight.

London turned on a gorgeous sunny day. Warm but not excessively hot. With our heavy bags packed with two months of clothes as well as bits n bobs we bought in Italy (mine was 19.5kg and Chris’ 17.5kg) we made the reluctant and expensive decision to take a taxi from the airport into Stockwell, there to meet up with Chris’ folks Graham and Jo, who had arrived here a few days before us. They graciously allowed us to stow our luggage while we waited for 3pm check-in time in our own apartment not far from the Barbican.

After hugs, greetings, coffee and a tour of their apartment garden, we all headed off down the road to get some lunch and a drink and a bit of a de-brief of our time in Italy. The part of Stockwell they are staying in is known as Little Portugal, so there are quite a few Portuguese eateries in the vicinity. We stopped at Estrela and had panino melts with beer. Delicious.

Eventually, we received word that our apartment was ready, so we made plans for the four of us to meet up for dinner, bade farewell and headed for Moorgate. Getting into an Air B& B is not always easy, but this one, after a confusion as to which lockbox to try, eventually gave up her secrets and we infested the place and will rest our bones here for the next two weeks. It’s not bad actually. Clean, neat, plenty of creature comforts, and well-located for supermarkets, walking and public transport. We even have a balcony.

We met Graham and Jo last night in Farringdon, the location of our first ever stay in London. We took them down to the Sir John Oldcastle pub on the corner and, having eating Italian food for the last month, feasted on British pub food. It was fun to have some chips again. We both slept well after a long day and we are ready to continue our love affair with London, surely one of the most extraordinary cities on the planet.Baca lagi