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London 2012 - Part 1: Travelling and hotel
Ok, here we go with the first part of my London 2012 report. :D
I decided to split them into themed entries instead of doing it chronologically by days...
My little holiday started on the evening of Saturday, 14 July at Hamburg Airport.
I arrived a little more than 1.5 hours before my flight departed. Checking in was really quick and easy. :-)
Our plane to London was quite a small one.
We landed at London Heathrow (Terminal 1) at about 6.15 p.m. and then I made my way through long corridors to the baggage claim... ;-) *g*
My parents were kind enough to sponsor me a return ticket for the Heathrow Express this time. \o/
And let me tell you, it was pure heaven!! <3 So very comfy, quiet and those 15 minutes to Paddington Station just flew by. :-) And I had to go to Paddington anyway because my hotel was about 5 minutes from there, so that was very handy. :D
Right next to Paddington Station is a Hilton hotel which looked very inviting and so much nicer than my hotel. :p *gg*
And a little further along on the way to my hotel was another one that looked quite nice...
(you can see the Hilton again at the end of the road)
Well, this was actually the one I ended up in though. ;-)
I arrived at around 7.30 p.m. It definitely is pretty basic, and could maybe do with an all around renovation if you ask me. ;-) But it was ok. I didn't intend to spend much time there apart from sleeping anyway. *g* Both bathroom and bed were clean enough not to run out of the room screaming, so all was good. :D *lol* My room was on the 5th floor with the lift only going up to the 4th floor...
lounge room:
view from lounge at reception desk:
main stairwell:
the lift:
5th floor corridor:
And my room:
view from my bathroom window:
the restaurant, which was situated down in the basement:
On Thursday, 19 July I already had to leave London again. :-( *le sigh* And quite early too... I took the 6.40 a.m. Heathrow Express back to the airport. The check in and bag drop there were horrible! I queued for 75 minutes and consequently then had only 15 minutes left before boarding started... I still did a quick stop at a WH Smith to buy a magazine and some chocolate (had to be done!) and then made my way to the gate at the double. ;-) Finally arrived at the plane at 8.40 a.m. (which was only 15 minutes before departure). *phew* This time the plane was bigger and more comfortable, but also at least half empty if not even more. I actually had a 6 seat row all to myself. :D
We left as scheduled at 8.55 a.m.
You know, I actually had to fight back some tears on the plane... SO did not want to leave London!!! :-(
Then only about 85 minutes later we landed at Hamburg Airport. Where it rained. A lot. ;-)
~End of Part 1~
I decided to split them into themed entries instead of doing it chronologically by days...
My little holiday started on the evening of Saturday, 14 July at Hamburg Airport.
I arrived a little more than 1.5 hours before my flight departed. Checking in was really quick and easy. :-)
Our plane to London was quite a small one.
We landed at London Heathrow (Terminal 1) at about 6.15 p.m. and then I made my way through long corridors to the baggage claim... ;-) *g*
My parents were kind enough to sponsor me a return ticket for the Heathrow Express this time. \o/
And let me tell you, it was pure heaven!! <3 So very comfy, quiet and those 15 minutes to Paddington Station just flew by. :-) And I had to go to Paddington anyway because my hotel was about 5 minutes from there, so that was very handy. :D
Right next to Paddington Station is a Hilton hotel which looked very inviting and so much nicer than my hotel. :p *gg*
And a little further along on the way to my hotel was another one that looked quite nice...
(you can see the Hilton again at the end of the road)
Well, this was actually the one I ended up in though. ;-)
I arrived at around 7.30 p.m. It definitely is pretty basic, and could maybe do with an all around renovation if you ask me. ;-) But it was ok. I didn't intend to spend much time there apart from sleeping anyway. *g* Both bathroom and bed were clean enough not to run out of the room screaming, so all was good. :D *lol* My room was on the 5th floor with the lift only going up to the 4th floor...
lounge room:
view from lounge at reception desk:
main stairwell:
the lift:
5th floor corridor:
And my room:
view from my bathroom window:
the restaurant, which was situated down in the basement:
On Thursday, 19 July I already had to leave London again. :-( *le sigh* And quite early too... I took the 6.40 a.m. Heathrow Express back to the airport. The check in and bag drop there were horrible! I queued for 75 minutes and consequently then had only 15 minutes left before boarding started... I still did a quick stop at a WH Smith to buy a magazine and some chocolate (had to be done!) and then made my way to the gate at the double. ;-) Finally arrived at the plane at 8.40 a.m. (which was only 15 minutes before departure). *phew* This time the plane was bigger and more comfortable, but also at least half empty if not even more. I actually had a 6 seat row all to myself. :D
We left as scheduled at 8.55 a.m.
You know, I actually had to fight back some tears on the plane... SO did not want to leave London!!! :-(
Then only about 85 minutes later we landed at Hamburg Airport. Where it rained. A lot. ;-)
~End of Part 1~