Woke up early for a change and had planned to visit my cousin in London. My hotel was near the airport so I decided to take the airport bus to his place which is west Croydon. As usual I got onto the top deck of the double decker and had a birds eye view of the proceedings, making sure the driver was following the right route as per Google.
The roads seemed awfully narrow for a bus this size but I think that’s a visual trick. I could see vast parking spaces filled with hundreds of cars. Might be short term or long term parking or even rental cars.
I decided to restart my intermittent fasting from today and so didn’t have breakfast. At Paris I had that breakfast daily but it was also to fill me with some energy
The bus pulled into teddington station and I felt how it just feel to look down on people, since I could see them from the upper deck. More people are boarding here and so maybe someone will come to sit near me.
I had always seen videos of planes going low over houses on their approach to London. This bus you me through that area though I couldn’t click any pictures.
The upper deck was full of kalapila in malayalam by two young chaps. They seemed more innocent than I was at their age, judging by their talking style and topics.
My phone has limited charge and I took my charger cable as well so I can charge it in my cousins car.. I could see chargers on bus seats but they are older USB ports and mine is usb-c on both sides. This bus is full of malayalam and Hindi now. It’s difficult to understand if I am in uk or India.
Reached Worcester park which was his place. He came to receive me and took me home. Had breakfast from there. And also had a call which I had to take so it was good that I was able to take it from his home. Breakfast was puttu pazham , bullseye and black tea. I had restarted intermediate fasting so food felt very tasty.
After that we started to a place called seven sisters. It’s where there are these huge cliffs that fall off into the ocean..I had seen it in several movies and it was on my bucket list actually. It was quite a climb and I think we spent some couple of hours there. He kept telling me not to go near the edge as it’s very unstable. Anyway I get no plans to go that far. I took some nice photographs. Seems like there are seven outcrops of these cliffs into the sea and that’s why they were called seven sisters. It was also a very treacherous coast with water reaching to the bottom of the cliffs. People can actually go down to the bottom of the cliffs so I think they run the risk of getting stuck during high tide. There have been 25 ship wrecks there. There was also one light house, so I guess it’s not very effective. Both on the way out to this place as well as the trip back, the land scape around us was beautiful. It was a different view of Britain, not there mass of buildings that we see in London but pristine and calm country side with all possibilities of a lazy life. Lot of tourists were there, and I have to specifically mention the Chinese. Mostly young and couples intent of photographing the heck out of it.
We had some food also there, my cousin had a potato jacket with tuna and I had a fruit scone with butter. We also had ice creams from outside. I shared several photos with my wife showing her what she had missed. Her main feedback was not to waste data on the phone by sending pictures.
On the way back we stopped at Costco where my cousin had to do some shopping. After that we went to his tennis club where we had a refreshing beer. After this he dropped me at the bus station where the express loop trains run between airport and various places. I reached the hotel around 8 and realized that room service hadn’t taken my clothes for laundry. So I went down to the reception, complained but they said the services are not available over the weekend and since I was checking out on Sunday they weren’t sure if it could be given back on time. Sounded logical so I left it there.
Had dinner from a sports bar which was very sporty and after that retired to bed. However sleep was bad and I woke up around 3 with lot of noises including doors opening and closing nearby . After some time again dozed off
Day-6
Woke up early. Today’s my little girls birthday. Least birthday also I visited her and took her out. This time also it was a repeat. I took a combination of bus and underground and reached her rooms. We got out and she wanted to go to pfchangs. I had booked a table for two earlier and also told them it was her birthday and to have a small piece of pastry ready for her with a candle. Last year also we had gone to the same place. And even had the same menu I think. But no, I forgot one new addition, dynamite chicken instead of dynamite shrimp.
On the way, we stopped by St.Pauls cathedral and lit a candle.
After lunch we walked to Piccadilly circus where there’s always a huge crowd, a hundred sirens and lot of street performers. We had tea at a Costa, rather, I had black tea and she had a chocolate brownie. After that she wanted to go back and complete some stuff so I gave her a living hug and parted ways. On the way, I could see many police vehicles in a mad rush so I called her and told her to be careful and always be in a crowd. That’s all we can do on these difficult times, rest is in God’s hands.
I went for a stroll through Hyde park and then had an idea. There was a viewing stand from where one could see Heathrow departures. So I thought I will take a shot at it.
Day-7
Woke up lazily and had breakfast. My flight was at 11.50 so wanted to be out by 9. It was very windy and I even got an email from British airways that my flight could be delayed due to heavy winds. I was also reading about an Emirates flight to Glasgow that had to be diverted to Gatwick sand would depart only the next day, due to storms.
I checked out at 9 and saw that there’s an airport shuttle at 9.15. so rather than take the public transport, I thought I will take the shuttle to terminal 5. However, it was 9.25 and still there was no sign of the shuttle. Maybe the winds blew it away! I saw a British airways flight go around because it couldn’t land.
Finally I booked an Uber. Reached the terminal and checked in. I was traveling economy, anyway was a short flight. One of the perks I miss is discounted travel while working for an airline. But it’s what it is.
Finally at 11.20 they published the gate. The flight was delayed by 20 minutes. I reach the gate and realized that they are taking volunteers to check in hand baggage. I volunteered because I realized that passengers who are having their hand luggage checked in, are getting pre-boarding. To me that was more important.
After waiting for twenty five to thirty minutes, I boarded. I had selected a window seat. The pilot kept giving updates but the flight didn’t move. Finally at 1.14, it took off. A delay of more than 75 minutes. Amsterdam – here I come.
It was bumpy while reaching our cruising altitude, but after that it was smooth. I got a bottle of water and a small pack of chips. Had that and took lot of photos of the English channel. They had constructed wind mills in the weather. Of course it’s the Dutch. If they can’t do it, who can. To keep a nation that’s surrounded by water, and that too at a higher level than land, yet not get flooded, is something nearing a miracle. The place was full of canals. There was a river flowing through the airport and the plane was moving over a bridge over the river. Similarly there were roads and vehicles also which the plane taxied over. I had read that this was a small country maybe 200km by 200kms and so they would be smart about using spaces. I could already see vast fields of tulips and daffodils as we were landing. I hoped to visit one field later on, after checking in.
I was pleasantly surprised when a friend came with family to pick me up. They took me around in their car, and because of that I was able to visit the tulip fields. The tulips were just blooming.. The fragrance was different, and I believe it’s a very costly affair to both irrigate and grow tulips. However the profit they make from the two months of blooming and plucking is enough to carry them through the rest of the year. Only rich families own tulip fields.
It was 6 by the time I checked in. I had chicken wings, a burger and beer and went to bed early. It was a tiring day
The next day morning I woke up a bit late. My flight was at 5PM, and I had the whole day to myself. I also had to pick up a laptop to bring with me to Dubai. That completed, I started on a city tour, having checked out. It was not easy with a knapsack and a carry on suitcase, but I managed. I took a bus to the central station and from there took a ferry to the other side just to see. After that, I walked around a bit. Went to Dam square, went to some anonymous places near Dam square and wondered how this seemed to be a world different from what I had normally seen. Some people will understand what I mean.
From there I took a train to the airport. I thought security might take long, but in fifteen minutes I was at the lounge. Did some emails and whiled couple of hours away. KLM lounge was very impressive, and I got the feeling its a very professional airline. I was flying on a KLM City hopper aircraft which was an Embraer with a 2-2 configuration. They fed us nicely on the plane, and I later realized it might have been to make up for the horrible weather in Geneva. The descent was really like a fast moving object completely out of control and getting tossed about from one side to the other, completely at the mercy of the Gods. I was thinking, how miniscule even this big aircraft is, when it comes to the winds and sky and forces of nature. Finally we descended below the cloud ceiling and it was calmer. After an uneventful touchdown, I reached home. The next few days would be hectic, and I would be starting on a new phase in my career and life. Fingers crossed.