Wednesday 27^th August                              LONDON  -  GATWICK

Well, it’s finally arrived – our last travel day in the UK is here, and now we find ourselves safely ensconced in the Travelodge at Gatwick, ready to fly out tomorrow morning.

We were up around 7, and had a very slow morning, as we had until 11 o’clock to check out. Cait and Danny called, so we chatted to them. Lex was pretty much packed, so once they’d gone off for Danny’s bathtime, he headed out for a last walk around the Chelsea/Kensington area, while I finished off my packing and cleared the kitchen. He was back around quarter to ten, then we spent some time looking at taxis and trains and figuring out how best to get to Gatwick. We had to get to Victoria Station, and did not want to go via the subway, as South Kensington has no lifts or escalators, and we have two huge and two small bags! All of the taxis we looked at seemed to want you to book online, but a minimum of three hours ahead and cost of at least 30 pounds. Finally, we popped down to the front desk to consult them; the girl there said they would call one, and it would take about one minute.

                            Almost ready to go!

So, a bit after half past ten we made our way to out in front of the building and Lex got them to call a cab – literally as he walked back out the front door, our taxi pulled up! We had a lovely chat to our driver along the way, and he dropped us at the door closest to where tickets were sold and made sure we knew where to go. And he only cost us 20 pounds.

                                            London taxi to Victoria

                                             Victoria Station

Victoria Station is huge – not quite as confusing as Paddington, but still hard to work out. Finally, Lex went and asked at the ticket office, and found we just had to tap on and off to pay for the Gatwick train. We had a half hour wait for the next one, so we both had a wander around to look at all the shops. I may have even done a teensy bit of Christmas shopping! Finally, we were able to go in and get on a train, which wasn’t the express, but beat it there anyway. As soon as we left, announcements started coming that due to track trouble, the train wasn’t going to Brighton as expected, but would terminate earlier. They were offering other suggestions to the poor folk who were suddenly having their day upset badly. We had a small holdup, but arrived in Gatwick at the airport a bit after midday.

Then we had the usual experience of wandering forlornly around the airport looking for signs to the shuttle bus. In the end, I rang the hotel and established that we needed stop 9. It only took about another 20 minutes of following the wrong signs to the wrong terminal, turning around and coming back before we finally found it with the help of two very nice security men. We had about a 20-minute wait before the bus came along and (for 5 pounds each) carried us off to the hotel. Here we cheerfully paid the early check-in fee to get into our room and dump our bags – by this time it was 1.30.

Lex had discovered that there was a nearby pub which was really the only place to go to find lunch, so we headed out, across the very busy roundabout nearby (three sets of traffic lights to get through) and a stroll across the churchyard path. Ye Olde Six Bells is without a doubt the highlight of this travel day. It was built in the 14^th century and named after the six bells in the church next door. It’s absolutely delightful to look at, and the food was also wonderful. The Lamb kebab I had was one of the best meals I’ve had on this holiday! Lex tried a Czechoslovakian beer, a Prabha, which he was really impressed with. After our meal we looked at the upstairs room, which had the most impressive solid oak beam I’ve ever seen. As we’ve prepaid to eat at the hotel tonight, it was a fabulous last English pub meal for the holiday.

                                    Ye Olde Six Bells for a late lunch

                                  The pub had warnings painted in several places:                                                                                                     'DUCK  OR  GROUSE'!

After our very late lunch, we came back to the hotel, and both had a much-needed nap, before resorting our bags for the morning. Our plane doesn’t leave until after 10, so we’ll have time to have our breakfast before we head off to the airport again.

                                      Gatwick Travelodge

Tea was a nice meal in the hotel restaurant, ‘85’. We both had very English meals: Lex the meat pie and mash, and I had the sausages and mash. Now for the final packing and weighing and hopefully a good night’s sleep before tomorrow’s adventures start. This time tomorrow we’ll be in Dubai!

                                              A nice rural view from our window.