Europe 2017 – day 23

Up after 4 1/2 hours sleep, and we’re off to Gare du Nord, the train station from which the Eurostar will depart for London. On the way, Cath mentioned that we’re booked into a hotel out near Heathrow, about an hour and a quarter train ride out of the centre of London. We agreed that once we arrived in London, we’d go straight out to Heathrow, check in, drop our bags, then come back into the city to do some sightseeing.

So, that was what we did. As I’m now travelling sans camera bag, I requisitioned Cath’s backpack for a spare lens, water bottle and a few other bits and pieces. We did all the usual suspects…. the Palace, Westminster Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Tower Bridge. By that stage, it was getting close to dinner time, and we felt like we wanted a traditional English pub, and some good “pub grub”. We found a suitable establishment, ordered drinks and dinner, and sat down to contemplate everything we’d done in the previous 3 weeks. It was while we were sitting there that I got Cath to take a portrait of me, which I think is one of my favourite images of me… ever. Nice work, wiffy.

After dinner, we continued the Walk of Madness, heading west along the south side of the Thames, past Sir Francis Drake’s ship, Shakespeare’s Globe, across the Millennium Bridge, and up to St Paul’s Cathedral (ANOTHER bloody church!). Feet were starting to get tired, so we jumped on a bus westbound along Fleet Street, and jumped off near Covent Garden.

Then we walked some more.

Around 22:00, I said to Cath that I needed a break. We found a pub near to where Max and his school group were staying (we were due to pick him up around 22:45), and grabbed a drink. I put my camera on the table, and the backpack under the table. We had our drink, went and picked up Max, and were halfway back to Heathrow before it occurred to me that I didn’t have the backpack with me. D’oh!
I got back to the hotel, rang the pub, explained the situation, and was told that yes, they had the backpack. Great. “I’ll be in there tomorrow night to pick it up, somewhere around 9:30, 10 o’clock”, I said.
“No worries. We’ll be here ’til 11:30”.
Looks like I’ll be sightseeing tomorrow with NOTHING to carry around except the camera and tripod. Oh well. So be it.

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