(Greg writes ....) London has lost it for me. It's not doing a thing for me. Dunno whether it's because I'm older (last here in '75 and '80), maybe because it's the end of the trip (although I'm still looking forward to getting back to Paris for a couple of days before we actually take-off for home). Despite my "train-thing", I've no inclination to travel around the Underground (although that is another world "down there" that I'm not sure I want to be a part of, trains or no trains), or anyhthing similar (enjoying jumping on and off buses above ground more, actually - the YHA is very coveniently located for that, too). Sorry London, dunno what it is but you're just not here for me this time (end of my whinge).
Yes, Greg has a bad case of end of holiday fatique. The spring has gone out of his step and he's moving very slowly. I'm fighting it too but am having more success than he is.
Today, wasted a few hours trying to track down a nearby Europcar Office (that, in the end, didn't exist) to demand they refund my £250 deposit we had to leave for car hire. After two fruitless expeditions I gave up and phoned customer service. Didn't get any further than the voice messages as one of them said " if you are phoning about your deposit be aware it can take up to 10 days for deposit to be refunded to your account". Not happy! I foolishly used my travel money debit card for the deposit, instead of using my normal credit card that they could just keep an imprint of. That meant actual money has been taken from my account. So by the time I am back home I will still have £250 to spend! Ready for next time!
Today feels as though we have been around the world twice. Firstly at the British Museum, which is only a 15 minute walk from YHA. As the tourist map I have says, "you can see all the things we have stolen from other countries." It is a fabulous and ecclectic collection of cultural icons from around the world. Many of them are huge. How did they get them back to UK? And re-assemble them? I got to hold an 8000 year old polished stone axe head. A volunteer was seated at a table with half a dozen items from the collection and vistors were allowed to pass them around as she described them. You could spend all day there and not see everything and it's free so you can go again and again!
In the afternoon we set out to visit Anna OJ (one of the Charlestown OJs, but now resident in the UK) who is teaching on the edge of London. Anna and sister Jess graduated last year from Uni of Newcastle as primary school teachers. With no positions offered, despite willingness to go to the country area of NSW, Anna obtained a position at a school over here in the UK and moved in April. Believe it or not, a few weeks later the NSW education system finally got around to offering her a position as a targetted grad, at Lake Cargellico Central School. This was the first she knew that she was a targetted grad!! Too late DEC. She has made other arrangements!
Anyway, as I am not keen to travel on the Tube we went part-way by bus. This was another trip around the world. From the top deck of the bus we enjoyed the view of ever changing suburbs. We passed beautiful old English churches, the East London Mosque and then a few blocks further on a Buddist Temple. The cultural mix and dress of the people changed as we moved through the suburbs.
It was great catching up with Anna in the flat she and her partner Mark have settled into at Hornchurch. We were their first visitors! Mark was at work so Anna, Greg and I walked up to the town centre for dinner. Hornchurch is 2 stops from the end of the district line to Upminster. As upminster is also a connecting station for a fast overground connection to London, we caught the above-ground Tube to Upminster, then the fast train back to London. We were back at the YHA in an hour.
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