Aug 20 2010 A little bit of a hiccup today that cost me $350. I missed my flight and had to buy another one. It was a stupid, costly mistake, but these things happen. I was on my way to the airport by train which was to take 20 minutes and the train was delayed. It was to arrive on track number two but in hind sight there was a regular train that comes on track number two at the same time and the one I needed must have come through second. The monitors didn’t indicate where this train was going and there were no workers around so I got on it. I guess I should have waited and maybe there was the correct train behind it? I wasn’t the only one who got on the incorrect train. We realized after about 30 minutes on it that it wasn’t going to the airport and had to get off and wait for another train. We got on the next train that was also to take 20 minutes to get to the airport. I and the other three people that made the same mistake got on the train only for it to go to Central Station and be delayed there for another 20 minutes or more making this train take 50 minutes. I made it to the airport as my flight was boarding and had to buy a new ticket. When I bought it the guy said you need to move as this new flight leaves in 50 minutes and you need to check in. It was funny because then this flight was delayed 25 minutes waiting at the gate and if that had have happened to the first flight maybe I could have made it. I will give the check in person credit they called the gate to see if I could board but they said I wouldn’t make it. So I am hoping these are my three things as you know things tend to happen in threes, ATM card eaten, wrong train and missed flight, hopefully the last two aren’t a combo unit and I still have a third thing to come.
So last night in the paper I read that SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), who I am flying with, has had 17 000 safety violations that they have flown with over the last seven years, so maybe I wasn’t suppose to make that first flight? Anyways these things happen and it is a good thing I still have a pay check coming through, a credit card to fall back on and a job to come home to. Off to London for the week to spend time with Karen and Tina my cabin mates from the Trans Mongolian/Siberian Railway.
I wasn’t the only one who missed my flight in the line boarding these two guys beside me were also belly aching that they had to get new flights and pay the difference etc. Another guy with them also had the same problem and he only has one hour to make it to his next flight in London and on to the States. I wish him good luck. I cannot see him making it.
Karen gives the most amazing directions. I made it to her flat without a problem. It took an hour and twenty minutes from the airport via the Underground or Tube with three changes and then a little walk. After the rest of the day I really appreciated her thorough instructions. I arrived to a lovely homemade pizza dinner with Karen, Tina and Bobbie (Tina’s mom) who are both visiting from Brisbane. Karen and Tina were my cabin mates on the train across Siberia.
The flat is huge so we all fit nicely. It is a two bedroom that she shares with another woman Kirsty, who happens to be in France at a wedding for the weekend. The flat has a good size kitchen a lovely bathroom with a nice tub and shower and a big living room. It is a pub that was converted into four flats. The guests are all in the basement and it is massive. We each have some form of double bed, a futon, blow-up or a mattress and there is still tons of room for all of our stuff and a few tables and even more floor space. It is great. The flat is in a great location too. Just off of High Street in Clapham Common.
So yesterday we headed out to check out the many Charity Shops on High Street and the Pound Store (Dollar Store) as it is so good and ended up on an old fashioned open top double-decker bus doing a pub crawl. As you do... We hit the Charity Shops along the way checking out the park and some of the sites and then had lunch at a pub and a couple of pints. We made it to the Pound Shop and then thought on the way back to the flat we would stop into another pub for a drink and happened upon this free pub crawl so we joined it with all of our shopping in hand. It was very random. We ended up having an awesome afternoon touring around in the open top bus and having a pint and some great food along the way, got to love spontaneity.
Check out the photos at the following link;
Pub Crawl in Clapham London Photos
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