London

By Eric

We landed in London around 10 p.m. A little after 11 we were standing with all our bags and our bicycles wandering what to do. Joan was for a night in the airport but I wasn't. I hate trying to sleep in airport. I knew the following day would be awful if we did. Plus we didn't know when we were going to leave. We couldn't stay in the airport indefinitely.

Fortunately London is much better set up for arriving bicycle tourists than it was last time I was there in 1991. They have an express train with a baggage car that goes regularly to and from both Gatwick and Heathrow airports. Bikes are no problem on either train.

So we loaded the bikes and got on the train about 11:30. By midnight we were wandering around the streets near Victoria station in London looking for a hotel. Thanks to the rough guide we had a place in 15 minutes. It was even on the first floor so we rolled the bikes right inside the room and went to sleep. Unfortunately we slept through our breakfast (supposedly including in the price). Gibraltar, though very British, is on Spanish time. Breakfast at our hotel there had been between 8:30 and 10. But in London it was between 7 and 9. They wouldn't even give us coffee at 9:45.

We went back to Victoria Station. We had noticed the night before that it had a bike store, lots of restaurants and book stores. We had a great breakfast there then went to Platform 7 where the bike store was located. I bought some fenders that would actually fit my bike and not those stupid mountain bike fenders that are too short but real half circle fenders. I spent the next three or four hours at platform 7 putting the fenders on and doing other work on the bikes.

Meanwhile Joan was hunting up Budapest tickets. She found a great rate at a budget travel agent across the street from the station. It also had internet access so she checked our email.

We actually got a "youth" discount on the tickets for people 21-34 years old (we're 33). It's probably our last ever discount for being young. Our next discount will be with AARP.

Unfortunately Joan didn't buy the tickets immediately. Instead she reserved them but came to Platform 7 to check with me first. I said great go buy them but by the time she got back, the travel agency had a power outage. We couldn't get the tickets in our hands for several more hours which was a bit nerve wracking. The flight left at 8 a.m. the next morning.

When I finally finished the bikes the bike store stored them for us (for a small fee) and we were finally free to run around.

The bookstore in Victoria station had most of what we needed -- eastern Europe guidebook and phrase book and some reading material. We found another amazing map and travel guide store a block away that had excellent maps. We also got a German language text book.

We had our tickets and all our errands completed around five p.m. Enough time to do some sightseeing before dark. We saw Big Ben, the Parliament building, and the Thames. It was a short walking tour, about two hours, but the evening sun was gorgeous.

On the tour we passed another great bike store and they had our favorite tires! Continental. Actually Joan likes the Continental Town and Country. They had the Top Touring which is my favorite. We bought three tires, two for me and one for Joan, and I walked the rest of the tour with them around my neck.

We picked up our bikes at the store in Victoria station just before it closed at 7:30 p.m. We had 12 and a half hours to kill before the flight. This time I agreed with Joan that we could spend the night in the airport. If we got a hotel, we would just have to get up at some ungodly, pre-breakfast hour with half and night sleep anyway.

But there was no need to rush to the airport. We rode the bikes to a trendier neighborhood and looked around for a restaurant. The streets were very busy and narrow and our biggest challenge was finding a place to park the (fully loaded) bikes that we could see from a restaurant.

Good thing we persevered on this point.

We found a nice little Italian place on a side street with not so much foot traffic, though still plenty. We parked the bikes right in front of the window and got a table in front of the window.

We were having a great dinner then when we had just about completed the main course, I noticed a overweight young woman eyeing our bicycles. Many people had looked carefully at the bikes as they walked by so I didn't think much of it.

But then she moved directly toward Joan's bike and started trying to remove the sleeping back. I leaped up and yelled "She's taking the sleeping bag!" Somehow Joan beat me to the door. The physics of this don't make sense but she did it. She scream at the woman like only Joan can, no doubt scaring her witless.

The woman just said defiantly, "I didn't know it was yours."

When the woman walked off I noticed she had a blanket across her shoulder. I figured she was homeless and wanted a warm sleeping bag.

Later I apologized to the waiter for causing such a ruckus in the restaurant. He was very nice and said he would have done the same thing.

We probably should not have eaten in that part of town with our fully loaded bikes but we didn't know.

Our flight the next morning was out of Heathrow airport. We had flown into Gatwick. We underground goes to Heathrow so we figured we'd just take that. But at the station we learned that they don't allow bikes on the underground at all. Fortunately the same man that told Joan this also told her that there is an express train to Heathrow that leaves from Paddington station.

So we just had to navigate about three km across London to Paddington where we quickly found the Heathrow Express (leaves every fifteen minutes, lasts fifteen minute, 10 pounds sterling.)

Like the Gatwick express, this was fast and friendly with a big baggage car for the bikes. The only hitch is the one fm walk from the train station to the terminal.

Somehow we sniffed out the lounge where the overnighters like us hangout at Heathrow. I don't know how but we went straight there, as if by instinct. There were no signs or anything. It's just a corner of the airport with a 24 hour cafe.

All night we worked on the bikes, slept, talked to a few guys from Zimbabwe (one guy was in the military and had trained in Texas), and drank coffee. We had a couple rows of chairs reserved and so we could really stretch out. I think I slept three hours, maybe four. About Five a.m. the terminal started filling up.

The bikes were a little hassle as usual but not too bad. They made us take the front wheels off so at the last minute we had to find some way to attach the wheels to the rest of the bike so they wouldn't get lost. Some bungee cords to the trick. Though I wish they would have let us leave the wheels on. It is much safer for the bike.

Next: Hungary

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