6 September 2009
Arriving in London
After such a long flight I was very happy to get off, only to be greeted by a 2 hour wait for passport control. Terminal 4 is in the process of being completely rebuilt on the inside, and Qantas is moving out next month. Until then its atrocious, there were no toilets or water and you have to line up for 2 hours, the line was so long it ended up looping back around on itself. There were police everywhere trying to control the angry people. I felt sorry for Old people and pregnant women, some of whom sat on the concrete and waited, not sure how they were ever going to get to the front of the line.
Next its time to get the train into the city, the extortion fee for this is about $35. Once you get let off you find out that all the connecting train lines are closed on the weekend, and you ride around on the tube with all your cases as the helpers in each station direct you back to another line thats closed. Eventually I got a taxi.
Finally got to the hotel at around 11:30, After being let off the plane at 7:15, cant check in however until 12, so went and ate...burger king. It was the closest thing to the hotel.
This is a bad photo of one of the train stations I went through between Heathrow and my Hotel.
Heres my hotel, London City Hotel Ibis, near Liverpool Street Station, chosen because its cheap, could be easily booked from Australia, and is located near to the Liverpool Street station from where I needed to catch a commuter train.