I am in London at the moment as I had a career's fair to go to this week.
Tuesday afternoon just after 5, I got picked up by my taxi from work to go to Rotterdam airport. I was very much looking forward to this trip and for once was fully prepared, hadn't forgotten anything at home and was actually ready a bit early.
As we left the office we headed into rush hour, and after being stuck for a little while the driver took a back road and we were free to drive again...for all of one minute! until we reached the motorway slip road. Completely jam-packed.
To cut a long story short, the journey took just over an hour instead of 15 minutes, so even my contingency plans had been thwarted. I somehow managed to keep calm and just rehearsed moves through the airport/how I would get myself to Ams in time for the last flight.
I arrived at the airport 9 min before the flight departure. I had been considering phoning our travel agent to change the flights but decided to do it at the airport. I ran in like a complete maniac and asked if it was still possible to get on the flight, hand luggage only...quick radio call...yes! I left her with my passport and booking number and rushed out to the waiting taxi to pay him. And this is where it almost all came undone.
The driver had to get the credit card machine from the boot and then spent what seemed like ages fumbling with the slip of paper. During this time, the check-in lady came out to see what on earth I was doing...I managed to communicate to the driver that the plane was waiting for me! Finally made it back in and through security, by this time rather incoherent. The guards were clearly bored so I got told off for having a bottle of water, for which I apologised profusely ( a little manically) and he let me off...I had a feeling that if I had been impatient with him he would have held me up so I would miss the flight.
Dash over to passport control (all of 5m) during which time my name was being called over the speakers, then through to the gate (another 7 m ) were people seemed relaxed and smiled at me...probably the laugh of the day.. Still not able to speak any language properly at this stage but the next thing I knew I was running across the tarmac to the waiting plane! The stairs man was making his way towards the stair latch and also seemed to be relaxed and smiling (laughing??).
And there I was, on the plane, 4 minutes before departure!!
Skin and teeth comes to mind. Never before, never again!
The other people on board did not look at me too grumpily so I assumed they hadn't been waiting for too long, but it took a little while for me to calm down and enjoy a drink and snack. All was well by the time we landed in London, but I needed all the adrenaline I had used up to get to my next appointment...
But before I move on...people, fly VLM! What a great airline :-)
Right, so in London, hopped onto the DLR and then the tube and got to Victoria in time to rush into the car rental shop at 19:28 (ie 2 minutes before closing time). Picked up the rental car and drove home feeling quite happy about the prospect of sitting quietly on the sofa for a while!
Which is exactly what we did.
Next morning, up at 5.45am to leave in time to a) avoid the C charge and b) avoid traffic. I was heading up to Keyworth, near Nottingham, to man a stall at the British Geological Society careers' fair. My fellow stall-person, Willem, had flown down from Aberdeen and stayed near the airport overnight. I much preferred the London option, and in view of the price and hassle attached to a train ride, as well as the rubbish timing (same length of time to drive than to go by train) I chose to drive.
This is of course where I remembered that it is only the 3rd time I drive on this side of the road, and only the second time with a LHD car...
Left a little later than expected but still avoided the C charge. London traffic was already heavier than I had hoped and I almost had a crash when some idiot cut right in front of me at Marble Arch...not the best roundabout in history :-(
However, made it onto Edgware Road, then onto the M1 in quite good time...took just over 30mins to get there. After a while, the sun rose behind me, just as I was driving through a wooded area with amazing autumnal colours...a very enjoyable section of the journey.
I was very lucky with my trip up: although some areas were quite busy, there were no jams all the way to junction 23, which is where I left the motorway. I then drove through Loughborough and on through the countryside up to Keyworth. Found the BGS almost first go and arrived just in time to unpack everything before the start of the fair. Quite a varied drive really: London, motorway, small town, dual carriageway, village and country lane driving! Can't say I was too impressed with Loughborough but the villages nearby were quite pretty.
The fair went well, our stall was extremely busy, to the point where I hardly managed to drink one cup of tea during the whole morning because I was talking non-stop. Lunch was provided for exhibitors and Willem and I took turns to tuck in before heading back for a marginally quieter afternoon.
Willem left at 3 to catch a plane, leaving me to pack up. Which was all fine until I realised all the boxes needed taping up and I had no tape, and I had to write an address on all the boxes for the courier. Not sure we'll be seeing those again soon...
Before leaving, I couldn't resist going into the geology shop and ended up buying a couple of maps :-) then jumped into the car to head home before rush hour. On the way out of Keyworth I took a wrong turn and drove along what ended up to be a shortcut through the fields...a proper country lane, only wide enough for one car, bordered with hedges and winding through a few isolated farms in the setting sun...what a lovely start to the journey back :-) Which again was fine, until I got into London and realised I was coming in the wrong way and ended up lost in North London. Luckily, I had brought the Nuvi navigation system we bought for Tunisia, just in case, and it helped me get home safely from somewhere near Farringdon/Finsbury Park/???. North London isn't exactly the kind of place you can just turn down a side-street and hope for the best. It all worked out in the end though, despite a wrong turn after which the Nuvi just went berserk and lost it bearings for a crucial 5 minutes...there are far too many one-way roads in London!!!
I got home and realised I was completely exhausted...6 hours of driving in one day isn't necessarily that bad, but topped with standing at a stall for 5 hours and the extra concentration required in an unfamiliar car and road set-up, it was quite heavy-going. By the way, the car was a Skoda Bravia, which I didn't particularly enjoy driving; it was OK, despite the fact that 2nd and 4th gear are far too close together, but did not feel as nifty as a little Nissan or Citroen. I could live quite happily without driving another one of those.
That's it for now, working from London today and tomorrow and looking forward to the weekend...
