I was so tired when I got of the plane, I am not completely sure how I managed to get through that first day or even write the last blog post. But I am feeling significantly better after couple of nights sleep here. I have been meeting with some Baptist Ministers in Kent and it was really good to hear that we face similar challenges, but also things to celebrate. But People are people after all aren’t they!
Joth and Sue have been great hosts last night they drove me down to Dover to have a look at the white cliffs. It was after we had been out all day. It was a gorgeous evening but with a very chilly wind. From The North not from the South as it is for us in the Southern Hemisphere. So we braved the wind and walked along the top of the cliffs as the sun was going down.
Today I had a free day and so I decided to head into to the heart of London and do a bit of a tour, I will talk about that shortly but before I do let me tell you about my travel experience. I have only ever flown internationally by myself once before and that was when I returned from America in 2014 after a month in the US. Every other time I have been with friends or family. It is quite a different thing to navigate everything on your own. Apart from multiple gate changes and delays in Sydney the first two flights were pretty good although I didn’t get a lot of sleep. They were with Qantas the seats were comfy and I was sitting in the aisle so I could come and go as I pleased. But Singapore to London was with British Airways and I was in the middle row of seats and in one of the middle seats in a row of 4. I thought they looked kind of tight as I approached and that was confirmed when I sat down. And even more so when my fellow passengers joined me in their seats.
On my right I had Danny an Irish Comedian who had just finished a 100 show tour in Australia. And Kate on my left a Mother of two who was going back to see family in London. Danny was very quick to point out that British Airways were s**t and he would never choose to fly with them but had to change flights last minute because of the War. He said they have no room and crap service.
Danny clearly like to spread out to get comfortable. He unpacked all his stuff and made himself as comfortable as possible. At my expense, he took every part of his seat and spilled into mine as well on the arm rests and with his knees. He then proceeded to put a blanket over his head and go off to sleep and kept banging me with his legs and elbows for the next 14 hours (not annoying in the slightest) Kate was much more polite and just got on with watching a movie but after it finished she decided to sleep and she curled up and squashed me from the other side so I was now firmly wedged in place. Then the person in front reclined their seat and I was feeling slightly claustrophobic.
So I decided to recline as well and try and get some. I managed a bit of sleep then we had food delivered. Danny woke and proceeded to elbow me, Kate didn’t want any food so stayed curled up. I didn’t have enough room use my knife and fork. So I had to get creative and hold my meal burning my finger from the foil tray with one hand. And use the fork in the other hand and shovel the food into my mouth. I did manage. Then it was back to trying to sleep about 5 hours into the flight I needed to go for a wee. But this was a little challenging as I was so tightly wedged between Danny and Kate there was no way I was going anywhere. They both slept and I held on.
But at 6.5 hours I really needed to go. I had no choice but to wake Kate. She was very polite and said no problem. But then didn’t get up from her seat she just swung her legs into the aisle. Now if you remember how snug I said things were in the seats and if you know me, you will also know that I am not a dainty feather weight so this proved to be very challenging as the person in front of Kate had their seat leaning back as well. Let’s just say my bum got acquainted with Kate’s legs and lap as I did my very best to squeeze past without sitting in her lap. When I got the the toilet it was occupied no problem I thought I will just go to the back of the plane. Did I mention that there was turbulence and the seatbelt sign was lit. When I got to the rear of the plane both of the toilets were also occupied. No worries how long can someone be? Quite some time it turns out, I was
Starting to get a bit desperate at this point. When this lovely older flight attendant came along I thought she was going to be helpful, but she pointed out that I was not supposed to be out of my seat because of the turbulence. I explained that I had been waiting 6.5 hours for pee and I would be happy to return to my seat as soon as I had used the toilet. She rolled her eyes and walked off saying make it quick! I doing my best I said. Finally after what seemed like an eternity the toilet door finally opened and a flight attendant came out.
I raced in and tried very hard to get all of my pee into the toilet as we bounced around in the turbulence. I am pleased to report I didn’t spill a drop. After I had flushed and washed my hands I high tailed it back to my seat and Kate was asleep again. I gently tapped her shoulder oh sorry she said and once again remained seated. I tried to pull myself as far forward as possible bouncing the passengers sitting in front as I pulled on their seats trying to avoid sitting in Kate’s lap again. I made it and at this point I said there is no way in hell I am doing that again so I resigned myself to one loo stop in 14 hours. The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful, but Kate woke and we started chatting and we talked about all sorts of things I told her I was walking the Camino and she thought that was amazing. She asked why and so explained my story, she thought that was pretty special. She explained that she was a Jew and she didn’t really understand Christians. I asked what she meant and she said they seem to always be hating, judging and being angry with all sorts of people in the world. What a sad reflection I said to her for a faith where the two most important things we are called to is to love God and love others. She was shocked to hear this and it led to some good discussions for the next couple of hours. But as lovely as the conversation was with Kate I was very relieved to finally land in London and get out of that seat. Hallelujah praise the Lord!
Well enough about my plane journey. Today I caught the train into London and decided to go on a Bike Tour around central London. Fiona and I had some with the same company Fat Tire Bike Tours in Paris back in 2009 and it was awesome. So I rocked up expecting a large group of riders but when I walked through the door they said you must be Mike. They said we only have two registered and you don’t look like a Stephanie Good assumption I told them. So we were allocated a bike and helmet and then headed off with NJ our guide. Stephanie who was from Australia wasn’t a natural on the bike so we had a couple of close calls. But we had an amazing tour around the city such a good way to get around. I was sneaking pics as we rode along riding with one had on the handle bars. Stephanie decided to follow my lead which was going well until she rode into the curb at speed and then splatted all over the cycle lane in front of me. Thankfully I was able to pull on the brakes and avoid running her over. She was ok but grazed her knee and NJ told us both that if we want to take photos just ask him to stop and we can. I felt bad but we finished the rest of the tour without incident. It was awesome there were a couple of things I missed so I hired an e-bike and ripped around seeing Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament as well. London is a very beautiful city. Anyway that is enough from me today. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Leave a Reply