Andy's World Tour of Europe 2000 Diary
Monday May 1, 2000 - May Day!
The events leading up to our departure where not pleasant to say the least. Tony was stuck in Sydney overnight after flight delays on his return from a conference. The travel documents still hadn’t arrived from the travel agent. Too many loose ends to tend to on the eve of our departure.
I picked Tony up from the airport and arranged to meet him later at Flight Centre. When I arrived there Tony had already been, and the tickets had still not arrived. The agent was going to deliver them to Tony’s place that evening, as soon as they arrived from the courier.
5PM, Tony rang from the doctors surgery to say I should have a flu shot. So I flew out the door and drove like a madman to the doctor to have my vaccination before they closed at six.
930PM, the travel agent delivers the tickets to Tony’s house. Finally!
Tuesday May 2, 2000 - Departure day!
I had set the alarm for 4am. A quick shower, skipped breakfast as I’d be fed later on the plane. Some last minute packing and I rushed out the door. Picked Tony up at 530. Drove to Mum and Dad’s place. They took us to the airport. Arrived at airport a little after 6am. The plane was already boarding. We quickly checked in and headed for the terminal gate. 630am Qantas flight 968 took off for Melbourne.
Arriving in Melbourne an hour later, we had a 6 hour wait for the departure to Hong Kong. We took the time to check over our travel documents to see that everything was present and accounted for. We found missing flight details for our flight between Santorini and Mykonos. We inquired with the Flight Centre agent at the airport who contacted our Launceston agent. After a few hours of patient waiting we were told there wasn’t much that could be done immediately and to make our own arrangements for that sector when we got to Greece.
Just before 1pm Cathay Pacific flight CX104 started boarding and tookoff at around 130pm. Occasionally we’d look out the aircraft windows to look at the ground some 30,000 feet below us. I was amazed at the great expanse of desert in the Australian outback. We enjoyed the inflight entertainment. Our PTV’s providing hours of amusement during the 7 hour flight. On approach to Honk Kong we witnessed a spectacular lightning show. As fascinating as it was, it was also a little scary, being way up in the air with all this electrical activity outside the plane.
With a 4 hour wait in Hong Kong transfer, we wondered along the massive departure hall concourse. It seemed to go on forever. We also took the opportunity to try and get some sleep in a quiet area.
Wednesday May 3, 2000
At 1245am Wednesday morning (HK time) we departed for our next destination, London. A whopping 13 hours, stuck in a seat with Tony on one side and two elderly ladies on the other. The ladies were from East Anglia returning from a wedding in Thailand. They gave us some tips for when we would be touring the UK later in our trip. The PTV’s were entertaining for a while. Tried to get more sleep but that’s not as easy as it sounds.
We touched down at Heathrow around 7am (UK time). It was raining outside but that wouldn’t affect us until we got into London. We cleared immigration and set off for the Underground. We bought a LT travel card for £7.50 that would take us through to Piccadilly. Apparently they are cheaper outside of “rushhour”. The train ride was longer than I expected and what we really wanted most was a shower.
At Piccadilly we exited the Underground and hunted for our hotel. We wondered around Piccadilly for a while and eventually found it, The Regent Palace Hotel (a cheapie with shared facilities). Once we’d checked in, we phoned for the maid to bring some towels and unlock the shower for us. Well, we waited and waited. We phoned again... they had forgotten us! We were not impressed.
After we freshened up set went off in search of the Czech Republic embassy. Our agent in Launceston had told us we’d have no trouble getting visas for the Czech Republic at the London embassy. We discovered the process takes 5 days and we were only in London for one more day. Not good. We took some forms away with us with the intention of lodging them in Athens. However, we discover we wouldn’t be in Athens on the first visit during business hours, so we can't apply there! Looks like Prague will have to wait until the next trip.
Next stop was the Busabout office. We discovered there that our Greek add-on had not been booked and our London link add-on was booked for the wrong date. Fixing these up we then headed for the tourist traps. Starting with Big Ben and the houses of Parliament. We crossed the Westminster Bridge to the Millennium Wheel (also known as the London Eye). It’s a huge ferris wheel type contraption that takes half an hour to ride. Being ticketless for this attraction we continued on and wondered about the streets of London. The Strand, St. Pauls Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, blah blah blah... What a pair of tourists!
By late afternoon the jetlag was starting to kick-in rather strong. We rested at the hotel briefly before we headed out again to find something to eat. I was feeling like a zombie, not fully aware of my surroundings. We ate at a Pizza Hut restaurant. An early nights sleep.
At 2:15 the fire alarm went off and everyone had to congregate in the hotel foyer. Just what we didn’t need in our jet-lagged state, but it was amusing to see lots of other hotel guests dressed in their sleeping attire. Boys in boxer shorts, girls a bit more modest in dressing gowns! I think we're the only english-speaking guests in the hotel - the rest of the guests include half the populations of Germany and the Netherlands. It turned out there was a small fire in the office but it’d been put out.
Thursday May 4, 2000
Went to Greenwich to find St. Christopher's Backpackers Inn so that we’d know where to go when we returned to London on June 9.
Near the hostel we found a bus with “Millennium Dome” on the front of it. We hadn’t planned on going to the Dome but the opportunity was right in front of us. So we hopped on and took this free ride to the Dome. Bought entry tickets and headed for the main entry point. Starting at the Body Zone we did a lap of the whole complex which took quite a few hours. Lots to see and do, including an amazing show in the centre of the dome which went for about 40 minutes. It featured great music, very athletic dancers swinging from the roof, and some amazing mechanics on the stage. And then it was outside to another building to see the Black Adder show. Looked about the gift shops and then caught a train back to London. Later that evening we went to Victoria Station to see where the train leaves for Gatwick tomorrow. Had some nice soup at one of the food vendors there. Crossed the street to EzyEverything, an internet cafe, for an hour then back to the hotel.
Friday May 5, 2000
Our last night in London was interrupted by a visit from a rat, who woke us with his gnawing. He was somewhere near the cupboards over behind our backpacks. Couldn’t find him when we turned the light on. Left early for flight to Athens. Let's hope Ratty didn't stow away in our bags...
We boarded the Gatwick Express from Victoria Station to the airport. Our flight from London was nice and smooth - on Virgin Atlantic. From my point of view, this had to be the best airline I've ever flown, with the best service. Makes up for the crappy hotels we're staying in! However, it was a bit bumpy coming into land at Athens, arriving about 4:30pm local time. We caught a Taxi to our hotel in Plaka, right at the base of the Acropolis. As it's coming into summer and Greece is on Daylight Savings time, there was plenty of light for us to wander around the Acropolis, and then have a very nice meal at one of the many restaurants in the area. We decided on an early night for our early flight to Santorini tomorrow.