The Last Days of London

The last full day I had was Thursday and Rosie was off work again so we opted to go down to the Thames for a last walkabout and a late pub lunch on the riverside. It's a great way to just see the city, as walking across the south bank you look across at the Tower, St. Paul's, the Tower Bridge, London Bridge and parliament all in a 30 minute walk. I also did a bit of last minute souvenir shopping. It was a quieter day and a nice final day in London.

Friday was a near disaster that turned out okay. I had specifically asked Emirates to fly in and out of Heathrow but upon getting there I learned that in fact I was flying out of Gatwick. Now shame on me for not reading the final itinerary which did in fact say Gatwick right on it but given that on my initial purchase it had said Heathrow I wasn't really looking that hard that morning. Fortunately we had left really early as Rosie was dropping me off before heading to work so we said goodbye at Heathrow and I hopped on the hour bus ride to Gatwick. Emirates was good about it and actually refunded my 25 pound ($40) bus ticket as I had in fact requested Heathrow and I still made it through immigration at Gatwick with over two hours to go. Still some unneeded stress.

After that is was a 7 hour flight to Dubai next to a woman who I think may have had certain mental issues. She listened to Emirates music the whole way but insisted on rocking out to it (drumming on her knees and singing included). Not totally welcome on an evening flight. Her friend (handler?) told her to be quiet several times but she didn't seem to get it. After that is was close to four hours in Dubai and a 9 hour flight back to Seoul that was quiet and stress free.

I already miss London but am happy to be back and getting settled again.