SYD-LCY & walking the Thames Path.
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re: SYD-LCY & walking the Thames Path.
OXF (train station) – BHX – STR AB9119
I was keen to avoid the London airports, especially LHR. I also had a day up my sleeve before my return flight from FRA to CMB, so decided to fly to Stuttgart and then take a train the next morning to FRA. Even better, Hotel prices were much lower in Stuttgart than in Frankfurt for the night I wanted.
I booked on Air Berlin having noticed that they were “now flying” from BHX-STR. Actually, they are not flying that route at all. It was a codeshare on a Flybe aircraft. For some reason I can’t figure out, it has earnt 0 QFF status credits or points. I probably need to follow this up. It was an AB flight booked through AB on the AB website, with an AB number. I don’t see any AB fare classes that don’t earn on Qantas. Maybe I’ve missed something, though.
The train from Oxford arrived and departed on time. I had a seat booked and luckily no one else was sitting in it yet. Plenty of people were sitting wherever they felt like. The reservation system on board consisted of a little slip of paper stuck behind the head rest. It isn’t that easy to tell what part of the trains journey a seat is reserved for. Often seats seemed to be reserved, but never occupied.
It was a short journey on a very crowded train. When we arrived at BHX station I had to push through a throng of people all boarding without waiting for others to get off. They seemed very surprised to see someone alighting, with luggage, at the airport station.
From the train station it is an easy and very short walk to the airport terminal. The two buildings are connected.
As it was a Flybe flight there was no priority check in or any status benefits at all and BHX is a bit of a LCC zoo. My advice would be to use LHR. I joined the queue and waited patiently for my turn. Oh, you have to wait in a line to check in like most airports, but when you get to the desk there is no person, it is an automatic kiosk! The kiosk read my passport and then told me it could not process my boarding pass and that I should ask a staff member for help. I did and he just snapped at me “insert your passport as shown” and then walked off. I went and asked him again only to be told I’d just have to wait. To be fair, I can see why he was cross. The person I had to wait for didn’t understand how to put his bag on the conveyor/scales.
Finally the nice man came and inserted my passport and told me “it can’t process your boarding pass”. Oh, thanks Sherlock Holmes. “What should I do?”. Luckily he took the rejection slip that the kiosk printed out and came back after about 5 minutes with a boarding pass. Phew. Those auto kiosks sure do make it so much more efficient. Hundreds of people have to line up to use five or six kiosks? WTF?
Security was pretty slow too. If you fly out of BHS leave time for other pax to phaff around more than seems necessary at security.
There seems to be two lounges available at BHX. Neither One World lounges, both contract lounges but they did accept Priority Pass. The first one I tried was the No. 1 Traveller Lounge. It looked very full and, indeed, the dragon said “sorry, we’re fully booked”. Not quite sure what fully booked meant in a lounge but supposing that it is a thing, I moved to the much quieter Aspire Lounge. Got in with no problem. There were tables in there with “reserved” signs on them though. It seems odd.
Main terminal waiting area at BHX airside:
Not much in the lounge to speak of, some drinks and some bread rolls. Don’t think there were even toilets in there. It was better than the main terminal, though, which was very busy.
As I was leaving the lounge the “go to gate” message against my flight changed to a “delayed” notice. Went back to sit down for another hour.
The Flybe flights left from a distant pier. You have to go there and gather around info screens to see which gate your flight will leave from (A,B,C,D, etc). My flight got more and more delyed. Eventually we left a couple of hours late. The morning flight to STR out of BHX had been delayed by bad weather. It had been a foggy morning.
The flight was non-descript, like normal domestic Y. Better legroom than MH Y though.
OXF (train station) – BHX – STR AB9119
I was keen to avoid the London airports, especially LHR. I also had a day up my sleeve before my return flight from FRA to CMB, so decided to fly to Stuttgart and then take a train the next morning to FRA. Even better, Hotel prices were much lower in Stuttgart than in Frankfurt for the night I wanted.
I booked on Air Berlin having noticed that they were “now flying” from BHX-STR. Actually, they are not flying that route at all. It was a codeshare on a Flybe aircraft. For some reason I can’t figure out, it has earnt 0 QFF status credits or points. I probably need to follow this up. It was an AB flight booked through AB on the AB website, with an AB number. I don’t see any AB fare classes that don’t earn on Qantas. Maybe I’ve missed something, though.
The train from Oxford arrived and departed on time. I had a seat booked and luckily no one else was sitting in it yet. Plenty of people were sitting wherever they felt like. The reservation system on board consisted of a little slip of paper stuck behind the head rest. It isn’t that easy to tell what part of the trains journey a seat is reserved for. Often seats seemed to be reserved, but never occupied.
It was a short journey on a very crowded train. When we arrived at BHX station I had to push through a throng of people all boarding without waiting for others to get off. They seemed very surprised to see someone alighting, with luggage, at the airport station.
From the train station it is an easy and very short walk to the airport terminal. The two buildings are connected.
As it was a Flybe flight there was no priority check in or any status benefits at all and BHX is a bit of a LCC zoo. My advice would be to use LHR. I joined the queue and waited patiently for my turn. Oh, you have to wait in a line to check in like most airports, but when you get to the desk there is no person, it is an automatic kiosk! The kiosk read my passport and then told me it could not process my boarding pass and that I should ask a staff member for help. I did and he just snapped at me “insert your passport as shown” and then walked off. I went and asked him again only to be told I’d just have to wait. To be fair, I can see why he was cross. The person I had to wait for didn’t understand how to put his bag on the conveyor/scales.
Finally the nice man came and inserted my passport and told me “it can’t process your boarding pass”. Oh, thanks Sherlock Holmes. “What should I do?”. Luckily he took the rejection slip that the kiosk printed out and came back after about 5 minutes with a boarding pass. Phew. Those auto kiosks sure do make it so much more efficient. Hundreds of people have to line up to use five or six kiosks? WTF?
Security was pretty slow too. If you fly out of BHS leave time for other pax to phaff around more than seems necessary at security.
There seems to be two lounges available at BHX. Neither One World lounges, both contract lounges but they did accept Priority Pass. The first one I tried was the No. 1 Traveller Lounge. It looked very full and, indeed, the dragon said “sorry, we’re fully booked”. Not quite sure what fully booked meant in a lounge but supposing that it is a thing, I moved to the much quieter Aspire Lounge. Got in with no problem. There were tables in there with “reserved” signs on them though. It seems odd.
Main terminal waiting area at BHX airside:
Not much in the lounge to speak of, some drinks and some bread rolls. Don’t think there were even toilets in there. It was better than the main terminal, though, which was very busy.
As I was leaving the lounge the “go to gate” message against my flight changed to a “delayed” notice. Went back to sit down for another hour.
The Flybe flights left from a distant pier. You have to go there and gather around info screens to see which gate your flight will leave from (A,B,C,D, etc). My flight got more and more delyed. Eventually we left a couple of hours late. The morning flight to STR out of BHX had been delayed by bad weather. It had been a foggy morning.
The flight was non-descript, like normal domestic Y. Better legroom than MH Y though.
Last edited:
re: SYD-LCY & walking the Thames Path.
At BHX airport:
At the pier from where Flybe departs. After drinking in the lounge I needed to visit gate 1A:
Not what you want to see:
Leg room. On MH from DRW-KUL my knees were touching the seat in front. Apologies for the legs:
At BHX airport:
At the pier from where Flybe departs. After drinking in the lounge I needed to visit gate 1A:
Not what you want to see:
Leg room. On MH from DRW-KUL my knees were touching the seat in front. Apologies for the legs:
re: SYD-LCY & walking the Thames Path.
Overnight in Stuttgart
Arrival in Stuttgart was easy and immigration was quick. At that time at least it was a good place to fly into, not at all crowded and very few non-EU passports on the flight so no queue.
My bag was one of the first out, so that was good. I took the subway in to Stuttgart central station from where it was a short walk over the road to the Altoff Hotel am Schlossgarten. The hotel was wonderful, old fashioned certainly, but impeccable. I booked it via a Wotif mystery hotel. As there are only two 5-star hotel near Stutgart central station, it was a safe bet: either would have done nicely. I think the description mentioned “park views” which actually narrowed it down to one possibility. The room was less than half price. I couldn’t have afforded it otherwise.
I went out for a walk and look around. The area near the station and the park was very pleasant. So was the bustling shopping artery of Konigsrtasse nearby. There were lots and lots of people who I assume were refugees from the middle east around the town. Lots of drunk young men also, not just among them but in general too.
Nice hotel room. Now that I look at the photo, maybe the bed could have been more crisply made?
Quite a big old hotel. Reminded me a little of the Overlook Hotel in the Kubrick film 'The Shining':
Overnight in Stuttgart
Arrival in Stuttgart was easy and immigration was quick. At that time at least it was a good place to fly into, not at all crowded and very few non-EU passports on the flight so no queue.
My bag was one of the first out, so that was good. I took the subway in to Stuttgart central station from where it was a short walk over the road to the Altoff Hotel am Schlossgarten. The hotel was wonderful, old fashioned certainly, but impeccable. I booked it via a Wotif mystery hotel. As there are only two 5-star hotel near Stutgart central station, it was a safe bet: either would have done nicely. I think the description mentioned “park views” which actually narrowed it down to one possibility. The room was less than half price. I couldn’t have afforded it otherwise.
I went out for a walk and look around. The area near the station and the park was very pleasant. So was the bustling shopping artery of Konigsrtasse nearby. There were lots and lots of people who I assume were refugees from the middle east around the town. Lots of drunk young men also, not just among them but in general too.
Nice hotel room. Now that I look at the photo, maybe the bed could have been more crisply made?
Quite a big old hotel. Reminded me a little of the Overlook Hotel in the Kubrick film 'The Shining':
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Stuttgart (rail) – FRA – CMB (UL 554)
Well, it had been fun but it was time to really head back homewards. I had a plane to catch in Frankfurt and, in a couple of days, some actual in-person work to do in Darwin. Thus, I boarded a mid-morning ICE train from STR Hbf (ie main station) to FRA Flughafen Fernbahnhof (airport long-distance station). This short journey (a bit over an hour) was in first class, as pre-paying from Australia it didn’t cost much more at all. My seat was where it was supposed to be, unoccupied and comfortable as usual. Plenty of luggage rack space for my suitcase too. The train never really hit anywhere near its high speed, but no matter. Nice views of the German countryside through the nice clean windows. For some reason I am always surprised to see big deserted fields and wilderness in Europe. I must have a deep-seated image of a densely-populated continent teeming with people and buildings. But it is really lovely.
From the station at FRA to terminal 2 was a walk up and then down stairs and a short (free) shuttle bus ride.
inside the ICE first class cabin:
Arrived at FRA on time, but not early enough to be tempted to go outside for another wander. I had a quick look at the landside food court in Terminal 2. Yuck. Headed straight through passport control. It was very quick. Not for the lines of people struggling to figure out how to scan a boarding pass at the automatic gates though. Luckily they all seemed to congregate at just two or three of the many gates, all puzzling together.
Railway near Stuttgart:
Somewhere between Stuttgart and FRA. there was nice countryside, but I didn't take any photos.
The long-distance train station concourse at FRA:
Well, it had been fun but it was time to really head back homewards. I had a plane to catch in Frankfurt and, in a couple of days, some actual in-person work to do in Darwin. Thus, I boarded a mid-morning ICE train from STR Hbf (ie main station) to FRA Flughafen Fernbahnhof (airport long-distance station). This short journey (a bit over an hour) was in first class, as pre-paying from Australia it didn’t cost much more at all. My seat was where it was supposed to be, unoccupied and comfortable as usual. Plenty of luggage rack space for my suitcase too. The train never really hit anywhere near its high speed, but no matter. Nice views of the German countryside through the nice clean windows. For some reason I am always surprised to see big deserted fields and wilderness in Europe. I must have a deep-seated image of a densely-populated continent teeming with people and buildings. But it is really lovely.
From the station at FRA to terminal 2 was a walk up and then down stairs and a short (free) shuttle bus ride.
inside the ICE first class cabin:
Arrived at FRA on time, but not early enough to be tempted to go outside for another wander. I had a quick look at the landside food court in Terminal 2. Yuck. Headed straight through passport control. It was very quick. Not for the lines of people struggling to figure out how to scan a boarding pass at the automatic gates though. Luckily they all seemed to congregate at just two or three of the many gates, all puzzling together.
Railway near Stuttgart:
Somewhere between Stuttgart and FRA. there was nice countryside, but I didn't take any photos.
The long-distance train station concourse at FRA:
Flight UL554 FRA-CMB
There was a small German band entertaining people just beyond passport control. Well, I say entertaining, but mean playing. They were fun. Maybe something to do with Oktoberfest starting?
UL check-in at FRA. At the end furthest away from the bus stop and no queue. The check in agent was later at the gate scanning boarding passes:
I spent a couple of hours working in the JAL lounge before heading to the plane. In the lead up to this flight I got sloppy and didn’t keep track of things on EF. So it was only as I boarded the plane that I found that there must have been an aircraft change and I was on an un-refurbished A330-200. This meant old seats, old cabin and, worst of all, 2-2-2 layout. And I was in a window seat. If only I’d kept track I could at least have tried to move to a middle aisle seat. Too late now, and the J cabin was full.
Band playing at FRA. Never seen that before. Was fun:
At least my seat mate wasn’t unpleasant and didn’t talk. Also, the old seat is actually more comfortable than the new UL J seats and with better personal storage space. But I so hate being stuck in the window seat. Even the mention of hot towels on a plane is a diuretic to me. So is the arrival of a meal in front of me. At least I got some sleep and also a good few hours of work done.
As on my previous UL flights the food was very tasty. I didn’t drink any alcohol this time, but they don’t serve anything “top shelf” on UL.
Arrival at CMB was 40 minutes late at 5:30am. That worked ok for me with my onward flight to KUL scheduled for 7:45am. I felt like I had become familiar enough with the CMB lounge on my previous 9-hour stay, so aside from seeing what their breakfast might be like (plentiful and delicious, many options) it held little fascination for me now. A pretty extensive buffet breakfast including curries and western-type things. The bar was open. I didn’t use it, but lots of other people were getting stuck into the booze. It is part self-pour, part service. Sometimes there is an attendant behind the bar, but most of the time they wander off so people either help themselves from pour bottles on the counter or from the fridges and shelves behind the bar.
An interesting photo on display in the JAL lounge, some nice history:
Religious unity at FRA:
My aircraft waiting at FRA. I didn't realise it was almost as historic as the JAL photo:
There was a small German band entertaining people just beyond passport control. Well, I say entertaining, but mean playing. They were fun. Maybe something to do with Oktoberfest starting?
UL check-in at FRA. At the end furthest away from the bus stop and no queue. The check in agent was later at the gate scanning boarding passes:
I spent a couple of hours working in the JAL lounge before heading to the plane. In the lead up to this flight I got sloppy and didn’t keep track of things on EF. So it was only as I boarded the plane that I found that there must have been an aircraft change and I was on an un-refurbished A330-200. This meant old seats, old cabin and, worst of all, 2-2-2 layout. And I was in a window seat. If only I’d kept track I could at least have tried to move to a middle aisle seat. Too late now, and the J cabin was full.
Band playing at FRA. Never seen that before. Was fun:
At least my seat mate wasn’t unpleasant and didn’t talk. Also, the old seat is actually more comfortable than the new UL J seats and with better personal storage space. But I so hate being stuck in the window seat. Even the mention of hot towels on a plane is a diuretic to me. So is the arrival of a meal in front of me. At least I got some sleep and also a good few hours of work done.
As on my previous UL flights the food was very tasty. I didn’t drink any alcohol this time, but they don’t serve anything “top shelf” on UL.
Arrival at CMB was 40 minutes late at 5:30am. That worked ok for me with my onward flight to KUL scheduled for 7:45am. I felt like I had become familiar enough with the CMB lounge on my previous 9-hour stay, so aside from seeing what their breakfast might be like (plentiful and delicious, many options) it held little fascination for me now. A pretty extensive buffet breakfast including curries and western-type things. The bar was open. I didn’t use it, but lots of other people were getting stuck into the booze. It is part self-pour, part service. Sometimes there is an attendant behind the bar, but most of the time they wander off so people either help themselves from pour bottles on the counter or from the fridges and shelves behind the bar.
An interesting photo on display in the JAL lounge, some nice history:
Religious unity at FRA:
My aircraft waiting at FRA. I didn't realise it was almost as historic as the JAL photo:
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Flight UL554 FRA-CMB
Many aircraft @ FRA. The UL flight was certainly better than the last United 747 flight I took in Y back in the early 2000s.
Being somewhat selfish, and realising the scorn with which my loved ones accept trashy gifts from afar, I took a photo of the fridge magnets in CMB rather than buying one.
Many aircraft @ FRA. The UL flight was certainly better than the last United 747 flight I took in Y back in the early 2000s.
Being somewhat selfish, and realising the scorn with which my loved ones accept trashy gifts from afar, I took a photo of the fridge magnets in CMB rather than buying one.
CMB – KUL: UL 314 (J)
From CMB it was back to KUL for an overnight stop before continuing on to Darwin and then finally back home to SYD. UL 314 had the regional seating setup, six recliner seats in business class. Every seat was full. They served breakfast soon after take-off and then plunged the cabin into darkness trying to force everyone to sleep. In my case the ploy worked and I slept for a couple of hours before getting an hour or so of work done until we landed at KUL.
The FAs were ok on this leg but I forgot to mention that on the FRA-CMB flight they were very good, much better than CMB-FRA a week or so earlier. Friendly, attentive, present, helpful.
Departure was slightly delayed but arrival was slightly early. Immigration was quick and easy, so were customs. A short wait and half an hour on the KLIA Ekspress saw me back in KL. Buy the ticket with a Mastercard at one of the ticket machines in the airport terminal and you get a discount.
My hotel for the night was the Pullman KL Centre. I took the monorail to Bukit Bintang, although Raja Chulan is closer. I was going to cut through the big Pavillion mall but after getting side-tracked trying to find an ATM that would accept my card (for some reason a couple didn’t) I got disoriented and had a hot walk outdoors along pedestrian-unfriendly streets. It was also about the last straw for my Samsonite suitcase with its flimsy little wheels.
The Pullman was big and so was the one-bedroom apartment I got. It was okay, but maybe looking a bit worn out. Most things in KL look pretty worn out, though. For dinner I walked back up to the food court under Pavillion.
From CMB it was back to KUL for an overnight stop before continuing on to Darwin and then finally back home to SYD. UL 314 had the regional seating setup, six recliner seats in business class. Every seat was full. They served breakfast soon after take-off and then plunged the cabin into darkness trying to force everyone to sleep. In my case the ploy worked and I slept for a couple of hours before getting an hour or so of work done until we landed at KUL.
The FAs were ok on this leg but I forgot to mention that on the FRA-CMB flight they were very good, much better than CMB-FRA a week or so earlier. Friendly, attentive, present, helpful.
Departure was slightly delayed but arrival was slightly early. Immigration was quick and easy, so were customs. A short wait and half an hour on the KLIA Ekspress saw me back in KL. Buy the ticket with a Mastercard at one of the ticket machines in the airport terminal and you get a discount.
My hotel for the night was the Pullman KL Centre. I took the monorail to Bukit Bintang, although Raja Chulan is closer. I was going to cut through the big Pavillion mall but after getting side-tracked trying to find an ATM that would accept my card (for some reason a couple didn’t) I got disoriented and had a hot walk outdoors along pedestrian-unfriendly streets. It was also about the last straw for my Samsonite suitcase with its flimsy little wheels.
The Pullman was big and so was the one-bedroom apartment I got. It was okay, but maybe looking a bit worn out. Most things in KL look pretty worn out, though. For dinner I walked back up to the food court under Pavillion.
KUL – DRW MH145 (J upgrade)
I took monorail from Raja Chulan to KL Sentral and then the KLIA Ekspress back out to the airport. My flight wasn’t until 9:45pm. Rather than try to get a couple of hours later check out at the Pullman I just went out to the airport early. I knew I could spend the day working in the MH First lounge which was a fine if not better prospect. It was a long wait, but I had plenty to do. First order of business was some lunch in the dining room. Next some work and, when I got sick of that, a walk around the terminal and some shopping. I even had time to walk through the mini rainforest.
Something I discovered but hadn’t known before is that the MH satellite lounge has actual lockable lockers where you can store bags.
I upgraded to J from in the lounge, paying cash. The flat rate from KUL-DRW is MYR700, a couple of hundred dollars. Given how cramped the seating was on the flight over and that I had to go straight to work on arrival, it seemed good value.
At no time during the day did the lounge get very busy.
At a bit after 8:30 I took the shuttle train back to the main terminal to board my flight to DRW. The gate was easy enough to find. When I got there, though, the entrance to the gate as closed and the lounge area inside was deserted except for staff at the desk. However, the “now boarding” notice was flashing. Another passenger asked me if I knew where the DRW flight was: I wasn’t the only one confused.
There was a long security line into the gate next door, that shared a waiting lounge with ours. I joined that line and after a minute or two the sign for my flight changed to “Final Call”. But there was still no one there. Of course, the moment I got to security screening the other half of the gate was opened.
The flight was much more comfortable in J than in Y on the way out of DRW, despite not having a whole row to myself. Arrival in DRW was 4:15am. The airport was of course very quiet at that time. I had a meeting at 5:00 in the airport, checked my back in on QF for the afternoon SYD flight, and then off to do some actual face-to-face work for the morning.
View from KLIA Ekspress and airport terminal rainforest:
I took monorail from Raja Chulan to KL Sentral and then the KLIA Ekspress back out to the airport. My flight wasn’t until 9:45pm. Rather than try to get a couple of hours later check out at the Pullman I just went out to the airport early. I knew I could spend the day working in the MH First lounge which was a fine if not better prospect. It was a long wait, but I had plenty to do. First order of business was some lunch in the dining room. Next some work and, when I got sick of that, a walk around the terminal and some shopping. I even had time to walk through the mini rainforest.
Something I discovered but hadn’t known before is that the MH satellite lounge has actual lockable lockers where you can store bags.
I upgraded to J from in the lounge, paying cash. The flat rate from KUL-DRW is MYR700, a couple of hundred dollars. Given how cramped the seating was on the flight over and that I had to go straight to work on arrival, it seemed good value.
At no time during the day did the lounge get very busy.
At a bit after 8:30 I took the shuttle train back to the main terminal to board my flight to DRW. The gate was easy enough to find. When I got there, though, the entrance to the gate as closed and the lounge area inside was deserted except for staff at the desk. However, the “now boarding” notice was flashing. Another passenger asked me if I knew where the DRW flight was: I wasn’t the only one confused.
There was a long security line into the gate next door, that shared a waiting lounge with ours. I joined that line and after a minute or two the sign for my flight changed to “Final Call”. But there was still no one there. Of course, the moment I got to security screening the other half of the gate was opened.
The flight was much more comfortable in J than in Y on the way out of DRW, despite not having a whole row to myself. Arrival in DRW was 4:15am. The airport was of course very quiet at that time. I had a meeting at 5:00 in the airport, checked my back in on QF for the afternoon SYD flight, and then off to do some actual face-to-face work for the morning.
View from KLIA Ekspress and airport terminal rainforest:
KUL-DRW
Junk 747s parked at KUL:
Massive queue for the inter-terminal shuttle. Hard to see in the photo, but the line goes way back past the top right of the picture. There was an unused train sitting idle on the left of the photo. Also the lockers at the MH satellite lounge, very handy:
At DRW airport:
Junk 747s parked at KUL:
Massive queue for the inter-terminal shuttle. Hard to see in the photo, but the line goes way back past the top right of the picture. There was an unused train sitting idle on the left of the photo. Also the lockers at the MH satellite lounge, very handy:
At DRW airport:
DRW-SYD QF843 (J, points upgrade)
After a morning of work in Darwin it was time to go home. This time a direct flight: no time for any convoluted routings. I used points to upgrade to J.
The very big lounge was pleasant enough, but got very busy. Boarding was ok priority boarding didn’t really work, but we all got on board, so that was successful. The flight was excellent as expected and arrival in SYD was on time. Priority baggage worked, or at least mine was among the first out. The airport train to end this trip wasn’t even crowded, and it was good to be home at least for a while.
Hope that if you’ve read this you’ve enjoyed it of found at least something interesting in it. I enjoyed the trip. Thanks for reading.
24601.
After a morning of work in Darwin it was time to go home. This time a direct flight: no time for any convoluted routings. I used points to upgrade to J.
The very big lounge was pleasant enough, but got very busy. Boarding was ok priority boarding didn’t really work, but we all got on board, so that was successful. The flight was excellent as expected and arrival in SYD was on time. Priority baggage worked, or at least mine was among the first out. The airport train to end this trip wasn’t even crowded, and it was good to be home at least for a while.
Hope that if you’ve read this you’ve enjoyed it of found at least something interesting in it. I enjoyed the trip. Thanks for reading.
24601.
cgichard
Active Member
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- Feb 17, 2007
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I have so much enjoyed your account of the Thames path, and appreciate all the photos. I'd love to tackle parts of it some day, but with more intermediate stops as I couldn't possibly handle the distances you do (even with the train short-cuts on days 1 and 2).
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