UK/Europe: The finale

We were supposed to head back to London on the 11th. The flight was supposed to leave at 9.05pm but when we checked in our bags, the lady at the counter said that the flight was delayed for 2 hours as they expected the aircraft to arrive from London at 11.30pm. We were like, not again; another transportation problem. We were never lucky with transport all along and till the very end. Luckily they gave us refreshment coupons but it’s not that much.

By the time we board the plane; all of us were really tired plus sleepy and dozed off even before the plane took off. Arriving in London, we were among the first to get off but when we got to the immigration counter they said that we need to fill in a landing card. WTH!! and by that time the line was really2 long as all of the passengers had got off the plane. By the time we settled everything it was already 2 in the morning. We found a quite spot at the airport and slept on ciktie’s sleeping bag. Seriously we do look like those homeless people on the street. Even this one guy thinks so too coz when I woke up, he was staring at us and smiling to himself. Even Hana realized what that guy was doing.

Sleeping at the airport. We just don't care what other people think as long as we get to rest and refresh for the next day.

Well, we then took the bus to central London at 7.30am. Then left our bags at Victoria Coach Station and did some last minute shopping. Before we went to get our stuff at Sarah’s place, we went to King Cross. We just thought of going there out of the blue to see the famous train station which was in Harry Potter’s movies. At first we couldn’t find platform 9 ¾, we only found platform 9. Then I realized this sign board that had “………..Harry Potter…..” (I can’t really remember what it says on the board) and finally we found the platform. It was just a wall with the platform sign on top with a trolley half way going through the wall. That was all for our trip. Luckily the flight back to Malaysia that night was not delayed and now I’m safely back home still suffering the jet lag although it’s nearly a week since I got back.

Last day in London

Hey Ho..we're going to Hogwarts!!

Goodbye London. Till we meet gain in the future.

 Just some random stuff before I end this post:

• Boxing Day in London is heaven to shopaholics. Seriously you can get stuff for a really good deal.
• They sell canna cookies and lollipop in nearly every shop in Amsterdam. (duhh, it’s legal pun).
• The public transport in Amsterdam and Paris are so convenient but not in Rome and the subway in Rome was so creepy. You don’t want to walk alone in there.
• The traffic in Rome and Paris was horrendous. The people there drive like shit and they won’t stop for pedestrian like the Aussie do. One more thing, they also park as they please and the cars are very close to each other that you wonder how they are going to get their car out without scratching the car in front and behind theirs.
• It not that hard to find halal food in these places. Though most of the halal shops were pizza and kebab shops. We didn’t even expect to find a halal shop on a small island like Venice but we came across 3.
• Next time, if you want to travel; don’t travel in winter. Save yourself from carrying thick and heavy jacket plus the miserable cold weather that made you want to stay inside. But if you really want to see real snow, you can go in winter but a week is enough for you to play with the snow. Even after this I won’t be seeing snow for the rest of my life, I will not feel regret coz I think I’ve had enough snow experience to last a lifetime. (this is just my opinion, others may think differently)
• People had advised me to beware of pickpockets in Rome but it seems that we were pick pocketed openly. So, beware if you’re going there. Plus you can also get pick pocketed anywhere else, so always be careful.
• I would like to go to Prague again without the snow. I think that the scenery there will be beautiful without the snow.
• For me, 2 days and a half in Paris is enough to see all the famous attractions there. We made a mistake for staying too long which was also costly. Paris is expensive. Just imagine 4 nights in Paris is still more expensive than 2 nights in Venice and 3 nights in Rome combined.
• Even though Venice is all about bridges and rivers and narrow lanes, it was quite beautiful. Same with Rome, even though it was just ruins and pillars and old brick buildings seriously it was fascinating.

That’s the end of the story for my UK and Europe holiday. Hope you enjoy reading all the posts.

Till then~