So the plan was to fly into London, transfer from the airport to the Thistle at Kensington (where we stayed in 2010), stay overnight and then catch the underground to Greenwich where we would board our cruise on the Viking Sky. A pretty simple plan – a short walk to the underground from the hotel, an easy change of line along the way, then a short walk from the train to the boat.
The best laid plans …
The 22 hour flight to London was no longer the fun experience it might have been once, so, as we travelled to our overnight accommodation, we were a little frayed and were looking for a stretch out and a warm shower to wash away the travel weariness.
As we alighted from our transfer at the hotel, we were met with a scream of greeting from Jenny and her sister Sandra and a more sensible greeting from my brother Charlie. Unbeknownst to us, they had travelled from Cairns to visit their sons’ English relatives, were staying at the same hotel where they had been for a few days, and had just arrived back to the hotel in a taxi.
All the travel weariness was washed away as we spent the rest of the day and evening ensconced in the bar, ‘catching up’.
The next day was a bank holiday and our planned leisurely start to the day was rudely interrupted when we found that the underground lines we were to use had ‘interrupted services’.
No problem – change plans. Instead of a short walk, we could walk a little further, pick up the Elizabeth Line to Canary Wharf, hop over to the DNR line to Island Gardens where we could walk under the Thames though the Greenwich foot tunnel (constructed 1910) to board our cruise at Greenwich Pier.
The best laid plans …
It started to rain. Very lightly at first but by time we got to our first station, we were getting quite a little wet. Our planned entry to the station was closed but after a little exploring, we finally found the right line.
Ok so we went to buy a cup of coffee. We had a fresh £20 note and some coins from our last visit to London. ‘Sorry sir. They are no longer valid tender. All our notes are now plastic ones.’ Even the coins were invalid. Out comes the credit card.
The next problem to address was ticketing for the train. In 2010 we were caught in London when volcanic ash forced the cancellation of all air travel. We had purchased Oyster (London Transit) cards and spent time exploring. We pulled out those cards and found they worked, and both had a £7.50 credit.
This got us to a station (Canary Wharf Station) north of where we wanted to be, but from there we could change lines and head south to a point on the opposite side of the river to where we board. Here we found that the line we needed was closed but there were buses running between stations.
A very helpful security guard led us to where we could catch the bus and another made sure we actually caught the right one.
We finally made it to Island Gardens and the foot tunnel under the river only to find that the lift on the south side was out of action. This meant carrying our bags up 100 steps. We couldn’t turn around and go back the way we came, so off we went.
Two most generous people offered to assist us up the stairs and with that assistance we finally made it to the pier to start the next part of our adventure.
