Day 27 - UK Trip

21 April 2011

We left Lindsey’s and I insisted we go back via Bramshaw Commons in the New Forest so we could see if the pigs were there.

Score! Not only were there pigs but heaps of donkeys.

I patted and scratched and took photos and then reluctantly got back in the car.

We spent the day getting to London mostly via motorways.  We dropped off the Camper and the manager/owner very kindly dropped us off at the closest train station. From there we caught a train which seemed to go for miles, and then hopped on a bus to get us to close to Heathrow Terminal 4.

We were short on money and still needed to buy lunch and dinner so we decided to walk the mile or so to EasyJet Hotel. We looked at the map at the bus stop we were dropped off at and as it meant diddly squat to me Aaron pointed us in the right direction. 10 minutes into the walk I was starting to struggle with the big, heavy backpack on my back and the smaller backpack on my front and Aaron’s intuition was bugging him.

“I need to check the map again at the next bus stop. I’m not sure we’re going the right way”

Sure enough, we weren’t!

We turned around and headed back the way we’d come, then hung a right and walked until we found a pub.

We stopped for lunch and ordered burgers and chips, a cider and a beer. It wasn’t anything special, and of a similar quality to Wendy’s but we were hungry and tired.

The manager was complaining about the publicity around the forth coming royal wedding. He was no royalist and I didn’t have the heart to point out I was gutted I wasn’t going to be in the UK to see it in person.

We ate and left and started our walk again. 500 metres up the road we discovered a much nicer looking pub but it was too late for lunch. We decided to go there for dinner though.

Another 50 or so meters on the other side of the road was the street we needed to go down to get to the hotel and within 10 minutes we were holed up in a windowless box at the EasyJet hotel. We were as close as we could get to Heathrow without spending too much.

Our room at the EasyHotel Heathrow was a rather hideous orange and white shoebox and I wouldn't have minded so much except I don’t think it’s value for money. The cost covers a bed with linen, an ensuite, 1 towel, a ¼ roll of toilet paper and just enough shower gel for 2 people to have a shower

There’s not even a kettle and a couple of mugs to make a cup of tea. You can ask for extras but they all cost.  If we come back to the UK I wouldn’t stay there again.

It was an incredibly warm, sunny and very boring day overall.