Last Day in Londontown...

Well the relaxing part is now over and my anxiety levels rise as I head into Amsterdam. This is where I wonder how I'm getting there and if my cases will come off the ship smoothly tomorrow. Yesterday couldn't have been anymore relaxing though and much needed. We got a late start, which is fine since we were in no hurry to do anything. We made our way to Harrods so Kerry could show me where she used to work and so I could see the famous department store. It was so fabulously rich and way beyond anything I could afford at the moment, but still fascinating to see. It's their equivalent of the Macy's/May's chain only there is only one Harrods and that is in Central London. From there we headed into Hyde Park for a relaxing lunch and a cruise via paddleboat in the pond there. It was fun and the day was absolutely perfect. It wasn’t too hot and it was too chilly. The paddleboats sure gave us a workout though. Whoa. We ended up at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, which really isn't a spouting fountain, but more like a lazy river ovalesque fountain that lays low and trickles around. It was nice and that is where we met our friend Jonnie. We walked back through the park and ended up in Camden Lock again for dinner. I had my eye on a Mexican place from yesterday, but there were tons of cheap eating options. Tons! Mostly Asian though. We got our food and it wasn't like the Mexican I know. Come on, it's in Central London. What was I expecting? It was food though and cheap. Fabulous. It was our dinner, or "tea" as they call it here. We went back to Kerry's flat to freshen up a bit before heading out again to meet up with another friend in Chelsea. This is a very posh area and not like the Chelsea some of us know in NYC. It's still an expensive place to live like it is in NYC, but not as gay. Lol. We had some drinks there toasting his departure for a week cruise gig in Alaska and my last night in London. From here we went to SOHO. This would be the nightclub area where we danced the night away until 3:00AM. Yes, it was a late night. It was fabulously fun though and I was up again at 8:30AM this morning and a little wrecked from the night before.

After packing back up again (kind of getting over it by now) with some clean clothes, I had some breakfast and Jonnie was so kind enough to drive me to Stanstead Airport to catch my flight to Brussels. This is where my anxiety began. It was my last Ryan Air flight before the big commercial liner that takes me home and considering all past experiences I was flying into Brussels. On line the airport said there was a cheap transfer via train to the major train stations where I could book a train to Amsterdam. The question was how late was I going to arrive since after calling the hostel to let them know of my late arrival, I found out that last check in was at midnight. I HOPE I won't arrive any later than midnight. My flight went well and so was customs and immigration. Fabulous. We were 15 minutes early!! I bought the transfer to Brussels city center right by the major rail station. It was pretty pricey, but I figured that was the best option. I waited by a sign that said train station and even asked a few girls if this was the bus to the train and if I bought my ticket inside. Yes, was the answer and across from me was a bus to the city center packing in people and getting ready to leave. I thought to myself that maybe I should get on that bus and just find my way to the train station, but I thought the station I where I was standing was a special bus right to the train. The bus across the way left as the bus for the station where I was standing drove up. Sure enough it was the wrong bus. I had to get on the bus that was now leaving the area. The next bus was 45 minutes before departure. Damn!! I got panicked and frustrated at the same time. I thought positively and said there would be a train that was going to leave Brussels and still get me in on time even if I had to take a cab. The last shuttle to the hostel was at 10:00PM, so I don't even think I would've made it even if I got on that bus anyhow. I would STILL have to buy a cab. Needless to say I got on the next bus and it was a 50-minute ride. Yikes!! I hope it was at least 50-minutes in the direction I needed to go and Brussels wasn't south of Charleroi. I won't know until I look at a map, but I'm pretty sure it is. I got to the train station in just 40-minutes. Wonderful! This gave me time to figure things out. I went and bought my ticket to Amsterdam leaving at 8:25PM and arriving at 11:06PM. The cab ride from the terminal to the hostel should only take 40-minutes. JUST under the wire. I have my ride to Amsterdam, which is the most important to me right now since my luggage is arriving tomorrow. Now the question is whether I can make it to the hostel. I have a bar on my phone and $2 left to use. I pray it will all come through.