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Arrived at St Pancras Station just after lunch and made our way to the taxi rank, the weather must have finally caught up with us as it was bucketing I thought our last few days were going to be spent in our hotel room and eventually even more the case!! we arrived at our hotel after a very chatty ride with the taxi driver, we checked in and headed up to our room the lift was too small so I sent Carmel up with the cabin luggage and took the next lift up, when I hopped out of the lift and carmel asked if i had my camera and i thought she had it here we go again the Farrugia curse new city new drama I thought all the dramas were over once we got rid of that nav b****! This was not to be the case as I had left the camera in the taxi and no matter who we called and talked to it seemed that it would never return. We were in mourning every single photo about 4000 of them were gone for ever and would have to rely on this blog for any evidence of our trip and great memories. I just layed in bed in silence praying to God we would get it back. Carmel was looking up details on how we could get it back. I think this is the quietest we had ever been on our trip and this was to be the worst hour of gut wrenching self pity and anger.....
Carmel got me out of bed and said we couldn't sit here sulking which I was, as I was so pissed off after 5 and a half weeks, the last days had to end like this. So we started walking and we were both scouting taxis along the way hoping that we would spot the one we caught. I thought I caught a glimpse of the taxi driver but thought it was wishful thinking but Carmel also seen him and said there he is I was in disbelief and turned around to see if he was turning into our street, he did Carmel told me to run and I already was with tears of joy in my eyes I couldn't believe he came back and nobody took it on his next fare. I met him as he got out with the camera bag in his hand and thanked him a million times he wouldn't take any money so I said if he didn't accept it he will have to take a hug which I did; I hope he understood how I felt and didn't think I was a weirdo! Now I had a huge smile on my face and was thanking God for answering my prayers Carmel just burst into tears either for happiness or just for shear relief she didn't have to put up with my sulking and long face for the next few days. All in all we are definitely blessed!
That night we caught up with Karla Carmel's niece for dinner it was great to see her again and although we seen her not so long ago when she did a quick visit back to Australia we noticed that she is growing into a very fine young woman.
As we only had short stay in London we decided to take a open air bus tour of all the usual sites just so I can see them as Carmel had been here before. We saw Westminster Abbey which we found out was really called the Collegiate Church of St Peter. We then walked a short distance towards palace of Westminster where parliamentary decisions are made to hear the clock on Queen Elizabeth Tower Bong this is better known as Big Ben which is actually the bells name.
From here we drove over Waterloo Bridge which really tested our tolerance to the wind and cold Carmel was freezing; then to the Tower Bridge which gets incorrectly called London Bridge by us foreigners as London Bridge is actually a stone bridge of many arches just up the river.
We then caught a 20 minute cruise up the River Thames to meet our old style double decker bus in a new location. The tour guide we had was great he picked up a myriad of attractions along the way and always had something interesting or funny to say about them. We saw the changing of the guard and marched right up along side the new guards on the way, but our guide was smart and we pulled off through the park for a short cut to where the old guards were assembling for the changing. I didn't know that there was so much hoo ha, there was a regiment of marching bands with all the instruments for both regiments changing shifts. We also saw Buckingham Palace and the famous Harrods of London. Finally we caught the Underground to get a trip on the London Eye the biggest canter levered wheel in Europe, unfortunately London weather lived up to its reputation and we did this in the rain spoiling photographic opportunity that I had been waiting for as you could see London for miles from its vantage points, I clicked away anyhow as no matter how fuzzy it was a memory all the same.
We met Karla near Victoria station where she worked and had some long awaited Asian food which we hadn't had for a while it was good to have company again which was a sure sign that we were ready to go home.
Next day we organised lunch again with Karla to say our goodbyes and give her some pasta made by Carmel's relatives in Calabria as there was no way we could have fit this in our luggage. Won't be long now before she is back home with us in a couple of months after a year abroad.
Arrived at Heathrow Airport via transfer we had only fifteen pounds left and nobody told the driver we were paying by credit! Why can't anything be straight forward with us! There has alway got to be a spin on it one way or another!
We had planned to get some credit back on some tax we paid on some items..... Here we go again there was a queue a mile long I'm sure this is a ploy to deter giving money back. Well "say la vi" we weren't going to stand in line for an hour or so for a refund. To top it all off you had to get what you purchased out of your bag to prove it, and I watched Carmel pack and I wasn't prepared to see her do all that again it was a work of art and it took time. So we headed to check in and received our boarding passes, we were early so we were going to take advantage of the business lounge and WiFi to upload a couple of weeks of photos I didn't get a chance to do over the last week due to long days touring.
Now just to get through customs and we should be relaxing for a few hours with a couple of beers and my best mate Jack who I have been missing, as a Jack Daniels and Coke was costing me up to €15 so I kept these to a minimum.
Well we were lucky to use the fast track at Customs and there weren't too many people about just as I thought we were home and hosed; no not us dramas follow is everywhere we waited and waited for one of our bags to get rechecked and finally when it was checked you guessed it customs would not allow some items we kept with us due to their fragility. Oh my God I was almost going to loose it, luckily they let us go back and check this in. Whew what a relief if they confiscated them I know Carmel would have started to loose her cool and then watch out! We were also then escorted back through screening; just as well as there was a crowd of people by then, we felt like VIP's going to the head of the line.
Finally I'm now sitting In the airline lounge with Carmel and Jack and I can finish my last blog for our trip; that is unless we get any dramas in Singapore when we get a connecting flight oh and then there is Australian Customs! well who knows we might get a change of luck.
Thanks for following our blog it been great letting you all in on our little adventures and wonderful experiences during our trip. And a big thank you to Carmel my editor, resource library and beloved companion during this trip.
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