Three countries, 24 days, and 11000 miles...

Flashback: Sunday, August 1, 2004

It's a right royal (half-) day today. There's a big running event, which has diverted normal traffic. But the Queen is at Balmoral, and Buckingham Palace is open to the public. Unfortunately, photography is not permitted inside.

The front door

The backyard

The pool

The garage (Royal Mews)

Before heading out to the airport, there's time for one long stroll through Hyde Park and Oxford Street, and a healthy (and reasonably-priced) early dinner at Pret a Manger.

The Serpentine (Hyde Park)

Unfortunately, the newly-opened Princess Diana Memorial Fountain is closed, due to poor design.

Kensington Palace

Marble Arch

Tactical travel error #2b:
There is a Star Alliance check-in counter at Paddington Station [since closed, as of January, 2005]. They will even check luggage for you (which follows on a separate train). However, you cannot later check a bag at Heathrow, which you may have already stored there, especially if you stored it at the wrong terminal...

Tactical travel error #2a':
You can work up a sweat carrying a full baggage load between Terminals 1 and 3. [Two years later, strict baggage rules implemented at Heathrow in July 2006 would have been a major challenge!] Certainly it's no fun to be frisked again, and in this case, to be the one frisking either. However, with not enough mileage for Star Alliance Gold status, one can only gaze longingly at the glass doors of the Air Canada/SAS London Lounge (or Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge, or United Airlines Red Carpet Club), and imagine the shower facilities inside.

And then home again. Thinking back, this has been not necessarily a life-changing experience, but a fully unforgettable one. A mind-broadening first trip to Europe, but also a reminder of how much more there is, out there, and how litte time there is to go and see it. Overall though, it is a good feeling, that will take some time to wear off, and to absorb.