Dream Vacation - Day 30

Was up early as this is the last leg of my Dream Vacation... I had to drive from Bromsgrove to Luton to drop off my rental car before taking a bus into London. I said my goodbyes to Meds. I had a great time and wish I would have scheduled more time to hangout with him and his family.

It was about 100 miles to Luton and a 2 hour trip. I had to get the car to the rental place by 11am. When I got into Luton I searched for a gas station and filled up my tank and after a few miss tries I found my way to the rental place just outside the Luton airport. I took a shuttle bus to the Luton airport were I then picked up a bus that would drive me into downtown London.

I drove over 1600 miles in the past 16 days. Driving was my biggest worry but I'm happy to say that I didn't have a single incident other then hitting the right curb a few hundred times. I'm extremely happy that I choose to rent a car instead of taking the train. I got to see so much more of the countryside (though a bit of it was covered in fog) and had a richer experience here in the UK.

So I made it to the bus station in downtown London and then made my way to the Victoria tube/train station. It was a bit overwhelming but I'm not afraid to ask questions so I got the low down on where I needed to go and which tube would get me there.

I got me an Oyster card and put about 40 pounds on it hoping it would last me my entire time here in London. I found out that my hostel was just inside Zone 3. I made my way to the tube with my luggage in tow and took it to the end of the line.

I got off the train and the fun began. I couldn't figure out where my hostel was. The blackberry I had was horrible with maps and I walked around dragging my two large pieces of luggage all over the place. After walking in circles a few times I managed to finally find it.

This was a single room hostel with a shared bathroom. The room was nice and the bed was fairly large. I dropped off my luggage and then headed back into the center of London to do some sight seeing.

My first stop was Kings Cross Station to look for Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter reference). I walked around that station for a good half hour and couldn't find it. I then tried to walk to Baker street and was lost for a good hour. Eventually I found my way to 221 B Baker street (Sherlock Holmes reference). By the time I got there the museum was closed but I did get some pictures. I also found the Baker street tube entrance and there was a statue of Sherlock Holmes as well as some tile work that was done inside the waiting area for the tube.

While at Baker street I grabbed a detailed map of London as I didn't want to get lost again like I did today. Night was beginning to fall so after looking at my map I figured out which tubes I had to take to get back to my hostel. Night had fallen by the time I got back to the hostel, the neighborhood I'm staying in isn't the best so I moved every quickly to get to my hostel.

Between all the traveling and walking around the city lost I was exhausted and called it a night. Can't wait to do London properly tomorrow.