Dubai to London

Exiting Dubai is easy and uneventful. I am delighted that my Qantas Club gets us into the Emirates Business Lounge. It’s difficult to find, but wonderful once we do.

It runs the entire length of the departures concourse and you leave via a lift direct to your boarding gate. The lounge itself is luxurious, quiet and comfortable. I enjoy a glass of Verve Cliquot and savoury pastries. I’m glad I did because what Qantas served onboard was a disgusting soggy thing called a chicken schwarb. OK it was 2am and I suppose most people don’t want to eat much at that time but really?

We ignored the temptation of movies and chose to sleep as much as possible for this 7 hour trip because we’d be arriving at 5.30 am and wanted to get the most out of our day.

As Heathrow is a long way from the heart of the city we decide to save money and take the tube instead of a taxi. It’s pretty easy and rail staff are extremely helpful and knowledgable and we just have to change trains once. As we get closer to the city, we meet peak hour commuters and the train fills up.

I catch my first glimpse in nearly fifty years, of the city of my birth. As you might expect backing on to the train line it’s not pretty but it is quaint and very exciting for me. Old buildings, houses and allotments which are patches of ground in a community area allotted to people who grow their own vegetables, a practice begun in World War II when food was rationed, I think.

Eventually we emerge at Westminster station, the heart of London. It’s like a movie as we step out opposite Parliament Square with Westminster Tower (Big Ben), Westminster Abbey and Westminster bridge over the Thames. It’s now the height of peak hour and  buses, bicycles and taxis vie for space on the narrow road and pedestrians crowd the footpath. We are not far from our hotel but I neglected to print a map and it proves too difficult to find our way, we are a little frayed from the flight, argue about which way to go and get conflicting directions from locals, so we jump into the iconic London cab and are there in minutes.

I must say, the design of the London Cab is very practical. It is tall enough and big enough for you to step in with your luggage. It can seat four people comfortably, having two fold-down seats facing rear. The driver is safe in a separate compartment which has room for more luggage. It’s so much easier than normal Australian taxis.

We are greeted at the Crowne Plaza, St. James by a top-hatted doorman who summons porters to whisk our luggage away while we check in. I booked a room for the day before to ensure that we could access it immediately upon arrival and I’m glad we did. We settle in and take a nap before venturing out on the next stage of our grand adventure.

Anne’s Blog #13