Eve of Departure

Almost there (the departure that is). It's now 10.30 and I've finally arrived at my overnight stop (Jurys Inn) after travelling for 6 hours. I suppose it's good practice for what's to come.

Thanks again to Tim for taxiing me to the Broadmarsh Bus Station, which got me off to a good start. That was at 4.30 and by 5.40 I was a whole mile from home because the coach took the A606 through Tollerton to get to the A46.

And whilst I'm on the subject of the coach, Here's a message for National Express: the coach was comfortable, however it's preferable if it doesn't smell of stale urine (sorry folks but it has to be said) and if the temperature is above 5 degrees C. Call me 'picky'.

A quick musing whilst it's in my thoughts... I don't often get the opportunity to gaze out of the window when travelling but it struck me this afternoon me how green and pleasant the English (and Welsh, Scottish and Irish) countryside is. The late afternoon sunshine certainly helped but we are fortunate. Maybe I'm more conscious of it because I'm going to be away from Blighty for a short while or it was something I ate.

We eventually arrived at Heathrow Central Bus Station at just after 9 pm. As advised, I got off and made my way to Terminal 1 to catch the hotel hopper bus number 9, only to discover that the last one ran at 8.30 and that I should really have stayed on the coach until Terminal 4 because it's much closer to my hotel.

Thankfully, a helpful helper person was on hand to advise me of this and to also warn me that the taxis would sting me for £50 to 60. He suggested using the red buses.

No problem I thought (I'm a seasoned traveller). So, I went back in to back into Terminal 1 and retraced my steps (or so I thought) but found myself at the Heathrow Express terminal. This turned out to be fortuitous because (top tip) the Heathrow Express has a free rail service between Terminal 1 and 4 and 5 (and probably elsewhere).

When I got to Terminal 4, Google Maps told me that I was still 1.3 miles from the hotel. Another helpful helper person advised me to catch the red bus to Hatton Cross, which I did and it was also free. The bus driver kindly told me where to get off and I was then within 5 minutes of the hotel.

Heathrow Airport is a vast place but the Heathrow Express rail connections and red buses seem to be the answer as they're free. The hotel hopper bus service costs £4.50 per single journey and then there's the rip-off black cabs.

I'll finish with something that made me feel very provincial. The person I sat next to on the bus was having a 'Made in Chelsea' conversation with her mate. They were discussing another friend and her current relationship. It turned out that the boyfriend lived and worked in Derby. My co-passenger had never heard of Derby and was horrified when she discovered that it wasn't in London, darling. I don't think her friend knew either because there was mention of Brighton. Not that I was ear wigging you understand.

Anyway, off to bed to get as much sleep as possible before the 12 and a half hour flight to KL tomorrow.