Aachen - London

Monday, 4 July

K and G went to work. I reconfirmed the tour we were booked on in London tomorrow. Walked to town again and sent some postcards. I tried to find a bank to cash some travellers cheques. I queued up only to be told at one bank to go to Citibank. The only Citibank I found on the map appeared to be just a foyer of ATMs. There were no staff around. This pissed me off slightly. It poured down and we ran from shop to shop and eventually bought a couple of umbrellas at the local version of the $2 shop. We walked back, tired. We just missed the next downpour. I was miserably thinking it would rain in England and I wouldn’t be able to cash some cheques. Received texts on my cellphone from my friend, John, in New Zealand, and online English friend Sully. No word from another online friend in Wales.

K drove us to Köln (Cologne). We had a distant view of the Dom (cathedral). [photo to come] Headed towards the airport. There was a delay in departure but the flight was a short one hour. We flew over Belgium and in the dimming light I saw the streetlit snakes of Belgian motorways. I was feeling excited at being in England again.

It was cloudy and cool in London. Chloe was lucky enough to have her British passport. Mine had expired and I hadn’t had the time or money to renew it so H and I went in a different, seemingly shorter queue but C got through much faster. I managed to change some travellers cheques before heading out of the airport. C thought the woman’s accent was funny when she asked to see my passport. I was shocked at the price of the train ticket from Gatwick to Victoria Station – 39 pounds (about NZ$120). Once at Victoria we found our way by foot to the bed and breakfast hotel nearby (Elizabeth house). Couldn’t believe I was there. I love London.