London Skyline

(27/8/25)

It was hard waking up early today, but it had to be done! I took the train to London from Hayes today instead of Bromley South. Eileen very kindly dropped me off at the station. When I got to the office, Liane had already put my laptop on my desk for me. SO COOL!

G joined me at lunchtime, so she saw the views from the 19th floor. Sadly, she only got a few minutes to chat with Sarah, who had to race back to her desk for a meeting. Liane had to leave as well. G has had a grand day exploring London.

I left slightly early as I needed to shop for souvenirs and we had to collect our things from David & Eileen's to make our way to Heathrow to pick up the last hire car for this trip. We got back to Bromley to find Eileen had made dinner. That was so kind!

I opted to travel by bus rather than change trains with baggage. It meant a longer trip. We got to Heathrow around 9:30, then had to make our way to Terminal 3 to catch the shuttle to Hertz. It was 10:30 by the time we got to the desk. Thankfully, there weren't many people and we were seen to right away.

Whilst searching for a car, the Polestar 2 kept appearing in the "cheap" cars list. I've never been in a fully electric vehicle, so I decided now is the time to try one out. Perhaps 10:45 at night, at the end of a long, tiring day, wasn't the best time to be introduced to so many new things. The guy at the counter said to check that the charging cables are under the bonnet. G had to go back to the desk to ask how to open the bonnet whilst I checked the body for damage.

Then I got in and couldn't work out how to start the car, so I went back to the desk to ask. I was told to unlock the car, get your seatbelts on, and put the car into gear and DRIVE. Hmmm... It worked, of course, and we were finally on our way. Road closures on the M25 meant we had to exit at Junction 11 and go around the houses on small roads. We finally arrived at the Lodge at 12:30. It was 10 °C. Yikes!

Happy that the step lights were working to guide us up the steps, and the PIR light came on as we pulled up. I could tell I needed another light when trying to open the front door. That will be rectified tomorrow. For now, it is GREAT to be back "home".

And I have to record, were she alive, my mum would have been 86 today! We'll have to have a celebratory meal when we get back to Dubai.

PS. I have to credit G with the picture I've used today. :))