London in December

I haven't yet told you about my latest visit to London earlier this month.  Originally I meant to take Isolde with me and visit a friend, K, in Abingdon outside Oxford (K has just had her second baby and her older daughter is just one year older than Isolde).  I then thought it would be nice with an extra pair of hands and my mum is always keen to go to England, and now she hadn't been for a while.  We started looking at flights and hotels in Oxford but the more we talked, we felt it was probably best not to bring Isolde, as we wanted to do some Christmas shopping as well - not Isolde's favourite pastime - and besides, with another baby on the way, when would I have another chance to travel sans children?  Probably not for a while.  And with Peter having made a trip in November it felt "fair" that I got my share of travel too. 

So it quickly developed into a London-focussed trip but with a day-trip out of town to see K.  We left mid-day on a Saturday and flew back on a Wednesday, which gave us a full three days plus some.  Last time I was in London, or England in general for that matter, was in February, and then I hardly had any spare time as I was doing a course, except for the weekend which we spent with K and her family (Isolde and Peter came along for that whole week). 

I hardly took any photos at all on this trip but here are the handful I took.

Christmas lights in Oxford, where we fought our way through the crowds our first evening in town and then didn't return for the remainder of the trip.

At least one visit to Starbucks was a must every day, mainly to take advantage of free wi-fi.

We stayed at the Hilton Metropol at Edgware Road, which I can recommend for the location and standard (at least at the rate we managed to get through hotels.se), but not necessarily for the view from our window, but then again we didn't spend that much time in the room so...

No visit to England without Afternoon or Cream Tea!  I think we managed to gobble three Cream Teas in as many days.  This one is at Muriel's Kitchen just outside South Kensington tube station (and we had one at Liberty too).

My mum with the latest addition to the M-O family, Seren.

A very delicious (non-alcoholic) drink in the hotel restaurant our last evening in town.

And of course no visit to England without fish & chips!  I like how it was presented - also at the hotel - on newspaper and with the lemon in a net.  And ketchup, mushy peas and tartar sauce on the side.

We were actually both very unlucky and lucky on this trip.  Let me tell you!

Story 1

• We're about to board the plane at Arlanda, Stockholm, and as the attendant checks my boarding pass and passport, she says "by the way, how far along [in the pregnancy] are you?".  "Week 27", I answer, "why do you ask?"  "I think you need a doctor's certificate from a certain week, but I think it's week 28", she says and asks me to step to the side so she can check in the computer.   She confirms that it's week 28 and writes a note in the system for the return flight so they will know then that I'm clear to fly.  I hadn't even thought about checking or getting a certificate as I thought it was from week 32 at the earliest that a certificate would be needed and I flew around the same time when I was pregnant with Isolde and no one bothered to ask then.  I know that you're not allowed to fly at all during the last four weeks, but I never thought it would be a problem with more than three months to go.  But turns out I might not have been allowed on the plane had it been one or two weeks later (I don't know if they mean as soon as you enter the 28th week, i.e. 27+1, or it applies from when you have completed 28 weeks, i.e. 28+0) so lucky start to the trip!

Story 2

• On the Monday of our trip we went to visit K and kids.  We had agreed that we would take the train from Paddington to Radley, the nearest train station to them, and she'd pick us up with the car.  The train was running 15 minutes late so I texted K to let her know and sent a last text two stops before Radley.  So far so good.  We get off at Radley and wait in the parking lot.  After about 15 minutes we start wondering where she is (before that I hadn't worried about her being late, just thinking that it's difficult to be on time with two little kids) and I check my mobile to see if she's texted to say that she's late.  There's no text but no reception either!  My mum checks her phone which has the same provider (Telenor) and she doesn't have any reception either.  After another 10 minute wait or so we go to the pub next to the station to borrow their phone but I just get through to K's voice mail (the girl at the pub says the area has very bad reception). 
• I remember that K has told me that there's a bus into Abingdon so we go to the bus stop and hop on the next bus coming.  I figure she has probably sent me a text saying we should meet her in Abingdon instead.  The bus passes by familiar neighbourhoods - I have visited them once before, in February, but at that time they picked us up at another train station and I didn't pay too close attention - but I decide it's safer to go all the way to Abingdon (10-15 min journey).  We get off the bus in the town square and proceed to Costa café where I ask to borrow the phone and leave another message for K, as our phones still don't have any reception - all very strange!  We order hot chocolates and a muffin and stay there for 45 minutes to an hour in the hope K hears my message.  When she doesn't show up I'm starting to think something must have happened.  And why are our phones still not working?! 
• I borrow the phone at Costa a last time and leave a new message, telling K we'll go to the library - I've spotted a sign - to try to use the Internet to find her address (which of course I haven't written down on a note, as I was so sure we'd be picked up and also that I would be able to use my mobile) and a map so we can walk to her house.  At the library they luckily have wi-fi so I can easily surf on my iPhone and eventually I find K's address in my Facebook messages.  We copy a local map (2 pages for 20 pence) and walk for about 15 minutes to K's house (which was the way the bus came so I had remembered correctly). 
• Over 2.5 hours after arriving at Radley we ring K's doorbell.  She opens with "I'm so happy to see you!  I take it you have received my messages then?"  We shake our heads and she tells us that she had to go to the A & E with her oldest, I, who fell off the bed and banged the back of her head on the bedside table.  They had just returned home and K had just heard my messages, as she wasn't able to pick up at the A & E. 
• Happy ending to the story in that we made it in end and I. wasn't seriously hurt, but what are the odds of our phones not working at that particular time?!  We didn't have any reception for the remainder of the day and I heard once back in Sweden that Telenor had had problems that day, especially with international roaming.  I'm so grateful for public libraries and the resources available there, as well as for friendly innkeepers letting you borrow their phones.

Story 3

• Wednesday AM and we're on our way to Heathrow on the tube when I get a text from British Airways that our flight has been cancelled.  We had seen on the morning news that there was icy frost and fog and that a lot of flights were cancelled or delayed but since our flight wasn't until 2 pm we thought it would be fine by then. 
• The text said to call a number or visit the website to get a refund or rebook onto another flight.  I try the number right away but of course it's impossible to get through, as thousands of stranded travellers are trying to ring at the same time.  I want to avoid the cost of international roaming so I forward the text to Peter back home in Sweden so he can go online for us.  When we get off at Hatton Cross to change for the right terminal train he calls and is about to rebook us on an early evening flight from City Airport, also with BA.  However, the system keeps on failing every time he tries to pay for it - probably because hundreds of other people are trying to book the same flights - and eventually it's not a 2,000 SEK flight anymore but a 14,000 SEK one.  Peter gives up on that flight and tells me he will check other (non-BA) alternatives but that we should proceed to the ticker counter as soon as we get to the terminal.
• As you could imagine, once we get there the queues are super-long and they are handing out a piece of paper with the phone number (same one I had already tried) and the link to the website, and also saying that most people will be rebooked on flights the following day.  We position ourselves in the queue but after a while Peter calls and tells us he has found tickets for a SAS flight later that evening.  It will cost us 8,000 SEK and we know we're probably only getting 2,000 SEK back for the cancelled flight*, but we really want to get home the same day (especially since my mum has a meeting scheduled early the following morning and I have a cold and would prefer to get home to my own bed), so we take it.  Besides, even if BA would have rebooked us the next day they would probably not have paid for the hotel, as weather problems are considered force majeure.
• We get out of the queue and make our way from Terminal 5 (unfortunately, as the shopping there is so much better) to Terminal 3 to check in for our SAS flight.  The flight doesn't leave until 9 pm so we spend almost 8 hours sitting around waiting and reading, with a few pitstops for food or coffee and some taxfree shopping.  I'm very happy Isolde wasn't on this trip with us, as it would have been quite tiring to entertain her at the airport for all those hours (and also being "lost" in Abingdon for almost 3-hour a couple of days earlier).

So, as you can see, a bit of adventure on this trip to say the least, but all with happy endings I guess! :)

* We know now we're getting the 2,000 SEK back but I'm still in contact with BA regarding the difference, and soon probably with my insurance company.  Wish me luck!