Oxford to London, Travelogue
Aug. 13th, 2014 02:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribI made it from Oxford to London. My trip was not without some (minor) drama.
Things started well enough. Not wanting to lug my suitcase nearly a mile over crowded streets, I booked a taxi. Said taxi got me to Oxford's train station early - around 2:15 for a 3 PM scheduled train. As it happens, for short-haul commuter trains like the hour-long run to London Paddington, there are no reserved seats and you can take any train. Thus, I got the 2:30 train.
Arriving at Paddington early, I had to take three Underground train lines - Hammersea, Jubilee and Dockyards Light Railway (DLR). I made the first two with no problem, but the Jubilee train I caught terminated one station before I was supposed to get off. So I got off where I thought I could catch the DLR. Yes I did, but the DLR has essentially four routes, and figuring out which to take was a problem.
I eventually got it right, but I was a bit hot and sweaty from hauling luggage around. Fortunately, I ran into a local fan on the DLR (he was wearing a Star Wars t-shirt) and he gave me the advice to the right DLR stop (two past what I thought I needed). Also thanks to him, I was able to find the hotel, which was not immediately visible from the station.
I'm staying at the Travelodge ExCel. It's a bit of a walk from here to the convention, but one (short) DLR hop, and since I have a prepaid card I'll probably be training it. The hotel is pretty basic, but adequate, and (for London) cheap.
My last item of note is a personal one. I was bending down in the hotel room and the seat of my pants ripped out! (Reason number 1,542 I always packs more than one pair.) Fortunately, the rip occurred once I was in the room, not on the road. So I changed and walked across the street to the white-tablecloth Chinese restaurant and had dinner. Registration tomorrow.
ETA: Oh, and my 10-year-old el-cheapo digital camera has gone to that great camera store in the sky.
Things started well enough. Not wanting to lug my suitcase nearly a mile over crowded streets, I booked a taxi. Said taxi got me to Oxford's train station early - around 2:15 for a 3 PM scheduled train. As it happens, for short-haul commuter trains like the hour-long run to London Paddington, there are no reserved seats and you can take any train. Thus, I got the 2:30 train.
Arriving at Paddington early, I had to take three Underground train lines - Hammersea, Jubilee and Dockyards Light Railway (DLR). I made the first two with no problem, but the Jubilee train I caught terminated one station before I was supposed to get off. So I got off where I thought I could catch the DLR. Yes I did, but the DLR has essentially four routes, and figuring out which to take was a problem.
I eventually got it right, but I was a bit hot and sweaty from hauling luggage around. Fortunately, I ran into a local fan on the DLR (he was wearing a Star Wars t-shirt) and he gave me the advice to the right DLR stop (two past what I thought I needed). Also thanks to him, I was able to find the hotel, which was not immediately visible from the station.
I'm staying at the Travelodge ExCel. It's a bit of a walk from here to the convention, but one (short) DLR hop, and since I have a prepaid card I'll probably be training it. The hotel is pretty basic, but adequate, and (for London) cheap.
My last item of note is a personal one. I was bending down in the hotel room and the seat of my pants ripped out! (Reason number 1,542 I always packs more than one pair.) Fortunately, the rip occurred once I was in the room, not on the road. So I changed and walked across the street to the white-tablecloth Chinese restaurant and had dinner. Registration tomorrow.
ETA: Oh, and my 10-year-old el-cheapo digital camera has gone to that great camera store in the sky.
