D04: Hong Kong - London

Flight details:
Cathay Pacific CS255
Depart - Hong Kong International @ 0:35am.
Arrive - London Heathrow @ 6:20pm (Non-stop)

The best bit of the flight was when we were flying over London, I caught a glimpse out the window and saw the Royal Albert Hall. How's that for good karma!!!

I arrived in London just after 6am and cleared immigration and customs without any problems. I then managed to use my acute travel acumen to find the red uniformed "Globus representative". I don't know how I did it. Ha Ha!! As they were waiting for a couple of other flights to arrive, I just sat and waited for about an hour before we boarded the bus for the hotel, the Kensington Close Hotel and Spa. Being so early I wasn't able to check in, so I basically dumped my gear and went exploring!!!

The hotel was just off Kensington High Street and very close to the tube station. So I had my very first tube ride to Westminster. It was great when I exited the station to be confronted with Big Ben and the houses of Parliament, with the London eye close by as well.

Even though it was a little overcast, I decided to do the 'eye'. Mainly because I wasn't sure what the weather would be like when I got back from my tour. The view was pretty spectacular, and it was hard to believe that I was actually in London seeing all these things I'd only ever seen on tv or in the movies.

Afterwards, I wandered around just soaking in the atmosphere.

I then headed back to the hotel to check-in. The room was very small, but it was clean.

For my first night in London I joined one of the organised dinner tours from the Hotel. We did a little bit of sight seeing before heading to Chez Gerard for a 4 course dinner. My dinner choices included

• tomato & basil soup
• salad
• roast chicken with mustard sauce, duchess potato & green beans
• and tangy lemon tart with raspberry coulis

It was delicious!!! Afterwards we boarded the "Silver Bonito" for a evening cruise down the river Thames. It was gorgeous evening.

To see my all my photos from today, just click here.

After the cruise ended, we were dropped back to the hotel, where I pretty much fell into bed for a good nights sleep.

Hotel details
Kensington Close Hotel
(Kay's hotel rating - Good, but very tiny rooms)