Jason's Daily Notes

We awoke (warm this time; I had turned up the heater) and started packing up to leave the Cotswolds. We tried to finish the leftovers from last night's dinner, but there was simply too much.

With the day ahead of us and London not too far away, I suggested that we got to Stonehenge instead. So we did. Of course, I drove :) It took about 1.5 hours, and I was tested with parking the car in a busy lot as we arrived at the stone age attraction. It was cold, windy, and showery (aka typically English). We paid £7 each, but the admission gave us an audio guide, which helped color the experience. However, the weather was relentless, and being battered by cold rain showers discouraged us from staying longer. We took our pictures, looped around the stones, returned our audio guide and stopped for some hot coffee to warm us up.

I drove us into London (getting out from Stonehenge was also a challenge, as I had to merge onto a busy road while stopped on an incline. I did it, though!). We made it to the M25 easily, but then we hit a wall of traffic, and switching over to the M4 was even worse. The motorway had come to a complete stop. It took maybe 40 minutes to get into London (it's maybe a 5 mile drive). Oh well, we stayed positive; after all, being stuck in stop-and-go traffic is really good driving practice for me.

I dropped my mom off at the hotel by Earl's Court. It's a good-located hotel, but of course the room is tiny, and oddly, you have to leave the room key at the front desk every time you leave the hotel. Then, my uncle and I left to return the car. However, the traffic was also insane. It took 45 minutes just to leave Kensington. We were at a near stop (inching forward) for maybe half an hour! The traffic was almost certainly due to everyone going to the Westfield in Shepherd's Bush for Boxing Day shopping. I drove on the N Circular, skirting around London, and dropped the car off at the rental place.

We were going to take the train back, but soon found out that there were no trains running at all! (There was also a tube strike going on.) So I had to figure out a bus route to take us back to Earl's Court. We ended up taking 4 buses (through Edmonton Green, King's Cross, and Oxford Street/Marble Arch). Luckily we didn't have many bags with us, because the last bus leaving Oxford Street was completely packed with people! It was a very "welcome to London" experience for my uncle.

Exhausted, I decided to just stay over at the hotel room that night (which also saved me the trouble of having to travel back there in the morning anyway).