I am sitting under a tree in a London park, not far from Buckingham Palace, smiling. The weather is perfect, the air is quiet, and I can’t remember the last time I felt this at peace. Getting to this patch of grass, however, was a beautifully chaotic ordeal.
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The Great Airport Misadventure
The day started very chaotic. I was supposed to meet a friend who had a hotel booked outside the city. I took a £4.90 subway ride to Heathrow Airport, got thoroughly lost, but eventually found him. He explained the hotel was a bus ride away: we needed the 423, then a transfer to the 81 toward Slough.
Exhausted, with aching legs and tight shoes, I spotted a different bus—the 78—which also claimed to go to Slough. I paid the £4.90 fare and hopped on.
As the bus wound deeper into the countryside, doubt crept in. A fellow passenger told me he’d never heard of our hotel, and my uneasy feeling grew. When we finally reached Slough, the driver dropped the bad news: I had gone the wrong way and needed to head right back to the airport. I had just wasted a full hour.
When I finally reached the Aurora International Hotel, the receptionist delivered another blow: my reservation wasn’t there; I belonged at a different property. Noting the sheer exhaustion on my face, covered with sweat, she asked if I was okay. “I will be,” I replied, “when I actually get to a hotel.”
I finally hopped off the bus where the new hotel was supposed to be, only to find myself staring at empty forests and fields. “I am really in london?” – I doubted myself for a moment.
I successfully checked in and went to my room. The room looked very nice and even had a white robe and white slippers. After, long wondering in the bus I really needed a shower!
After a long shower my head felt very clear in the cool room. and I realised that I am in the middle of nowhere and I came to see London after all. It will take me like 1.5h to get to London and in the very short time I have here it would have been a waste of time!
So I started searching for a cheap hostel in central London near Victoria and I found it! I quickly packed everything back and went to checkout from the hotel.
The receptionist was shocked I was checking out early and gave me attitude about my room rate—which my friend had booked using a 50% off staff discount. I argued back, pointing out that he hadn’t raised any issues at check-in. Plus, since I was paying for the extra night anyway, he got a free room out of it and should have just been happy.
Dorms, Dinners, and Piccadilly Lights
After a not so cheap £7.90 tube ride to London Bridge, I spent far too long looking for my hostel, only to realise it was right in front of me the whole time—a charmingly worn-out building with crooked stairs and uneven floors.
I was the first to arrive in my four-bed dorm and immediately crashed. Over the next few hours, my sleep was punctuated by the arrival of my new roommates: a Lithuanian traveler, her American best friend, and later, another American.
After a quick £5 grocery run for yogurt and bananas, the second American and I headed out for dinner. We found a cozy tavern where I enjoyed a £10 beer and spaghetti bolognese. Energised, I walked over to Piccadilly Circus. The atmosphere was electric; a massive screen was broadcasting a football match, and a crowd had swarmed a nearby statue to watch. A stranger invited me to a club, but I declined, opting for sleep instead.
The Storage Room Comedy
The next morning brought a comedy of errors. I wanted to leave my bag in the hostel’s storage room, but I didn’t realize the locker code was printed on the back of my reception slip. Once inside, panic set in. I accidentally locked my bag in an already-open locker, and after the receptionist helped me rescue it, I realised I’d left my phone inside. By the time I finally sorted it out, the stress had completely ruined my appetite—a disappointment compounded by the fact that the only breakfast bread available was sweet jam, with no cheese or sausage in sight.
To clear my head, I visited the bustling financial district, marveling at the sea of suits and the booming energy. On the way back to the subway, I grabbed a snack. The bun was amazing, but the “juice” I bought turned out to be pure concentrate, leaving me with a beautifully sour surprise.
Lesson learned, always book accommodation close to the centre of the city, especially as big as London.