The commencement of a two week UK holiday
My brother, nephew and I have been planning a trip to the UK to return to our birthplace in South Wales for just on a year and finally the day arrived for us to depart Sydney. We took a fourteen hour Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi and decided to stay overnight before our second leg of five hours to London.
Our flight was very good; nice food, good service and a flat bed (most important) which allowed me to sleep for over nine hours [there are five different amenity packs and each one contains a small Luxe tourist book but mine was on Rome; strange really as there are books on Abu Dhabi which clearly would have been more suitable], but anyway there was some face cream and hand cream which I will use.
(source: Google images)
The seat configuration is 1-2-1 and when my flight was booked I went on-line to see where I was seated and found that Etihad also has seats that face to the back of the plane; for me that would be like travelling on a train facing backwards [which I cannot do] so I changed to a forward facing seat. My brother and nephew sat together so they could chat before eating and also falling asleep.
We arrived in Abu Dhabi around midnight and were picked up by a courtesy car and taken to the Intercontinental Hotel. But wow…that heat hit us when we walked from the terminal to the carpark – it was so incredibly hot and more so for me having come from minus temperatures in Canberra!!
After a quick shower I hopped into a very luxurious bed – but as I had already slept for many hours I was soon awake so thought I would take the opportunity and visit the gym and go for a run. To access the gym you have to walk outside on the 3rd floor and past the pool; again that heat was incredible…but I did have the opportunity to see some lovely views of the skyline.
The view of the Marina from the gym was also lovely. Some nice boats there!!
And then the sun came up and I had a lovely view whilst walking back to the main building.
I met my brother and nephew at the restaurant where I ate a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast with a side of mushrooms. My nephew also had a big breakfast and then was offered pancakes or waffles [or both as the waiter said] but decided on waffles with chocolate sauce – he always eats very well which is great. The dress standards at the hotel are interesting with some western tourists wearing tiny shorts/short skirts and singlet tops alongside middle eastern women wearing the abaya and the hijab and the men wearing the dishdash (the long white robe) and the keffiyeh (headscarf). Such different cultures.
(lighthearted humour from the net)
Then back out to the airport to board our flight; this time on the A380 which seemed to be more spacious but with the same seating configuration..another nice flight. Fortunately for me (as I had eaten way too much) the airline didn’t have my vegetarian meal so I watched a bit of TV then fell asleep.
Arriving at Heathrow the temperature was very pleasant. We were met by a driver I had organised on-line which made life so much easier in the chaos of the airport and within minutes we were on our way to London. We arrived at our Airbnb across from Kensington Park. It is exactly like the photos; modern two bedroom, two bathroom and location is perfect. Again I was up at 3am so decided to hit the streets a little while later. Not much around this early so whilst jogging I was able to check out the lovely buildings.
Then a quick breakfast at a local restaurant which had great service before heading to visit some friends. My nephew was ravenous and after one serve of bacon/sausage and poached eggs – he ordered another – in total four eggs, two sausages and four pieces of bacon – not too bad for a fourteen year old!!
Sophie said:
Hi Sue, amazing post! And it’s nice that you can read my comment in real time now that we are on the same time zone. I loved the photos of… everywhere! First the plane was pure luxury, it must have been so nice to take that comfortable flight. Then, what a great idea to enjoy Abu Dhabi with some sport activities and witness a beautiful sunrise. And what to say about your pictures of London!!! Kensington is a wonderful neighborhood and your pictures reflect just what I like in the UK, including the nice breakfast place front, so lovely with the flowers and typical local architecture! Enjoy your stay!!!!!! Much looking forward to your next story! Xxxxxxxxx
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CrazyChineseFamily said:
Oh how I wish to have once a comfortable flight! Usually my legs don’t even fit so I have to squeeze into those seats, no way of falling asleep there (only the legs though…)
I bet I would have eaten similar as you 14 y o nephew, breakfast is often the highlight for me 🙂
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Little Miss Traveller said:
Welcome back to England! I’m certain you will have a splendid time and I’ll look forward to reading more of your posts on my homeland, this one was really nice as usual! Are you planning a trip to Wimbledon? M.
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Rotwein Wanderer said:
Oh, you are there! Looking forward to the following posts! Enjoy the stay!!
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JohnRH said:
Wow! Fabulous.
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Marta said:
So luxurious! I’ve never been on one of those bed-seats, hehe.
Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
You are so lovely Sophie. Thank you for that really lovely comment. We are off to London Eye this morning and I have just come back from jog in Kensington Park. Delightful place.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
I definitely think that comfortable flat bed makes all the difference. Yay!!
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sidran said:
A new adventure begins! Waiting to see more. Cheers!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you. Yes will post soon.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thanks very much John.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thanks so much Marta. Try the bed seats one time. It’s so worth it.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much.
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vinneve said:
I think I may have warned you about the heat as it is summer here 🙂 but you know we are so used to it now that my son and I can still walk to a nearby mall haha! But it is getting hotter every week. I wish you all happy and exciting travels! I guess you will come back here in AD to stay for a few days on the way back? I remember you asked about some activities. I do not recommend you a day tour but a Grand Mosque is a must and some brunches as this is the family feast day every Friday and weekends.
Aside from that there are some indoor theme park you can still enjoy. Cheers!
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you. Yes you did tell me about the heat. Wow!!! We will stay two nights on the way back and we have booked a tour of the Grand Mosque at 5pm and will watch the sunset after the tour. We are also going to do the ‘hop on/hop off’ bus tour around the city in the air conditioning where we will just stay in the bus and my brother and nephew will go to Waterworld.
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vinneve said:
That is good! 🙂 I am sure you will enjoy it all and don’t forget to look for some SALE in the malls. Branded products are a lot cheaper here compare to $$$. 🙂
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Amy said:
Excellent photos, Sue! Sounds like you had an enjoyable flight. The contrast of the different cultures are well expressed. 🙂
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sileas said:
It’s nice that I get to know you a little better with each post – I didn’t know you were born in Wales 😉 Glad you had a pleasant flight and nice layover in Abu Dhabi… Looking forward to your UK posts!
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Lignum Draco said:
That’s a beautiful looking business class seat. I’ve only tried the Mark Newson business pods on Qantas and thought they were good until I saw these. Hope it’s been a great trip.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Hi Amy. Yes it was a good flight. Nearly time to do the return trip back home after two weeks in England and Wales.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much Julia. Yes born in Wales and emigrated to Australia when I was ten years old.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
It’s been great so far thank you. Yes the QF seats are good too I agree.
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Kedy said:
sounds adventures. looking forward to more on this.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much. More posts to come.
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