Jul 18, 2012

Our flight over felt long which is reasonable I guess. The 9 hour leg to Hong Kong saw us getting 6 hours interrupted sleep but the 13hour leg only saw another couple of hours added so we were feeling very second-hand when we landed.



The welcome sight of our room at the Railway Hotel when we finally got there

Once we hit the airport it was clear the Olympics were in town with the sheer volume of people and there were 11 lines of people zigzagged back and forth in front of the Passport Control counters (40 plus and all working) so we had plenty of time for a chat there. Next onto the underground into London and while we first thought we were pretty clever getting a seat at the end of the carriage away from all the traffic (in increasing numbers getting on and off) that proved to be a challenge to getting ourselves and luggage extricated from our spot when we wanted to get off. Rather than having to resort to the Crocodile Dundee exercise of climbing over the shoulders of other commuter’s like a sheepdog we started edging our way towards the door a couple of stations prior to Kings Cross St Pancras so we could actually get out..…and it was still a challenge!

We grabbed a beautiful hot chocolate and a bite at the station then climbed on a South Eastern train to Faversham where we dragged our cases across the road to the Railway Hotel where we had a glorious 10 hours sleep and woke feeling remarkably refreshed this morning.



Faversham street view looking towards the Guild Hall (built 1574 – rebuilt 1814). The building looking to lean into the street really is doing that!

We headed off to the bike shop after breakfast and collected the bikes and headed for Marshside to repack some of our gear (and leave some behind….turns out I’d forgotten I left my more dressy clothes behind here last trip and collected them again before we left on our Amsterdam Budapest Cruise so have rationalised what I’ll take from here. Sadly my Amsterdam jacket will have to stay here, but the Bruges hat and scarf is coming with me.

Great to see the bikes looking so good so grateful thanks to Gareth and Tony and crew for making the impossible possible. Thanks also to Brenda this afternoon. Turns out the renewal notice didn’t arrive because most of the address had dropped off the record…...you get that with computer records apparently….no really! Anyway, all sorted now. Yay for the Bike Shop at Faversham. http://www.thebikeshopfaversham.co.uk



About to get on the bikes in the lane beside the bike shop – the smile says it all!

Last Nights’ Accommodation:

The Railway Hotel, Preston Street, Faversham UK.
Lovely old building, generous and comfortable room and friendly hosts. Was right on a busy road but nice and quiet through the night. Great cooked breakfast this morning in a really pretty room. Wouldn’t hesitate staying again.



The Railway Hotel, Faversham