London baby...

Day 9: I'm now in London, staying at Van and Alan's place. The trip over was OK. Once again, there was a discrepancy with the number of people checked in and the number of people actually on board which caused a bit of a delay. They sold tickets during the flight for bus and train journeys once we left the airport. I asked for a bus one, and didn't check. Turns out he sold me a train one and by the time I realised, it was too late. With the bus ticket, it would have taken me straight to Marble Arch which is where I needed to go, but the train one only took me St Pancras International train station. However, I thought it would be OK since I had also bought an Oyster Card (prepaid travel card which you swipe every time you get on a train, bus or tram). I could just train it to St Pancras, and then use the card to take the Tube to Marble Arch.

Not loving Marseille...

Since my last post was a bit short, I will take some time now to describe Nice. It was awesome!! So beautiful!! I will definitely be coming back here one day. Just sitting in Messina Square or on the beach makes you just forget about all your troubles. Nice is definitely a haven for old people. They're everywhere!! And they're so active. I don't think I've ever seen so many old people in spandex jogging. And they love to tan too. So many topless old people sunbathing. Quite disturbing. Even though it's winter, the weather was surprisingly warm. I guess it's more towards the south so it's still a bit warm. But I really wish I had packed some shorts. Had an amazing dinner with the two American girls that I met. Snails, lasagne, dessert and champagne for 14 euros. Absolute bargain!! And it tasted so good. It was a nice way to end my time in Nice.

Nice is nice...

So I'm in Nice now. Gonna keep this short because the French keyboard is really different and it takes forever to type something. Here's a summary of what's happened so far (Days 1-3).

Planned my awesome route
Ticket selling person took too long to validate my rail pass thus making me miss the train I had orginally planned to get
Took her option which was to go via Milan
Italian train broke down
Missed the last connecting train in Milan
Got knocked over by a pickpocket running away
Had to wander the streets looking for a relatively cheap place to stay
Finally found one for 50 euros but was a double, but had to take it
Left for Nice the next morning but French strikes cancelled almost all of the trains
Stuck in the little Italian town of Ventimiglia for 4 hours
Finally got a train to Nice
Found out that bed had been given away
Forced to wander again looking for another place to stay
Explored Nice
Forgot all about my troubles just admiring the beauty of Nice
Met two awesome American girls in my dorm
Explored more of Nice
Hoping to be able to get out to Barcelona tomorrow if the trains are running

Anyways must be off now. More detail later.

HBL signing out from Nice, France. Bonsoir!!