Well as worried as I may have been for this strike and last day of our journey, everything seemed to have worked itself out just fine. The day started the very same as the rest of them, with showers and breakfast from the hotel. Then we gathered our belongings, checked out of the hotel, and walked to the train station to catch the Heathrow Express.
I could tell by the number of people on the streets as well as in Paddington Station that the strike was affecting the public. (If I haven't already, allow me to explain the strike. The tube workers are striking because the authority is wanting to install more electronic paying and charging machines and take out the teller machines in the underground. Because everyone in London has an Oyster Card, there is little need for the teller area's (according to the gov't), but the workers union is striking because the number of jobs will decrease dramatically if these new electronic machines are put in. That's what I understood of the situation in a nut shell.) Anyway, the station was packed with people trying to do their morning commute to work without the tubes. I was a little worried there would be no room on the train, but once we got to the platform, I realized there really wasn't that many people wanting to go to the airport. So we were fine for the first transport.
Once we reached the airport (only a 15 minute ride on the express), we made our way to the bus area, and waited for our bus to the airport hotel we have booked for the night. The bus came, and again there wasn't too many people, and the traffic wasn't too horrible. I didn't get on the wrong bus, and I didn't get off at the wrong station. It was shaping up to be a very nice day. Speaking of which, the weather for this entire trip has be outstanding! We not only had warm temperatures, but we only got slightly rained on twice the entire time, and that's saying something seeing as we are in some very rainy regions of Europe. We went into the hotel, got an early check in, put our belongings in our room, and went back out to wait for the same bus back to the terminals. You see, I had researched a route for us to take without the use of the tube to get to the Warner Bros Studio out in Watford. The best, and cheapest and fastest, route for us was to take a bus right from the airport. So we got back on the same bus, with the same bus driver, except this time without luggage, and headed back. From the terminal, we went back through the airport to the bus stop, and waited for our bus to arrive.
It was at this point that I was thinking we might actually be able to pull this off during the strike. But, of course, right away my relief was met with anxiety. The bus that we needed to catch, when it arrived, stated that it was out of service. Then, when the scheduled time of its arrival passed, I feared that the buses stopped for the afternoon and that we'd missed our chance. But then, 10 minutes late, our bus showed up. Relief once again. We sat through the 55 minute bus ride until we got to our stop in Watford, and then jumped off the bus and almost immediately got on a shuttle bus (that was completely decorated with Harry Potter scenes!) towards the studio.
Now because I have a long day of travel tomorrow and it's very late, I'll summarize the tour for you. IT WAS AMAZING! I got to try Butterbeer, which was everything I'd ever dreamed it would be and more (and it's only found one other place in the entire world). I got to see the actual sets, costumes, props and places that the series was filmed at. I could have spent hours there (which I did), but I mean hours more than I did. I know I'm a little nerdy for doing this, but I don't care! I bought several souvenirs, and took more pictures than I did the rest of the trip!
After we toured everywhere we could at the studio, we got back on the shuttle, back on the 55 minute bus ride, and then back on the other shuttle to the hotel. The nice thing about coming back to the hotel, they have Boddingtons! I have been looking for Boddingtons since I arrived in London, and it is just perfect that I found it on my last night here. It was a great way to end this vacation. I had a few pints and then decided that I should get some sleep before I fly for the entire day tomorrow. Back to reality I suppose, but there will of course be one last chapter about me coming home before I wrap this up permanently. Until then...
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