Poznan to Berlin to London – 17 Straight Hours of Travel

Poznan to Berlin to London

Poznan to Berlin to London

April 19, 2012

When on the road, some days are just like this. It sucks, but you have to just suck it up and chalk it up to the experience, or whatever makes you feel better.

I really liked my time in Poland – the women are gorgeous, the food is cheap, I spent time with a friend, met some great people, and saw a cool city in Poland that rarely sees tourists. I’ll definitely be back, but for now I have to head to London.

We partied pretty late last night, and today began with a slight hangover. Good start. My friend here, Marta, met me at the hostel, and we left a bit late so we were rushing to the station. I bought a tram ticket, immediately lost it somehow, got another, rushed to the packed tram with my bags, got to the bus station, said goodbye to a friend, which always sucks, and now I’m on a four and a half hour bus ride (with wifi, thankfully) to Berlin. After I arrive in my favorite city ever, I have to sit and do nothing for four hours until my plane leaves for London at 10pm via Ryan Air, and flying into the London-Stansted airport at 11. Stansted, if you’re familiar, isn’t exactly walking distance from London.

I might just say “fuck it” and sleep in the airport, but I did book a hostel for tonight, which is a complicated multi-step journey of at least an hour and a half into town.

At least they speak English there, right?

April 20, 2012

Walking to the Hostel
Walking to the hostel at 3:30am - This is Vauxhall Bridge

After landing, waiting in the customs queue for two hours and getting hassled by an agent (read How I Almost Didn’t Get Into the UK,) I took what I could from the directions given by the hostel, but they were for arriving during the day – the underground and regular buses don’t run at this time of night. I caught the night bus to a close-ish station and just walked for god knows how many miles lugging all my shit along at 3:30 in the morning (4:30 if you don’t count the time change.)

All in all, the day consisted of 17 straight hours of travel. That’s 2 hours of walking, 1 on the tram, 7 on the bus, 2 in the air, and 5 waiting in the airport or bus station. Crappy day? Meh…it’s all part of traveling. But I’m gonna go to sleep now.

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