After Dennis and Diane left for the airport we had a leisurely breakfast in preparation for making the trek to Liberty Fabrics. Mae has been talking about going there for weeks.
It was a bright, clear morning so we decided to walk to the store. But first, we had to store our luggage somewhere. We had heard about these new firms that were popping up as distributed, short-term luggage storage so we decided to try one. It was right around the corner from where we were staying and only charged £4 per bag which seemed like a bargain. As you can see from the photo below, we entrusted our luggage to some dude at the counter of a 24-hour Vape store. What could possibly go wrong with that? Nothing. Smooth and easy.
We arrived at Liberty Fabrics right at 10AM to find no less than 40 people standing in line. After a few moments we saw an employee pantomiming "11:30." So we hung out for an hour before going back. Mae found some nice fabric which was unexpectedly on sale. Winner!
We salvaged our luggage and hailed a traditional London cab to head to Paddington Station. The driver knew all the back roads and got us there quickly. From Paddington we took the Heathrow Express (20 minutes to Heathrow) to check in to our hotel. We chose the Sofitel because it is in Heathrow Airport itself. What we didn’t know was the maneuvering required to get from Terminal 5 where the hotel is to Terminal 3 where our flight departs. We did a practice run this afternoon which included having to take 2 escalators, 3 lifts (elevators), a long walk, and a train across the airport. We then decided to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the gate tomorrow.
So with the hop to Paddington Station by taxi, we completed the final transportation form; we had already used the Tube, train, and double-decker bus. What a blast it’s been to spend this much time in London. Doing so with family was even better!
The hotel was nice and easy to get around. After a casual dinner (final food pics) we sat in the bar area and watched the Scotland vs Hungary football match. Hungary won 1-0 having scored a goal with about 30 minutes left in the game!
