18.10.2011 – 18.10.2011  16 °C

Got going at a nice civilised time this morning and paid for it because the brekky area in the hostel was packed! After a small but tasty brekky I started on my chores for getting ready to Middle East.

I spent the morning shopping near to the hostel to find toiletries etc that I thought could be a little difficult to purchase in the Middle East and the usual post office run to get rid of more excess junk back to Oz (I missed a few things when I put the post in yesterday). Easy peasy.. I knew I had two days to get all of my chores done so I wasn’t too stressed about a time limit. Headed downtown to finish off my checklist and also to see the travel agent.

– First stop- Picadilly Circus to find a guide book to the Middle East.. Check
– Second stop- Hunt in a couple of clothing stores for another t-shirt and a pair of long but cool slacks.. ½ tick
– Third stop- Travel Agent in Oxford St to confirm accom etc for Middle East.. Check and disaster

Got into the travel agent and started going thru my paperwork and worked out that I had majorly stuffed up (again.. it’s the third time on this trip) and was actually flying out to Istanbul tomorrow and not the day after as I had always thought.. So all I could think of was holy crap how the hell am I going to finish my jobs and get to Les Miserables in under four hours??? I mean Aaaaaahhhhhh.

So after a lightening visit to my travel agent (lucky there wasn’t much to do) I ran across the street to Esprit which fortunately had a shirt on special that did the trick. Ditched the pants.. I mean I have enough anyhow I just thought it might be nice in Cairo to have more than one pair of light weight pants. And virtually ran back to the tube to get back to the hostel to get my washing and packing finished.

Believe it or not I managed to get my laundry into the dryer and got my bag mostly packed before the four hour deadline was up for Les Mis.. Headed back to Piccadilly and spent my evening watching a most enjoyable show! The theatre for Les Mis is this old quaint (and quite small) theatre with a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the roof. I had paid for good tickets and they were worth every penny as I had a great view of the stage and the cast. Bit of a sad story but I won’t ruin it for all of you who haven’t seen it. Rounded out my very late night by finishing my packing (by the light of the toilet because everyone was asleep) and crawled into bed after midnight.. 6am wake up in the morning to make it to Heathrow in time for my flight so here’s hoping I can get 40 winks on the plane!

Here endeth Weary’s Brittanic Ramble, for all avid Weary fans, stay tuned for Chapter 7 (and the last for 2011) An Appetite for Arabia!