London

My trip started in Lebanon. My flight was scheduled on Thursday at 4am with Pegasus airline from Beirut to London, through Istanbul.

The Beirut airport was a total shit show. I arrived to the airport at 1am. Their conveyor system was down, resulting in a huge line for the check-in counter. It took until 4:15am to check in my bike and we left more than an hour late.

I made it to London Stansted, but my bike and all my clothes did not. I filed a report and made my way to London via the Stansted Express train.

I arrived in City of London at around 1pm, met Fredy for lunch, and then went to his office (on the 32nd floor of the Salesforce Tower) for a really nice view of London. We then made our way to his place, where we worked for a bit.

At around 7pm, I walked through the lovely (yet a bit dry due to heavy draughts this year) Hyde Park towards Marylebone to have drinks and dinner at Hoppers, a Sri Lankan restaurant. On the way, I stopped at Uniqlo to buy some underwear and t-shirts. After dinner, we walked to Piccadilly Circus and took the tube home.

The next day (Friday), we worked from home. I also spend a good chunk of my day trying to track my baggage with no success. In the afternoon, we walked through Kensington, Knightsbridge, went by Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar square, and then to Convent Garden where we had drinks and then delicious Italian for dinner at Bancone.

After dinner we walked through Soho and Mayfair. There was a Tube strike, so all stations were closed. We found a couple of Lime scooters and used them to make our way home.

On Saturday, we had a slow morning. I got in touch with someone from the Beirut airport and they said that the baggage left Beirut the same day as my flight, so I was still trying to locate it, but not having any luck. For lunch, we went to Soho and had delicious pizza at Da Michele, then walked around by the river to see the Big Ben, Westminster, the London Eye. We also sat in the park and listened to a live brass band.

On the way back, I stopped to buy some running shoes because my feet were hurting from walking a lot in my Campers, with the salesman playing some scare tactics (that almost worked) to make me buy some orthotics. In the afternoon, I went to see Thomas at his place and then we went for dinner with Fredy at a Szechuan place and then to Notting Hill for drinks.

On Sunday, I spent my whole morning (from 8am to 1pm) at Heathrow trying to find my baggage since I was told by Stansted Airport that there was a report that it might be there. Again no luck. For lunch, we went to Dishoom for delicious Indian and then met Fredy's friend in Hyde Park.

Later that night, I get a message from the Beirut airport that they found my baggage, still in Lebanon, and that they will send it to London the next day. Finally some progress.

Monday morning, I met Sary for breakfast and then went back home to work. The baggage arrived in London at around 11am and was told that it will get delivered to me within 2 days. I went for a run in Hyde Park and then met Thomas for a drink. Fredy and I had wings for dinner and then some Gelato.

On Tuesday, we worked in the morning. We went for an early dinner at Sushi Samba and then to see The Book of Mormon.

On Wednesday, the day my baggage was supposed to arrive, I stayed at home to wait for it, but unsurprisingly, there were additional delays. DHL had sent it to the wrong sorting facility and it was not going to get delivered that day. Annoyed, I stayed at home and worked.

Fredy left Thursday morning to Belgium. So spent my morning working, and finally, at 11am, my baggage was delivered. I put my bike together, and thankfully there was no damage. I then spent the rest of the day working before going for a walk at night and grabbing pizza for dinner.

All in all, I missed 3 days of the planned biking route. I tried to check if I can reschedule my accommodations and stick to my original route, but a bunch of dates were not available. So I decided to take the train to where I had planned to be on Friday had I left on time.

On Friday morning, with my bike fully loaded, I made my way to St Pancras station to take the train to Derby and start my cycling journey.