Week 3, Day 2

Trip - Day trip to London
Agenda – Visa Application
Transport - Train
Hotel - Home
Baggage – Herschel bag
Additional Info –A long way to go for fingerprints



Today I was heading to London to have my biometrics taken for my Russian visa. My consultant would then visit the embassy and have my passport back to me by Thursday. When arranging this the visa company initially said they would need my passport first, before we could schedule this appointment. I reminded them that not everyone lived in or around London they agreed to confirm a date in advance as long as they received the passport in time. As mentioned I sent this on Friday after my return from Dusseldorf, on next day delivery. Due to the office not being open on Saturday it was delivered on Monday morning and I received confirmation that everything was in place.

The appointment would take no longer than 10 minutes and this left me with a dilemma when booking trains, for just how much time to leave. Ideally I would have incorporated this into my time in London last Friday but I needed my passport to enter Germany. Therefore I decided to book the 0729 train to arrive into London Kings Cross 1 hour before my appointment and the 1400 back. This should give me enough time for any mishaps whilst also getting home at a reasonable time.

Route NCL-KGX
Departure 0729 (Actual 0729)
Arrival 1041 (Actual 1040)
Seat Coach F Seat 23



I have timed arriving at the station to 15 minutes before departure, however I wasn't sure if I had already picked up my train tickets from the machine on a previous visit. They were not where I normally keep my train tickets so I assumed I needed to collect them but I give my self another 5 minutes incase I needed to plead at the ticket desk.

As is the routine a flat white was ordered at Costa and I boarded the train. When possible I try and book the F coach as this tends to be the last to sell, again this morning it was only half full with two of us sharing a table, extra legroom for me.

The train arrived on time and I was straight down to the Northern Line to London Bridge, switching to the Jubilee for one stop to Southwalk. From here it was two minute walk to the office, I had managed to get here within 25 minutes from Kings Cross which meant I was about 35 minutes early for my appointment. There were several cafes around but I didn’t really fancy a drink so I thought I would try my luck at an earlier appointment.





The rather abrupt receptionist barked “fingerprints?” at me when I arrived at the desk, I initially thought it a bit over the top to request a fingerprint scan just to approach the desk. Once I understood she wasn’t keen on small talk she took my name and my luck was in. I was seen immediately by someone a little more polite. Within 2 minutes my fingerprints had been taken, a form had been signed and I was back out the door. Now I had two and a half hours before my train back home. This really was a whistle stop visit to the capital.

The weather wasn’t great, my phone had said it would be 20c and cloudy. Today was more like 14c with a sky full of clouds. However I decided I would walk the 2.5 mile back to Kings Cross to kill the time and get some fresh air.











St Pauls
















Quick stop for a rest in a park


Route KGX-NCL
Departure 1400 (Actual 1400)
Arrival 1651 (Actual 1651)
Seat Coach F Seat 17





Once back at Kings Cross I bought some lunch at Leon and waited for the platform announcement. We left on time and I ate my lunch before starting on some work. This time the F coach was rather full, mostly with people who had not reserved seats. Once again there were only two of us at the table.

As the train was my office today I had bought WiFi access on the journey down, £10 for 24 hours. This worked without issue southbound but was very patchy going back north, with no access for the last hour. Emails were kept under control which was good, I managed to get a few things out of the way during the course of the day.

Arriving back in Newcastle it was a 10 minute walk back home in the rain. I had a few calls to make and then my day was over. I spent the evening writing up today’s report and editing the photos taken in London.

A wet Newcastle