Day 11 - Piccadilly Line (Part Two)

An early start, which was particularly distressing on a Saturday... and a walk which became progressively more difficult. My fault, obviously.

I set off from Kings Cross on another jaunt through central London. These trips have been frequent in the last few days, but each slightly different. Today, I passed through Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus, through Knightsbridge and Kensington, past my old house in Glocester Road to Earl's Court.

This part of the walk was great, seeing many sights as well as more and more of the aforementioned charity elephants, dotted along the route. At this point however, it became somewhat more difficult, as my expertly made handwritten map vanished, almost certainly dropped between Earl's and Baron's Courts. Had this been central London, I would probably have been fine, but to me it was all unfamiliar territory. Edging along the road to Turnham Green, agonisingly passing 3 District Line stations en route which I will have to revisit later, I finally found Turnham Green.

As I went to take a customary photo, calamity number 2 occurred, and my camera ran out of battery. Cynics and conspiracy theorists will speculate (ie. James Bellamy and probs Khawar) that my lack of photos is becasue, mapless, I gave up and ran home, and this may have been the better plan. Instead, I asked around for the way to Acton Town.

Worryingly, everyone's directions began with "Oooooh, well, it's a long way" or "Ahhhh, ummmm, well it's quite a hike". Finally I made it, and from this in truth the walk became much easier, although I still relied on helpful shop owners and crappy bus maps as I wandered through west London, finally reaching Park Royal. Incredibly, I wasn't much later than I hoped to be when I set out, and hopping back onto the tube I looked forward to reaching Uxbridge and the end of the line tomorrow!

Alex