All the fundraising, planning and packing is done, and Team Estonia has started our 2016 GOLD Project. Our first 24 hours has been spent in transit, and we are not in Estonia yet (even though ours is the closest project!)
On the 2nd July, each team member confronted the challenge of getting to the hotel near Heathrow Terminal. Alyson's day started the earliest, but then she spent the day in London with friends before catching the tube out to Heathrow. Charlotte had a looong coach trip (6 hrs), and Tamara had a very short coach trip (20 mins). Katie collected Margaret, before driving down (yay for early bird parking deals); while Emily missed her train.
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| PODs at Heathrow - Coolest form of transport! |
Once at Heathrow, the fun didn't stop. Half of our team discovered the PODs - which were a very cool mode of transport zipping direct from Terminal 5 to the hotel. Two of our members found the handy (but expensive) hotel hopper bus to the hotel, while Alyson was the winner in finding the free local bus which also went directly to the hotel!
So we all finally made it (well, to the hotel at least). After a quick dinner overlooking the runway, we headed back to the rooms for admin, forms, online check-in (Thanks Charlotte!) and learning new card games. But soon enough it was time for bed.
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| Turtle power |
After our all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast, it was turtle time! With our packs loaded front and back, we headed out of the hotel. Instead of paying for the slow hotel-hopper bus, we took the local buses. Heathrow operates within a free transit zone, which means that all local buses are free so long as you stay within the zone. The only downside was the lack of direct buses from our hotel to Terminal 2 where we were due to depart. Fortunately our Londoner (Tamara) got us on the right buses for an easy interchange and 20 mins later we were at the central bus station and heading for Terminal 2.
Check-in was no problem, nor was security - although we did have 3 pairs of shoes removed, 2 whole body scans, and 1 frisk search. After some last minute shopping, we chilled in a cafe playing more card games, and headed out for an uneventful flight to Frankfurt. After a fairly short stop over (complete with Frankfurts), we were shepherded onto a bus then onto our next plane.
After another uneventful flight (and more German rye-bread sandwiches), we finally arrived in Tallinn. It was sometime after midnight local time, and the taxi queue stretched the length of the terminal! But at last, we arrived at the hostel in Estonia; exhausted, but excited for our adventure was just beginning.
You can follow our adventure:
- On this blog
- On our
Facebook page
- & check out
Twitter for all the latest photos!
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