63. London - UK - Catching up with Em and Passport/Visa run

Our train trip home was fraught with train strikes. It seems the transport unions in England ALWAYS strike at the busiest times of the year. This particular weekend was the busiest as it's the end of the summer holidays and, a bank holiday on the Monday for all workers making it a long weekend. It didn't help that there was a major 'glitch' in air traffic control software causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled across all UK airports that same weekend.

Be aware when travelling the UK that even though you might have train tickets booked, it's not a given those trains will be running. It's always good to book tickets online with an email account so at least you're notified when things go awry.

Housekeeping aside, it was as always, great to see Daniel and Ellen again and we are forever grateful to them for providing accommodation in between sits. We try and book sits as close together as possible and, on occasion, we have been successful in going straight from one to another however, in this case, it wasn't possible.

Our friend Em is over this side of the world visiting family in Cyprus and London. We managed to catch up with her in London. It was as if no time had passed since we left which incidentally, is now 12 months plus!

Food... These two can't go two minutes without talking about food!

Here we are in St James' Park after walking off a delicious breakfast

Lots of furry friends looking for morsels of food

So now, it's time to do a 'visa run'. 

If one doesn't have a UK passport, one is limited to a six-month stay before having to leave. Since it's been six months since I last entered the UK, I have to leave and come back in (hopefully I'm allowed) to start this visa period again. You can't do this too often.

Having English heritage, I'm actually entitled to a UK passport and unfortunately, I've had an ongoing battle with the passport office since March who, have refused to issue me with one even after two appeals. It's frustrating having to educate them on their own government's legislation however, the good news is that I had one senior supervisor from the passport's office write to me agreeing with my argument and saying that I am entitled to one once I supply my grandfather's military records. I contacted the Ministry of Defense who have found the records which are now on order and hopefully received soon.

Getting back to the visa run, we decided we'd go to Ireland as it's only just over an hour's flight and the bonus? We found a dog sit in the southern city of Waterford, an old Viking village. 

Ireland, here we come, to be sure. to be sure!