Saturday, 20 July 2019

DAY 46 18-19 JULY Madrid – Hong Kong


Today we had a shuttle to the Madrid airport. Not knowing what sort of vehicle to expect. I approached a shuttle van driver and asked him but he was there to pick up the Delta Airline crew. A few minutes later our Mercedes saloon appeared. The trip was good most of the way but then it crawled to a standstill for quite a while and although we had some initial language difficulties it all worked out.

To cut a long story short we only had to wait about an hour, as it took us a while to check our luggage and go through customs and immigration, and of course the train ride to get us to the terminal. They were not inefficient, it was just a big place and lots of people. I did set off an alarm and they swabbed me for drugs and or explosives but I have no idea which.

We managed to sleep most of the way on the plane.  Upon arrival in Hong Kong, another train, Immigration and baggage retrieval, it was all quite efficient. We walked to baggage claim and saw both of our suitcases and we were gone. It was easy to find our shuttle collection and then to be guided to the bus. The highway was good but once we hit the CBD it was very slow but it wasn’t a problem.

We slept in our room for a few hours, ventured out for a coffee and met our tour guide for tonight. We saw Hong Kong as the sun sets and experienced such a bustling metropolis of 7 million at night. Luckily the weather had cleared, because this afternoon there was rain and thunder. With our guide, we hopped on a Big Bus, an open top bus to see the sights of the city. 

We went along Nathan Road, the heart of Kowloon, famous for its neon lights and shopping precinct. We visited Heritage 1881, a cultural and shopping landmark of Kowloon that was built incorporating the former Naval Police headquarters. 



Our hotel looks at the back of possible the most prestigious hotel in Hong Kong, The Peninsula. They have fleet of green Rolls Royces, but only green.


This was followed by a stroll along the promenade to watch the Symphony of Lights show; a multimedia show, which was very good.





We did enjoy a view of Victoria Harbour and the stunning skyline of Hong Kong Island from a popular Chinese restaurant for dinner and savoured various Chinese dishes including the popular Peking duck.  There was far too much to eat and we did try the chopsticks. The jellyfish was just right!

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