Downtown London

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I'm in London, England now. Staying at my good friend Irina and her husband, Andres' house. My 8 hour layover in Oslo wasn't too bad. Much nicer airport than Frankfurt, certainly. There was duty-free shopping and plenty of nice restaurants to keep me occupied.

When I arrived in London, I had my first true customs experience in Heathrow. We were shuttled downstairs to a huge room with a long line of newly arrived foreigners. I was so nervous and intimidated that I couldn't remember what country I had just come from when they asked me, and what country I was going to after England. But, there were no problems and I didn't even have to show them my paperwork for Iceland.  Oh, and I think I saw a smile from the customs officer, weird.

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I met Irina outside and we immediately started catching up on the last 13 years. It felt like we had never been away. London traffic greeted us on our way home, but we finally arrived late evening and I was introduced to her husband. We all sat down and had a cup of tea, some wine, brandy and a few other things I don't remember.

The next night we drove around downtown London and wandered around Hyde Park. It was fun seeing all those things that make London famous. The crazy taxi drivers in their vintage-looking black cabs, the double decker buses and beautiful old buildings. I don't remember much from my visit 18 years ago, but I was surprised at my reaction when I saw Big Ben. I remembered standing on the corner underneath it all those years ago listening to it chime on the hour, and it made me so happy to see it again.

Big Ben
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The day after I went with Andres, so he could show me the bus and train routes, to Victoria, where I was to catch a tour bus around London.  As we were riding in the tube (London Underground trains), Andres delightedly told me the joys of riding London's packed subway, including trying very hard not to make eye contact with anyone, waiting just on the edge of the platform so you don't get swept with the crowd and a story about a poor older women that was knocked over by an elbow and had a footprint on her chest when he helped her up.  So, we stared at the ceiling and waited for our next stop.  As Andres showed me the route I was to take later in the day to meet up with Irina at Canary Wharf, I can't say enough how impressed I was with London's transportation.  Most people in London (or the suburbs) are able to just take a bus to the nearest train and head into the city to wherever they work or even go for play.  The stops were all clearly labeled and the trains came frequently, so that you only had to wait maybe 5 minutes, at the most, for the next train.  It was quite a contrast from the transportation in Alaska, let alone the rest of the United States.

Big Ben
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When we arrived in Victoria, I caught the tour bus that goes around the major tourist areas of London and said goodbye to Andres so he could head off to work.  I don't suppose I mentioned it was a bit rainy and windy that day.  I also decided to ride on the top level of the double decker bus so I could get the best view.

I can hardly do a justice in describing the sites of London other than simply amazing.  I could almost go back in time and imagine what this city was like a thousand years ago.  There were ancient buildings everywhere with narrow alleys winding around towards some unknown location. Some of the ancient buildings were even used for grocery stores or travel agencies.  The tour took about 2 and a half hours and included live commentary. We drove through the city, swerving in and out of the crazy London traffic as our tour guide pointed out lovely touristy things and explained their historical significance. Unfortunately, I didn't understand him very often, but the few bits I gathered were quite interesting. Apparently, the US embassy in London is the only one in the world that is not actually on US soil. I guess they rent the area for a huge amount of money from the Duke of Wellington (or something like that).

Lion with The Eye behind
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I was quite proud of myself as I navigated myself around the Tram, Train and Tube, as well as the occasional bus throughout London. I stopped in Victoria on my way back to meet Irina at her work and had a nice cup of coffee while I enjoyed the facades of the buildings within the enclosed train stations and the people passing by. I even managed to navigate myself to Heathrow airport to enjoy another lovely airport experience as I went from gate to gate waiting for my plane to depart.