Saturday, 7 April 2012

                             10-Hour London Layover

London was nice.  We had a 10-hour layover and had about 6 hours in the city after customs, immigration, security and transport to and from the airport.  Shawna had never been before, so upon arrival we saw most of the London sights.  We took a train from Heathrow to Paddington Station in Northwest London.  From there, I bought a day pass on the tube, and Shawna was lucky enough to get a free one from a guy that was leaving the station and had no use for his anymore.  We took the tube to the fancy shopping area.  I showed her some of the big shops: Burberry, H&M, Harrod's, etc.  We strolled around Harrod's for half an hour, looking at the different rooms and eateries.  We then made our way toward Hyde Park and walked along the side until Buckingham Palace.  Took a bunch of pictures of the palace, gates, and guards.  From there it is a short walk to Westminster Abbey, the Parliament Building, and Big Ben (and the statue of Abraham Lincoln).  Then we walked down to the Thames and saw the Eye of London and some of the bridges. 

By this time we were starving and exhausted, having not slept much on the flight over.  So, we got back on the subway and headed back North West to the "Little Venice" area.  This was a very nice neighborhood with canals where we found a typical pub and had a few beers.  Unfortunately, they didn't serve any food until 6pm, so we asked around about a good local restaurant.  One of the patrons in the bar made us reservations for a place down that street that is situated on one of the canals and serves seafood.  We had to rush our dinner though (fish and chips for Shawna, and fisherman's pie for me) to get back to the airport on time. 

After eating an expensive meal, we hurried back to the tube stop, then to the train station, then to Heathrow where we picked up our carry-on bags from the locker service with whom we left them.  By the time we got to security, we were cutting it very close, so it's a good thing we were the only ones in line at 9pm.  It was pretty depressing, actually, to make it to the gate and see all the Nigerians after having just spent the day in one of the most interesting cities in the world.  Of course, when they called for first-class and business-class boarding, all of the Nigerians got up and formed a big cluster in front of the ticketing agent, as they haven't yet learned to make lines or wait their turns.  By the time we boarded there wasn't much luggage room left and everyone had already sprawled over the seats.  At that point we almost turned around and stayed in London.

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