Okay, so I grew up along the Gulf Coast, right? So you’d think I’d learn better than to plan an international flight during hurricane season, right? Nope. Turns out that, after 30-odd years living on the Gulf Coast, or near one body of water or another, that I’m a slow learner. Turns out that the affects of Ike were so widespread that the flight departing for the connection in Chicago was delayed by 2 hours. Fortunately, I was able to reschedule the connecting flight without to much difficulty.
Turns out, I’m also one of those annoying people who like to talk to the stranger sitting next to them on the plane for the next 9 hours, and that I develop insomnia when I’m on a plane flight. Not that I didn’t let poor Michael sleep, but he was a rather interesting Londoner who had a degree in American Studies. This apparently qualified him to be a professional wrestling announcer in Britain. I’m not sure if that says something about my culture, his culture, or the perception of my culture by his, but somehow, I’m sure it’s not good. In any case Michael was an entertaining fellow and good company on the flight over.
When my flight arrived in Heathrow Airport, I was met by the travel agency’s representatives: two ladies dressed in red. I’ve always wanted to meet a lady in red. This wasn’t exactly as romantic or sexy as I thought it would be. They were helpful in navigating the airport and getting me on a bus to my hotel. I spent the rest of the afternoon either sleeping in the lobby of the hotel, waiting to check into my room, or sleeping in my room.
That evening we were given a quick tour around some portions of London. Don’t ask me which, it passed by so quickly, and I was so sleep deprived, none of it really sunk in. Dinner however, was quite good. Here I met four of the people that would be part of the rest of my tour: a mother and her daughter from Utah, and a married couple from Texas. Dinner conversation was, as one might expect, awkward, a bit forced, but we managed.
After dinner we were loaded on a riverboat to cruise the Thames and see the various buildings and bridges along the waterfront. I can’t really do justice with words at how pleasant this little trip up and down the river was. The tour guides did a fine job explaining the function of the various buildings along the river, and sharing a little history, and dispelling a few myths and misconceptions. For example, a common mistake is which bridge is London Bridge, and which one is Tower Bridge. Chances are, if you’ve seen a postcard with a fancy looking suspension bridge, it is a picture of Tower Bridge, though it is often mistaken for London Bridge. Comparatively, the actual London Bridge is a pretty simple structure, and it has, in fact, fallen down. Several times. I believe the current London Bridge is the fourth one, and the third one was auctioned away before it completely collapsed, and is currently in Arizona (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge). Of course we cruised past Big Ben, Parliament, the Tower of London (from which Tower Bridge gets it’s name). We also saw the newer Eye of London, which is basically a gigantic Ferris wheel that has compartments instead of seats, from which you can see all of London. Unfortunately, I have no worthwhile pictures of this.
Auto does not Automatically Protect you from your own Ignorance!
What can I say? I’m a Slow Learner (and not even a casual photographer)!
I promise, the photos get better, for those of you who’ve been asking to see good pictures.
