Weary Travelers
London, England, United Kingdom
December 21, 2015
Bill, Karen and I are hanging at the airport. We are departing at 23:55 for Heathrow, then spending 7 hours there before we head to Nairobi! I am getting so excited!!
Packing was and adventure all in itself. We had to buy a ton of new stuff and it took many rounds of "revisions" to ensure that we have enough/not too much. Time will tell if we made the right decisions!
We landed in Heathrow a bit before noon. There had been some turbulence during the flight, but for the most part it was smooth sailing and we were all able to get some sleep
We landed in Heathrow a bit before noon. There had been some turbulence during the flight, but for the most part it was smooth sailing and we were all able to get some sleep.
Our flight to Nairobi was not until 19:00, we decided that we had enough time to take the Heathrow Express to go see Westminster Abbey and grab some lunch. We took a tram to terminal 3 and priced out the fare. It was going to cost us $70 each for the round trip and in the meantime we checked in for our flight and discovered that boarding time was at 17:45. That meant we only had two or three hours to explore London. We decided it was not worth the expense, so then we walked to terminal two for plan B
.
Bill and Karen found some crisps to snack on at Marks and Spenser. I considered purchasing bubbly Santa chocolates and the single serving of wine sold in a plastic cup, but opted for the sensible blend of apple and cucumber juice instead.
We ended up spending our afternoon at the Flying Chariot in a circular blue suede booth. While Bill was up at the counter ordering our lunch, I discovered that it was perfect for curling up on for a nap. He did not even realize that I was sleeping there until our food showed up. For the next couple of hours we had a mediocre lunch, did some reading and took turns napping.
My nephew Joe was able to stop by and visit us after work for an hour. It was so great to see him! We miss him and Jaymie very much, so it was great to see him, if only for a short time!
After going through security, where Bill was delayed for the second time this trip
. Last time his zippers were setting the alarms off, so he was sent for a secondary inspection This time the lady swabbed almost every article in his backpack. Karen and I were amused by a lady who was all done up in massive heels with her young daughter. It was a whole production for them to unpack their five bins of items.
We did a bit of window shopping and sampling at the Duty Free, then went to our heavily monitored gate. There were tons of security people, but we did not get approached by any of them.
We were all aboard the flight very early and took off on time. My plan was to stay awake until after the meal was served, but I was asleep before we taxied.