October 16 - London

After a smooth flight across the Atlantic we approached Heathrow just as dawn was beginning to lighten the eastern sky. We were ahead of schedule and I thought perhaps we could have made a connection to Venice after all. The pilot came over the PA system and told us that weather conditions had deteriorated and there was heavy fog around the airport so we would be circling for awhile. He also said that if it was too long, we wouldn’t have enough fuel so we would have to land at another airport, gas up and then proceed to Heathrow. I was glad we had decided to be cautious. As it turned out we managed to land at roughly the scheduled time but the UK customs lines were long and we would have never made it.

We had booked a room at the Sofitel London Heathrow which is connected to Terminal 5 (we’ll be flying out of there tomorrow). It’s a very nice and quiet hotel despite the fact that it sits in the midst of this busy airport. We were able to check in, have breakfast, get cleaned up and take a little nap.

After resting up we proceeded to the Underground station in the Terminal and headed to downtown London. The fog had dissipated and it turned out to be a pretty nice afternoon. The concierge gave us directions from the tube to Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. The train took nearly 25 minutes longer than the Heathrow Express would have, but it cost one quarter of the price plus we were able to get close to the places we wanted to see as opposed to ending up at Paddington Station which was not close to anything.

We got off at Leicester Square and walked to Westminster. Along the way we passed through Trafalgar Square which was packed with people watching a free concert to raise money for some charitable cause. Along the edges of the crowd were people demonstrating for a variety of different things. The cacophony of sounds and the variety of dress we saw was truly amazing and entertaining! Westminster Abbey was closed unfortunately because it is Sunday. We could only look at it and the other iconic buildings around it. Down the street we could hear people protesting something and periodically police cars raced by in that direction with lights flashing and sirens blaring. Across the street from the Abbey was a small tent city with a different group of protesters. The area was packed with tourists like us taking in the sights and sounds. After walking across the Bridge and seeing the London Eye we decided we were pooped and it was time to head back to the hotel. We saw so little that we have a wonderful excuse to come back again and spend more time in this truly interesting place.