LONDON, 12/13

 The Eye of London

 London at 6:30am 

 The Tower of London

 London Bridge

 Big Ben and the House of Parliament

 Westminster Abbey

 Buckingham Palace

 The doors outside Westminster Abbey

 The Household Cavalry Museum

 Buckingham Palace

MY MOMMA

So this is it. I am finally on my way home after 5 months of being away from the states and my family, the longest I have ever gone without seeing them (I didn’t even get a chance to skype with them). The flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg was pretty uneventful.

After getting off the plane and eating lunch (at Nando’s one last time) Ashley and I headed to our locker storage to gather all our bags, reorganize and repack. This basically entailed us sprawling out in the Johannesburg Airport, suitcases opened, piles of souvenirs and clothes spread out around us as we tried to squash everything into our bags. Finally got that all sorted and we still had some time so Ashley wanted to straighten her hair. There were no plugs in the bathroom so instead we just sat right outside the luggage storage center, right next to the escalators as she straightened her hair. We were having such a fun time that we didn’t realize it was getting so late and hurried to check our bags. But of course, it’s still Africa so this process took much longer than in was supposed to as I had to first check in with British Airways, then go to another office to pay for my overweight fee, then back to the counter and then through passport control and security. We were rushing through all of this and luckily made it with about 15 minutes until Ashley’s flight was supposed to depart to Dubai. I said good bye to her, walked around the airport one last time and boarded my flight to London.

The flight was pretty uneventful except that I was super bummed as my video player wasn’t working! I had to ask the flight attendants three times to reset the system. Eventually, I was able to watch some good movies and eat some pretty good airplane food before we landed in London in the wee early morning. It was such a fun landing because I had Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas” playing on my headphones as we landed and I saw snow for the first time in a year! Plus the captain said it was about 0 degrees. It finally was beginning to feel a bit like Christmas.

I easily managed to get out of customs and immigration before buying a ticket for the underground and catching a train into the city at 5:30am. It was freezing and I didn’t have any winter clothes with me so had to wear layer upon layer of clothing and wool socks with chacos, not that attractive of a look. The underground was really interesting and so different from the trains in Stellenbosch. Here they had maps up and a voice telling you the next stop, not to mention comfy, padded seats. However it was weird because the seats face each other and there isn’t a lot of room for people to stand in between the seats so you are looking directly into the eyes of the person seated across from you. I had no idea what the protocol was so I pretended to read a book. I did see a couple people reading the newspaper and when they were done they would just throw it behind them which was something I rarely see. After one guy threw his copy, I did grab it so I could catch up on all the world news.

After about a 45 minute ride I came to Picadilly Circus Station where I had planned on getting off as I knew there was a double Decker tour bus stand right there. However when I emerged from the underground it was only 6:15am and the stand didn’t open until 8 plus it was completely dark out. But this didn’t bother me one bit and instead I was in awe of the city. They had lights strung up across buildings and garland everywhere for the Christmas holiday and what a sight it was. It was gorgeous! The lights, the architecture, the double decker buses, the taxis, it was all so English! It reminded me a bit of Boston in how there can be a historical landmark right next to a spanking new modern skyscraper.

I walked around taking in the sights for a bit before finding an open coffee shop, Café Nero, and getting myself a hot chocolate as a I took some time reading the newspaper. I still had some time to kill so decided to walk around a bit more now that the sun had come up. I did see one of the double decker buses out so thought it was time to head back to the tour bus store. Even though I got there at 8 it was still closed and closed still at 8:15 when I came back. I began to get a little panicked and decided to go back to where I had seen that bus driving around. Luckily there was a bus tour employee there who helped me buy a ticket and got me on the bus. Even though it was bloody freezing I decided to head up to the open top where I could see everything. There were multiple smaller parks throughout the city that are both private (locked and used by only those in the neighborhood) and public parks. I found it so interesting that there are both types of parks all throughout the city. Throughout the tour I was able to see Nelson’s Column and Trafalgar Square, St. James Palace, the Wellington/Marble Arch (an archway that was originally placed at Buckingham Palace but the queen hated it so specifically had a carriage built larger than the width of the arch and could therefore not pass through it leading to the replacement of the arch), the Dorcester Hotel (where Elizabeth Taylor spent all of her honeymoons when in London and it has revolving doors some say because of Elizabeth Taylor’s revolving bed???), Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Park, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament, Feel Street, St. Pauls’ Cathedral (which was absolutely gorgeous!), the Royal Court, the London Dungeons and so much more. Seeing Big Ben was so amazing since I have seen it in movies and on TV but in person was so awesome, not to mention as soon as I saw Big Ben to my left I saw the London Bridge as we crossed over the River Thames. It was really cool to see the bridge because that is one sight I remember seeing when I was on the plane landing in London on my way to Botswana so it was kind of a bookend, surreal moment to see it again. Before I knew it we had looped around and were actually crossing the London Bridge was interesting because it had blue support beams.

The next stop was the Tower of London which I had no idea what it looked like but it resembles a castle and in the middle is the famous tower. It became infamous because royalty would send people there when it was used as a prison and hence the phrase, “send him to the tower” came to existence. However, in actuality it was used for a lot more besides a tower such as a castle of residence, armory, menagerie, etc. Once I got off the bus I realized how cold it really was as I was freezing and had to use the restroom. I spent a good ten minutes trying to find a restroom but every one required pounds and I only had a credit card so I went down to the ice rink, yes ice rink right in front of the tower, to go to their coffee shop and use the ATM but of course the ATM was not working. So I left and desperately looked around for another one before I saw a little trailer with restrooms right outside the rink. I sprinted towards the bathrooms not only did I have to use it but because the bathroom was warm. I spent a good 5 minutes in the bathroom just trying to warm up! After finally thawing out I walked around the outside of the tower and was able to find someone to take my picture in front of the both the Tower and the London Bridge itself. There is a great view of the bridge from the tower located along the river. With my city tour bus ticket I go a free ride on a river ferry along the River Thames so hopped on the next ferry. It was a nice ride along the river allowing me to see the Victoria Embankment Gardens, the Eye of London, the Sea Life Aquarium and the River Thames itself. The ferry shepherded me to the stop right by Big Ben and the House of Parliament where I had multiple, multiple strangers take photos of me with the iconic tower. Since Westminster Abbey is so close to Parliament I wandered over there and was able to buy a student ticket to actually go into the Abbey. After witnessing Kate and William’s wedding on TV a couple of years ago, how could I not go take a look inside, not to mention I thought it would be warm inside. They had so many volunteers inside who were passing out maps with audio guides so I learned and saw a lot inside the abbey. I was also there right around noon when they have a short prayer and I was lucky enough to witness that as well. I was able to see the tombs of Henry III, Henry IV, Edward I, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I and Geoffrey Chaucer. However the highlight for me was being able to walk down the same walkway that Kate took in that iconic dress and historic moment. I walked straight along the checkered-floored tiling, right past the quire where the choir sits and up to the altar where she wed William. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside the abbey so instead took a picture underneath the doors that Kate and William walked through!

By this time it was getting close to leaving time so I walked over to Buckingham Palace which is not as gorgeous or large as I expected it to be. There was some event going on though as many beautifully dressed men and women were leaving through the side gates including some women with the most interesting, coolest hats. Man I wish it was cool to wear hats in the states! Spent some time admiring the palace and the fountain that stands right in front of it before walking down The Mall past Green Park and St. James’ park Lake towards the admirality arch, Trafalgar Square the national Gallery. I was blown away by the architecture and history of the city plus all the Christmas decorations. They had a huge tree right in front of the National Gallery.

I spent a little more time shopping and walking around before grabbing a quick sandwich and getting back on the underground to get back to the airport.  Now that the sun was out I was able to see the suburbs of London which were just as exciting to see as the city itself. I felt like I was in Bend in Like Beckham as all the houses resembled those from the movie. Plus there was snow all around and people were all speaking with their cool British accents which for me sealed the deal, I fell madly in love with the city.

Finally arrived at Heathrow which was packed and after removing the layers of layers of clothes, including the dumb socks I wore with my chacos, got in line to get through passport control. I finally get up to the counter after about ten minutes and am told I have to go back to British Airways counter. Luckily I did because as I am getting my ticket reprinted the woman tells me I was upgraded to business class! YAY!  Get back in line and make it through security but when I look on the boards there is still no gate number listed for my flight back to DC so I spent some time just wandering around the airport. Keep checking back for my gate number and eventually just take a seat in front of the boards. It soon became obvious that my flight was going to be majorly delayed because within a half hour of departure, the gate number was still not posted. It turns out that there was terrible fog a couple days earlier which had actually delayed a lot of my friends flights by 6 hours and they had rescheduled the flights for today. I wandered around the airport for a while, got yelled at electronic store when I was checking email and facebook on their iPads, played cards by the beautiful Swarovski Christmas tree and finally my gate is posted. Well it was of course at a different terminal so have to take a train over to the gate. Get there and finally get my ticket scanned only to get on a bus to take us back to the plane at the other terminal where I was originally. Unfortunately for me though I only had chacos on and had to wait in the freezing cold for other passengers to climb up into the plane. Finally I get on and super excited about the business class which was pretty nice. I got a nice big seat, comfier and softer blankets and pillows, a foot rest, a sleeping kit that included socks, earplugs, a mask, toothbrush and toothpaste plus I got a menu of what would be served. However good thing I had all this because we were stuck on the ground. The pilot came on and told us that the fuel truck was literally stuck to our plane! The truck had stopped working and they couldn’t disconnect it so we had to wait for a technician to come and fix the truck. Eish!!!

Well by 8:30pm, a 3 ½ hour delay I am on my way home!! Watched some movies, slept some, spilled wine all over my bag and blanket, talked to the older gentleman next to me and then finally I was HOME!!

I got off the plane and couldn’t get through customs fast enough. Waiting around the carousel for my luggage was excruciating because not only was I nervous that my bags were not going to make it but I was so excited to see my parents after five months.

Then the time was there when I walked out of customs pushing my trolley and there they are-two of the most important people in the world wearing green bibs. Since the blog is called “the bibb” they literally made bibs and wore them along with signs and a welcome home balloon. That hug between the three of us was one of pure joy and happiness. I hadn’t felt that loved and cared for the whole time I was gone; unconditional happiness all through a hug (and I hate hugs).

The walk out of the airport and ride home was filled with chatter about my trip and excitement at being back at a place I love and know. My poor parents had to put up with my jabber until 2am when it was finally time for us to call it quits and for me to sleep in my bed, MY BED, MY ROOM, MY STUFF!!! How I love being home!!!