Layover in London
I’ve written about layovers before. Sometimes they are just a passing existence inside an airline terminal, staring at over-priced suitcases and deciding if you want another starbucks coffee or buy that really cool pen at the countless random-shops. Sometimes we get really lucky though! I had a big fat layover in London (that I actually completely forgot that I had). I landed about 9am, and my outbound flight doesn’t leave until 10:30pm. Yikes! I say it’s time to explore!
The first annoying thing was that the powers that be had decided that my layover was “just too long” to keep my luggage in the bowels of Heathrow. Hence, I started my layover at the baggage claim getting that North Face bag I’m so proud of (I’m being dramatic, it was only about a 15 minute wait). I was a little concerned about dragging it around the city until I noticed, immediately after leaving customs, a convenient and cheap luggage-storage service! WHY DON’T WE HAVE MORE OF THESE! Charged by large-time chunks (1-2hours, 2-24hrs, 24-48 hours), and cost me about $10US. That’s nothing to be rid of my bag for the day!
Real quickly I decided to use an ATM to get some cash money into my hands. My general rule is that if the option to use plastic is available- take it. Once I get into this trip a bit, that ability will fade and I’ll need every bit of cash I brought along (or get along the way). It ended up working out, since I changed my remaining pounds into rubles for the next leg.
Then it was the all-important get-into-the-city problem. This issue exists in every single trip. It is probably the most overlooked large-scale problem to be solved by most travelers. Thanks to Peter Edmonds (whose fanciest pants brought him to oxford for a while) giving me the deets on it, I was able to hop right on the underground and go into the city. It’s remarkably easy: tube station is at the airport (Piccadilly line), and that line goes right into town. Takes almost an hour, but no transfers and not too expensive. I got off at Piccadilly Circus and started walking around pretty easily- thanks to the many tourist map posts around.
Confession: I saw one of those hop-on-hop-off buses, and I thought “Ya, I want that”. And so I did. It was actually a great deal and made the whole day very, very easy. I walked for a while (Trafalgar Square, The Horse Guards, Buckingham Palace) then hopped onto one of these guys and sat back and listened to the knowledgable, hilarious tour guide as we cruised around. I hopped off at London Tower and did a tour there. It was fantastic, and I got to check out the crown jewels to boot. Hopped back on and back off at Parliament..where I walked back towards Piccadilly Circus.
And back to the airport I went! Sounds simple enough- and it was! I by no means consider myself to have “conquered London”. I just took the time I had and got the most out of it, and it turns out that the main sights in London are pretty easy to access. What a great way to start the trip out! Well- I’m off to catch my flight to Moscow- so until we meet again, a big British toodaloo!!