Our departure from Kenya was uneventful. The four-hour drive from the Center got us to the airport at 3:00 for our 11:15 p.m. departure. This early drop-off was necessary as it isn't safe to drive after dark due to crazy drivers and a lack of headlights on many vehicles. What this meant was a long, relatively boring wait to check in and eventually board the plane. I amused myself by browsing in the many duty free shops and taking thirty or so dollars off of Jim in Chinese Poker.
Our trip to California entailed leaving Nairobi just before midnight Monday morning, traveling 8.5 hours to London, a 9 hour layover there, and then 11.5 hours to San Diego, landing at 6:00 the same day. Monday just wouldn't end! The plane rides wouldn't end and in fact I am typing this in the air a mere 19 hours later as I make my way back eastward - heading to Boston.
The flights were uneventful and the only reason I'm describing this portion of our "adventure" is to mention our London visit. With the prospect of sitting for nine hours between two long plane flights, Jim and I decided to take the tube into London and walk around. We got into Picadilly Circus around 8:00 and enjoyed our first real cup of coffee in two weeks. Kenya, a world-class coffee producer exports its crop to the world, leaving its citizens to drink instant.
We had arrived in London on day 3 of the Olympics and while we had no time (or budget!) to attend any of the events, we did get a nice flavor of the city and the excitement of the games. There were Olympic banners everywhere with road closures and bike parking areas seeking to channel the flow of attendees to the various events. We walked past several venues as well as several landmarks like Buckingham Palace. The day before, I had watched a portion of the cycling event on a small television in the staff area of Amboseli National Park in Kenya. Now I was crossing the course on my way to Paddington Station. What a world.
In Paddington Jim and I enjoyed a 10 a.m. pint. It was far later than 10 a.m. on my personal clock and in fact I couldn't wait to have a second pint with my fish and chips which we proceeded to do. The Brits can certianly do beer! It would have been nice to see an event or two, but frankly I can't see myself paying several hundred pounds on a ticket! I'm not surprised to see all the empty seats on the TV in the pub.
The remainder of the trip went well and it was nice to be welcomed by Michel at the San Diego airport following our second long flight. I am now heading toward Boston to again cross the "pond" for two weeks in Iceland. I'm looking forward to this trip to be sure, but I'm pretty tired of airplanes! I land at Logan at 11:40 p.m. to complete a short Tuesday to partially balance the Monday that would not end.
No comments:
Post a Comment