I'm sitting on a bench in London's Heathrow airport and I'm soaking wet. My feet feel like raisins. I had a 9-hour layover today on my way to Johannesburg and I thought it would be a great idea to hit the town. Ran into a few issues though - lots of rain, no umbrella and the Big Bus Company bus stop at Paddington station was closed. Alas, what I had hoped would be a sunny jaunt around London seeing the sites turned out to be a soggy, expensive day. 
Picture me standing at a bus stop in the rain (a tourist bus stop - not the pretty big red double decker buses) waiting for a bus that would never come. Finally, a man from the hotel I was standing in front of let me know that the street was closed and there would be no bus today. Oops. I was finally able to snag a cab and make my way to the London Eye (see Big Ben selfie below). As my cabbie humored me with a few fun facts about my surroundings, I quickly realized I was on the same route that Will & Kate took on their wedding. As we rounded the corner to Buckingham Palace, I half expected to find Al Roker standing out front. He wasn't. There was however a blue VW Rabbit just like mine parked out front but behind the gates. I knew I liked the Royals. They just like to make you think they only drive Bentley's and Astin Martin's. Ha!
After waiting for what seemed like forever in the rain (was probably only a few minutes) I hopped onto the Ferries Wheel/London Eye and rose above the city. There was a small boy on my car from some distant land who was making a video of London with the most perfect Ryan Seacrest meets Simon Cowell commentary - "Here we go as we rise high above the Thames River. See Big Ben out in the distance behind the falling raindrops..." You get the picture. It was awesome.
Unfortunately, I have my dad's genes and I felt very anxious being so far from Heathrow with my flight departing in a mere 5 hours. So I packed up my gear, found myself another cab, made my way to Paddington Station, hopped on the Heathrow Express and headed back to LHR. So long London town. Hope to be seeing you again soon.
Just one more 12 hour flight to go and my sabbatical will officially begin.
#RSAHereICome
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