Heading out for my adventures in India, I made the best of a long layover, and scheduled a second long layover to spend an afternoon in NYC with my sister-in-law, Kim, and then had a whirlwind tour of London with a fellow Pennsylvanian who I’d met in Thailand, Raph.
Two days of hopping trains and metros when not really knowing where I was going was a great way to get myself ready for the future mass-transit that awaited me in India and Nepal. Except all these signs would be in English 😉
Traveling to a couple giant cities as well helped me prepare for the massive crowds of people that awaited me in Delhi (population 12.2M.. smaller than Shanghai, but perhaps a bit more chaotic, I would soon discover).
NYC brought mani/pedis sushi and cocktails. A 40-minute ride in took me around 1.5 hours (note: pay attention to where you are going) but some citrus tea and long-overdue girl time helped me begin to relax. It was great seeing Kim with the absence of a major holiday involved – the only time we really ever get together. A quick bite of sushi and a couple strong cocktails and this 3-hour visit ended much quicker than I would have liked. Much more efficient route back to the airport, however….while I can make mistakes, I like to think I’m a quick learner.
Londontown brought all four seasons in a day, and a massive fast walking tour from Buckingham Palace to Big Ben & Parliament, over to the London Eye (captured a wonderful sunset and clearing) , and then finally to the famous Swan Pub for some bangers and mash. Though it had a much fancier name there, for as my friend Raph put it “these well very well-bred pigs I was eating” — or something to that extent. Add on a three-hour sleep on the plane and some jet lag and I was a bit loopy by the end of the day.
With a quick walk in the rain past the St. Paul’s Cathedral where I snapped off two remaining shots (seriously raining now) my friend and I made it into a crowded and steamy metro to begin my route back to the airport on this 11.5 layover, of which I think I spent around 6 hours in London. I made it back to the airport just as they opened the gates for my next flight, and thankfully got a good 6 hours of sleep on the plane…don’t forget your neck pillow.
Hectic and wonderful all in one, I think this was a great blip of what was yet to come.