My flight arrived a little before midnight in London. At customs the man asked for my itinerary or forward tickets out of the country. I told I’m that’s too old fashioned for me to have them on paper, but I have that information on my computer. When he stamped my passport he added a special mark. I have a bad feeling that’s going to cause some problems next time I go through passport control.
I then proceeded to find a place to sleep for the night. Stansted Airport is known for hundreds of people spending the night there since the airport’s budget airlines arrive and depart at strange hours and hotels are so expensive in the country. I found a spot on the floor next to a plug where I can charge my laptop at the same time. They recommend having a sleeping pad or bag if you’re going on the floor, so I had to improvise. I put on a few layers of shirts, put some pants on the cold tile floor, and used the rest of my clothes as a pillow. I did get some sleep, I think at least two or three hours.
I woke up to go to the bathroom at 3:30AM and noticed the bathroom was full of people, and hundreds more sitting or walking around the airport. By 5AM, I was wide awake. I was getting pretty cold by then, since the entire floor acts like a heat sink. Then I took a 7AM bus into the center of London for $16.
I spent the day walking around the city, going to a lot of places I missed the first time. I walked across Tower Bridge, and then across the new London Bridge (replacement for the one now in Lake Havasu, Arizona). The new bridge isn’t as good looking as the old one, but it is a much wider six lanes and two huge sidewalks. I stopped in the British Museum to see some areas that were closed off last time, but the same areas were blocked off again!
I kept walking through London and I finally had a chance to try out the Pizza Hut lunch buffet here. It is twice the price ($12) as the USA and the food wasn’t very great or special. Then I made it to the Science Museum where an entire wing was blocked off two months ago, but it was open today! I saw some things like space capsules (Apollo 10) and computers (opened up Apple I).
It was time to get to the airport, so I went to the bus station which is the cheapest way to get there. I got there at a bad time though; the line was stalled by a few people having a hard time with their tickets or something. I missed the bus I wanted to take by just a few minutes because of the unexpected line (later it looked shorter again). So I had to take the next bus and then I knew it would be a stressful night.
When I got on the bus, it left 10 minutes late, and then had to drive through rush hour traffic, behind bicycles in the bus lanes, and through rain. I heard the driver say we’re 30 minutes late. I guess this is my mistake; I should have taken a train for a few dollars more. Two hours later, I arrived at the airport only to see the longest line I’ve never seen for security. It looped around the inside of the entire terminal building. It took an hour to get through security, but I rushed to my gate and did make it on the flight!
With a distance of 5990 miles and “quick” 11 hours flight time (due to tail wind), this will be my longest flight yet.