Layovers. . . They aren't always bad.
As anyone trying to get to Moscow will learn, there are no direct flights from the US to Moscow. So when my friend and I booked our flights to start our trip we decided to make this adventure completely new [not too mention extremely sleep deprived]. We chose a flight from Atlanta to Heathrow, London with a 22-hour layover. The most common placed were JFK, Milan, and Heathrow. With this layover we were supposed to arrive in London Friday morning and spend the night in London only to catch an 8 a.m. flight to Moscow.
Our flight was delayed coming into London because another airplane had caught fire. We did not realize what happened until we landed and people from all over the world were panicking trying to rebook flights because so many had been either cancelled or extremely delayed! After arriving late we went straight down the list of things we wanted to see:
Houses of Parliament
Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
London Eye
British Museum
Tower of London, etc.
Unfortunately, do to our plane's delay we did not have time to race to the Tower of London for a tour and then make it to Westminster Abbey. Also, the British museum was a little out of the way, so we decided to walk around and see as much as we could in central London. We had a blast except for the experience of classic English and rainy weather. I even ran into another Tech student who happened to be vacationing from her study abroad in Sweden. SO COOL! We got to go shopping in Soho and see the abbey, the River Thames, Churchill's war rooms, && my favorite. . . BUCKINGHAM PALACE. It was beautiful and extremely large with golden crusted gates and beautiful landscaping. It is located dead center in the heart of London and it did not disappoint... especially the large tree nearby that sheltered us during an excessive downpour.
We returned to spend the night at the airport with an American student from Philadelphia. I could definitely see myself being completely satisfied living in London. Not only were the landscapes, metro, and national treasures beautiful, but so was the fashion! Although we got almost no sleep, it was totally worth it, and I hope to return to London soon. [Going to the new Harry Potter world is on my Bucket List.]