Three Continents in Three Days

The trip from Boston to South Africa is a long one no matter how you do it, but the Rotary travel agency, in the process of getting us the lowest possible fare at the last minute (which we greatly appreciate), sent us a particularly long way: Boston to Chicago on Tuesday night, Chicago to London overnight, a full-day layover in London on Wednesday, and then London to Cape Town overnight, arriving Thursday morning.  Nothing like going West when you want to go East, and then going North when you want to go South!  

As arduous as that might sound, and we were certainly dreading it, the trip has been remarkably pleasant so far.  The last few days in Massachusetts, and really the whole last month as well, have been incredibly fast-paced, so even though we are not lying on a beach or sleeping in our bed at home, we are relaxing.  Anne's mother commented before we left that in a way our itinerary was good, because  air travel can be disorienting when you go so far so quickly that your brain doesn't quite register the distance.  We have felt that way on other trips, but not on this one!  When we finally arrive in South Africa, we will know that we have traveled far.

When we first found out that we would be have 10 hours between arrival and departure in London, we were excited.  It sounded like just enough time to leave the airport, take a train into the city, walk around in the fresh air, eat a good meal, see a few sites, and return for the evening flight tired enough to get some good sleep on our way to Cape Town.  Oh, we had grand visions.

Unfortunately, London is sometimes like this:

 

A grey, cold day would not have dissuaded us in itself, but the aforementioned overstuffed “carry-ons” are, well, heavy.  Getting wet isn't so bad if you can dash inside to escape serious downpour, but we weren't going to be doing too much “dashing” with those bags.

So we decided to stay in and explore our own little corner of London.  We observed the local flora...

We sampled local cuisine...

We discovered local marvels such as book vending machines...

Heck with the Tower of London; we found a wonderfully quiet spot just outside the El Al King David Lounge to call home for the day.  The VIP's inside probably had luxurious accommodations, but we were pretty excited by our benches that didn't have arm rails.  We spent a good portion of the time sleeping in relative comfort – resting in the courts of the King. 

 

Overall, it would be hard to find a better 10-hour airport experience.  Have any of you done better?  What is the best way you have found to make the time in an airport go by quickly and enjoyably?