London, England

I arrived at London Heathrow Airport brutally tired.  I was supposed to be on a 6:10 PM flight to London, but the ground crew discovered a crack in the cockpit windshield, so our flight was held until after midnight until it was replaced.  That added 5 hours onto an already long flight.  Once I cleared customs and immigration, all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

The next morning, it was raining.  Okay, I know.  Yes, it was London and yes, it rains.  A lot.

So, other than a tour around the city on the Big Red Bus, that was it.  Well, no...  I had purchased tickets online before I left on my trip to go to a West End theater to see the original cast of Phantom of the Opera performing on their "home" stage.  But as far as sightseeing, The Big Red Bus was it.

It was sunny the day I wanted to sleep and it was sunny the next day when I boarded a bus to go to the port of Southampton to embark on my northern European cruise.  Go figure.

That is why my biggest memory of London is just The Big Red Bus.

Big Red Bus, London, UK

Copyright © 2015, Scotti Vaccaro

from Wandering Western Europe,

sketchbook journal entry dated 8/18/05