Joni and Justin in Texas.

On April 23 we departed Chicago for a wonderful trip to Texas to visit with family and friends, and returned to Chicago on April 26. The next day, April 27, we boarded the first flight on our journey to Malawi. The following morning we arrived in London, our first stop. We had an 11-hour layover, so we decided that, with my previous experience in London, we should see the town! Our landing was very, unique. Because of all the Monday morning flights into Heathrow, we were put in a holding pattern for several minutes. We circled very tightly a couple times and then came in for our landing. As we came down through the clouds and headed for the tarmac, the large Boeing 777 swiftly tilted to the right for a jostled and bouncy, very nerve-racking landing. We were given a royal gate to enter, with not-so-royal service. When the seatbelt light went off, Joni had to make a mad dash for the rear lavatory. The last few bumps didn’t go over well with her. We waited for a set of stairs and the busses waited to take us to the airport. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the stairs finally arrived. A bus ride to the terminal, another stop to the toilets, and my assisting a Hungarian woman who couldn’t speak English, we were now headed for immigration. After getting through immigration we took yet another trip to the toilets and then rested on a bench in the airport and about an hour we boarded London’s Underground.

Joni in front of Buckingham Palace, London.

Our first stop was at Green Park. We hurried through the surprisingly cool breeze at the park to the other side. There we saw Buckingham Palace, took a few pictures, laughed as we walked through about twenty other people’s photos, and continued on the “Princess Dianna Memorial Walk.” Not that we were trying, but we stumbled upon the Royal Guard Museum, where there were some formation being performed. We watch the English yell to each other in their straight lines, then decided to venture into the museum to see what it was all about. For £3 ($6) each, it wasn’t much to see. It was fun and entertaining, but mostly just a tourist trap. Score: Justin & Joni 0 - Museum 1. We even entered the Royal Guard Museum Gift Shop – “The Place for Toy Soldiers”, it was free. Score: Justin & Joni 0 – Museum 1½. Our deliberate pathway took us to Westminster Cathedral, which made for some beautiful pictures! At £10 ($20) each, we opted for the view from the outside.

Justin near the Clock Tower (Big Ben), London.

After taking some pictures of Big Ben, the Westminster Underground Station and the "Eye of London”, we followed the river Thames to a pizza parlor. We were actually trying to make it to London Bridge, but got hungry on the way. We finished our “average Joe”/overpriced pizza and booked it down stream. When we thought we couldn’t go any further, we had arrived at London Bridge! (I’m not an engineer, but that bridge is not falling down!) It had a wonderful view of Tower Bridge, more pictures! With a couple of Underground train jumps, we were heading back to continue our journey to Malawi… or so we thought…(plot thickens...Theatrical Music Here!)