/var/log/orava

London was nice, as always. Huge, busy, multicultural, and full of more things to do than you’d ever have time for. Or money… the place remains one expensive place to visit – or to live in, I gather.

…but leaving was slightly traumatic. I can confidently say that the London airport situation isn’t as bad as they claim. It’s much, much worse. We would have missed our flight if some nice people hadn’t let us jump the line a bit (it would have taken us about an hour to queue to that spot, and at that point our flight was leaving in about an hour). Since we were flying out through Stansted we thought it couldn’t be that bad. Oh ha. We would have needed to be at the airport 2.5 - 3 hours in advance. Totally ridiculous, and to add insult to injury this idiocy doesn’t do much if anything to improve security.

Until they get their act sorted out, if ever, do try to avoid London airports. “You can fly in any time you like, but you can never leave”, to paraphrase a bit…

Other than the Kafka-meets-Dilbert security madness at the airport, the trip was nice. Guy and Michaela got properly married (in Westminster Cathedral no less), there was much partying and dancing until late-o-clock, and we even eventually managed to get “home” – though we had to resort to a bicycle “riksha” (was a fun experience).

Apart from the wedding, we did touristy stuff. Visited the Tower, the British Museum, the Sherlock Holmes museum, the Zoo, etc. Ate well (including an Ethiopian meal, whee!), shopped a small bit, and even managed to get same-day tickets to see Stomp at the Vaudeville Theatre.

Nice trip, but city vacations are always exhausing. My feet are still a bit sore, and there’s some amount of sleep lag piled up.