Lost in London

I was able to get out of Jacksonville without any incidents...no mysteriously rescheduled flights, no sudden thunder storms. I arrived at Washington Dulles, where I had to change flights.

It's been years since I've been to Dulles, and I had forgotten about these weird transportation vehicles they have. Instead of digging a tunnel from one terminal to another, they have these buses-on-stilts things that move everybody between terminals. My guess is that somebody decided it would be too much trouble for everybody to walk from the 2nd floor of the airport to the ground floor to catch a bus...so they created these super-jacked-up monstrosities that back up into the 2nd floor loading area, get loaded with people and bags, and then drive right along to the drop-off. They look positively WEIRD! It's embarrassing to ride in them, and quite frankly a blight on our nation's capital.

Flight out of Dulles took off on time, and we made it to London 40 minutes early because of a tail wind. Because we had a 10 1/2 hour layover in the city, my boss decided to get "day rooms" at the Hilton Heathrow. These are regular hotel rooms, but rented from the hours 9:00 - 17:00. It was great to have a room to take a shower and a quick nap before the next flight to Cape Town...which will take 12 1/2 hours.

We had to check in again to the airport to catch our flight, and this is when my troubles began. It seems that my passport doesn't have any blank pages for visa stamps!!! Now, mind you, my passport has three blank pages at the end...but these apparently are for something called "endorsements," not visa stamps!!! They wouldn't let me on the plane.

I tried calling the U.S. Embassy, but they are closed until Monday morning. Now, mind you, I can get Pizza Hut to deliver, get a burger at McDonalds, or even buy a Ford here this weekend...but can I talk to good ol' Uncle Sam when I need him? No! He's out binge-drinking with the other G7 frat boys this weekend while I'm stuck here in LimeyTown waiting until Monday morning so that I can get visa pages added to my passport!

My boss made it safely to Cape Town; I talked to him yesterday evening. At best, I'll be able to meet him in Namibia on Tuesday morning. It all depends on if I can get extra pages added to my passport. Cross your fingers for me!

In the meantime, I'll be checking out London. Today, I think I'm going to the British Museum. I'm interested in seeing all that stuff they stole from countless other civilizations over the centuries.

Here's a video for you to enjoy. That's all for now...