To wrap up our trip, we thought spending the last day or so in London, the place where we began, would be a great wrap-up. After being immersed in the German language, having a return to English would be nice. And it would also give us a chance to do any things we identified but missed on the first stop in London.
We landed in the evening and at at a Thai place we passed on our second night in London. It was busy but lived up to the hype we gave it. Very good food!
To spend our final full day, we chose to visit a few places we missed the first time – namely Canary Wharf, the Cutty Sark, and Whitechapel. Canary Wharf has developed a ton from the last time I was there in 2015 and felt quite a bit different. We took a train over the Thames River to the Cutty Sark, the fastest ship in the world during its day – and walked aboard to see how tea was transported to London so long ago. Nearby, we visited the British Naval Museum. We grabbed sourdough pizzas for lunch near Trafalgar Square before seeing priceless art at the National Gallery. Works from Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Van Gogh, and more. It was pretty amazing.
We wrapped up our time in London with a walking tour of Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel that night. It was a cold, spooky night and an amazing tour. We learned a lot, saw a few of the relevant places in the story, and are excited to see the upcoming Netflix investigation into the topic later in 2022.
We could have spent the morning on our final day exploring a bit, but chose to sleep in and have a lazy morning. Getting to the airport a bit early meant time to have a proper lunch.
But as it came time to board our plane, there was a delay. No big deal. When it came time for our gate number to appear, it didn’t. Gulp. We took a gamble and headed to the gate it should be departing from. Gamble because the trains are one-way – once you leave the main terminal, you have to go through security to get back. Luckily, a few fellow passengers made the same choice. The gate sign said “Austin, Texas” for a 12pm flight…at 6pm! Oh, boy. We were clearly in the right place based on chatting with the other passengers, but nobody knew why there was no sign or announcement. I began to suspect what was coming. Finally, an hour after our delayed departure time the crew made an announcement – flight cancelled. The usual scramble of anger and phone calls happened. We got booked on a flight the next day from a different airline. British Airways gave us hotel & meal vouchers for the night. We at our crummy hotel buffet meal, gulped down a beer at the hotel bar, and tried to get some sleep after a long, stressful day. Hopeful that the next day would prove easier and get us to Chicago.
A night of bad sleep later, we were back at the airport. Not to skip the part about getting from Terminal 3 to Terminal 4 on a day when the normal train wasn’t operating due to a worker strike – but it was a bit of an ordeal to get through security. Our gate was in a strange place. Would it take off today? We saw some of the passengers from the cancelled flight and felt better. They made a boarding announcement. We boarded the plane. And it took off.
Despite the stress at the end of the trip in getting home, we had an amazing trip. We saw so many things, ate amazing food, and had an adventure. Germany stands out as beating expectations – perhaps mostly because I’ve been to London. The focus on quality over quantity at reasonable prices is my biggest takeaway. America is great, but we have a lot to learn from Europe.
I’m excited to get all the way home to Florida in a few days!