Crossing The Thames
One of the famous double-decker buses
Having never traveled anywhere worth mentioning, I was excited about the plane ride alone. I was booked on a Canadian Airlines (who has since merged with Air Canada) flight from Toronto to London. My Canadian Airlines flight to London was supposed to leave at 8:10 PM Saturday night but an indicator in the cockpit of the DC-10-30 that couldn't be repaired resulted in all the passengers being forced to leave the plane and wait for another plane to be prepared. Two and a half hours later, we finally departed on another DC-10-30 aircraft. I had bad vibes that this was a sign of things to come (but thankfully I would be proven wrong).
A nice, big (and surprisingly tasty) dinner was served fairly soon after we left Lester B. Pearson International Airport, with plenty of free drinks (with refills too)! I was overly excited, so getting any sleep was rather difficult. Also, opening the window shade and seeing a bright horizon with my watch telling me it's 3:00 AM in the morning Toronto time didn't help either.
We were served a continental breakfast about 1-1/2 hours before we landed at Heathrow Airport. It was a 6-1/2 hour flight, but it was already 11:00 AM the next day! I checked in with a Trafalgar rep waiting just outside customs, and nearly missed my Airbus transfer to my hotel when they couldn't locate me sitting where I was told to wait!
Anyway, I was finally off on the bus to the Barbican Hotel, located pretty much in the middle of nowhere in London. There were no attractions or things to see in the immediate area, but it was just as well, since I was suffering from jetlag and I had to be up at
