London

The detour to St. Andrews set us back a couple hours, yet Brad and I were determined to get to London Saturday night. The UK is a small country but we found out the hard way that it is long...and expensive. My turn to fill up the tank set me back $120. Ouch.

As I mentioned, we were set on getting to London to meet up with our host and mutual friend Dave Madaras. Two other UVA friends, Devon Nixon and Henry Dudley, also were visiting Dave that weekend so we were excited to join the group.

True to form, Brad and I rolled into the London city limits without a clue of where to go. A quick stop at a wi-fi gas station (excuse me "petrol station") and we had the directions written on a napkin. If you have ever driven in London you would know that we were in for the circuitous route to Dave's apartment. When we finally arrived, our friends were as excited to see us as we them and we stayed out for a few drinks on the town.

Sunday was the big day as Dave procured tickets to the Manchester United vs. Arsenal English Premier League game. We rose early and hit the pubs pregame. You gotta love.. and hate.. the soccer spirit in Europe. The bars were chalked full of obsessed fans singing songs and chants. Problem is the songs don't make sense, Brits are obnoxious drunks, and it smelled. But you know how the saying goes, 'if you can't avoid them, join them." Err something that.. 

Manchester corner kick in front of our seats

Hey Keith!

After the game we headed to another pub and met up with another UVA friend (seeing a theme?). This assemblage of college friends was probably the largest I've experienced since Foxfield '09. It occurred, unplanned, in London... go figure.

Devon, Dave, and Brad in London

On Monday morning Devon and Henry flew out and Dave needed to log a couple hours at the office. So, Brad and I played tourist in London as we had done on two occasions before*. We wanted to check a new landmark off our list so we headed to St. Paul's Cathedral. After another dose of fish and chips we met Dave and toured the Cathedral. The kind old lady that showed us around knew just about everything there was to know about the building, history, visits by the Queen, bombings during WWII, etc. but nothing about religion. Brad asked, "can you give me a little history of the Church of England?" Guide's response, "it's all the same God." Talk about a multipurpose facility! ...and the state of religion in Europe.

St. Paul's Cathedral

London city bus and street

Hey Dave!

St Paul's Spiral Staircase

View from top of St. Paul's toward Eye and Big Ben

View from top of St. Paul's toward Tower Bridge

That evening I took yet another red-eye back to Johannesburg. It was amazing trip though, with stops in Phoenix, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and London. Each stop another unique adventure with my closest family and friends.

*Brad's and my first trip to London was, coincidentally enough, also on the way to Africa. We had a day to tour and decided to explore the British Museum where we saw more Egyptian relics then the rest of our two weeks along the Nile. That evening we met up with Lisa and Dad to fly to Nairobi and start my first African adventure.


Our second rendezvous in London occurred between 2am and 5am on a Sunday night (or Monday morning). I flew into London late from Italy and was planning on sleeping at Heathrow (wouldn't have been the first time) until I received an email from Brad saying he was at the swanky Cavendish Hotel in London for work. His deal just fell through and he had the corporate card at his disposal. We forced the night staff to open the liquor cabinet and drank top shelf whiskey until heading to the airport at 5am.