London Bridge is Falling Down

Last weekend, we headed out to London. We found a great deal on flights, but sadly, it was from the airport that is an hour and a half away. We found a bus that would take us out, but in order to make our 6:30 a.m. flight, we would have that leave on the 3 a.m. shuttle. When we looked up what time we’d have to leave our apartment to get to the train station (where the shuttle left from), it said we would have to make a bus that left at midnight. Gotta love the limited night schedule, especially outside the city where we live (midnight is the last bus into Frankfurt from where we live, so we would have to leave at midnight and then sit at the train station for 2 1/2 hours). We decided it would be best to go into the Asplunds’ apartment (which is located right by the stop we needed), and try to get some rest. This allowed us to wait until the 2 a.m. city bus.

We headed in around 9 the night before. We had a great visit before the Asplunds headed to bed around 11. I tried to get some sleep while Matt took advantage of their phone plan that can call the United States.

When 2 a.m. rolled around, we had quite the adventure getting to the airport. Let’s just say the “loud Americans” have nothing on the Germans at 2 a.m. We were also surprised to see how many people were out. The buses were packed! It’s kind of funny because we’ve commented multiple times on how few people we see around (especially since it is such a big city). Apparently they all just wait until the wee hours of the morning before they come out.

After a few bus transfers (and getting to the train station to see that the shuttle was full, Matt was ready to head home at that point; luckily they had a 2^nd bus driver available, so we were the first ones on the second bus), we made it to the airport and to our gate. The bus was ridiculously/disgustingly hot, so neither of us slept much; we did sit behind some deaf Asian people. It was very interesting to see how animated they were and how their signs were different than American Sign Language. One of them kept very enthusiastically fanning himself, which I appreciated because i also benefited from the cool air. Between that and pressing myself to the cool window (matt didn't think it was worth the weird contortions to touch as much window as possible, I tried not to think about who else had done the same thing...) we were able to survive.

We landed and were pleasantly surprised that despite it being five minutes after the scheduled departure time, the shuttle was still there. We decided to wait and catch the next bus, since we would be early to meet Angela and we could go get some breakfast (and let's be honest, the airport has free bathrooms). We got our food and realized we should probably get down to the bus station. We got there a minute before it was supposed to leave, and it had already gone! What?! How did the bus before leave ten minutes late and the next bus leave five minutes early?

This time we learned our lesson and sat where we could see where the next shuttle would arrive. We hopped on (matt didn't realize we were driving on the wrong side of the road) and were on our way! I'm realizing how much I enjoy all the bus/train rides because you get to see so much of the country. England was no exception and had some beautiful scenery and landscapes. Luckily, once we actually arrived in the city, things weren't quite so "adventurous." This is getting long again, so I'll have to do another installment (that includes photos).