Have a Gander

I was very excited to trade on to the four day trip we have with the two day layover in London.  It's great to have that third day free to do a little trip someplace you wouldn't normally have time to visit.  I was flying with my friend Rick, who was purser on our trip and we decided we were going to try to visit Stonehenge.

Unfortunately, our nonstop flight to London was not meant to be.  Instead, we had to stop half way for a break in Gander, New Foundland, in Eastern Canada.  There was an issue with our lavatories not having been serviced properly before we left the states and one by one they stopped working.  You can't go across the Atlantic with no working lavatories, so the decision was made to land in Gander, where our lavatories could be serviced.  We were only there about 45 minutes.  It's a frequent diversion point because of it's location, so they are good at getting planes in and out in a jiffy.

Once we took off again, it was only about 4 and a half hours to London and we arrived no worse for wear.  I had found an interesting London Walk called "Ghosts, Gaslights, and Guinness" that I wanted to join that evening.  Everyone on the crew was pretty gung-ho about joining me, but one by one, they backed out so I went by myself.

We toured some areas of London that were purported to be haunted, and our rather interesting tour guide, Richard III, as he called himself, had a very macabre persona, which contributed to the spookiness of the tour!

Some of the haunted pubs we visited included the Ships Tavern, which during the time of the persecution of Catholics, was a secret meeting place for Mass.  Apparently, the ghost of a dead monk still haunts the pub and you can hear people screaming (in addition to the normal bar patrons.

Another pub, the Nell, named after one of the king's favorite mistresses, has haunted actors, but none have been seen in a while, perhaps reflecting on the current lack of talent in the English theatre, according to our guide.

Even the BBC has ghosts.  The Bush House, home to the BBC Radio World Service, is haunted.  Several producers passed away during a short span in 2000-2001 and apparently their spirits still roam the halls!

All in all, a fun evening and an interesting tour guide!

The next day was beautiful.  The perfect day to visit Stonehenge.  I snapped this photo from my hotel right before we left.  Notice the London Eye and the Shard in the background.

However, as we made our way to Stonehenge, the weather changed and it poured down rain the entire time we were there.  Still, it was interesting to see these druid ruins.  That morning, Michael Johnson, a US Olympian, had run thru the site with the Olympic torch as it made its way around great Britain.  Even thought it was cold and wet, Rick and I made the best of it, or tried to!

I swear I am not on my cell phone... that's the audio guide.

No one really knows why the stones were placed here or what their purpose was.  Many theories claim it was a key element to Druid mysticism and even today is a very popular place to celebrate the summer solstice.

 That night, I met up with some of my "domestic" friends who just came over to International and we went out for Indian food.  We are all fans of the Honey Badger on Youtube, so we enjoyed the fact that we could have Cobra beer!