A Long Layover

Well, we made it!  We are on the other side of the world again, and as a first for us, the other side of the equator.  Our other travels have taken us very close to the equator (which means, the hot zone) but this is the first time we have been in the southern hemisphere.  Takes a LONG time to get here too.  We traveled around 40 hours.  You can imagine how tired we have been.  I don't sleep on planes well, although I think I did manage some cat naps, however, even if you could sleep on the plane, could you really sleep in those tiny seats? The planes we came in were by British Airways, and although the screens were older in the back of the headrests, I did find the seats MUCH more comfortable than other airlines I have been on.  So that was nice.

On the way we had a 12+ hour layover in London.  We had planned to go see a few sights that we have missed on previous visits but we were so tired when we got there that we decided to go back to the British Museum.  Some very good reasons for going there were these:

1. It's huge, so even though we have spent lots of time there before, we haven't seen all of it.
2. It's free, so even though we had to pay to get there on the Underground and pay for baggage storage for our carryons at the airport, we didn't have to pay to get in.
3. We knew where it was so there wasn't too much stress, it felt comfortable to go back, after all, we were just there in May.
4. It's a pretty place to visit.
5. There is a good "chippy" near to it that we liked last time. Wondering what a chippy is?

The Underground is very easy to get around on, once you understand the maps.  My first experience on the Underground when I went with my best friend to England when I was 18 was a little more shaky, couldn't figure it out and walked back and forth with luggage alot (lots of stairs.) til we figured out the maps and accents of those trying to help us.  Now it's easy, we are old hands at it. After we came out of the Underground this time, we decided to have a rest in a park on the way to the museum:

We sat down to have a snack before we continued on.  The bench had a sweet dedication on it:

Awww!

We enjoyed the museum, as much as we could through our air travel fog.  We went up to an area that we had not been to before and couldn't find without directions from staff.  It was the Japanese section and we watched a demonstration of traditional Japanese tea ceremony.  Being tea buffs ourselves we had to check it out.  Let me tell you.  Some of our friends might think Matt and I take our tea seriously.  Wrong!  We are absolute cavemen in comparison.  The tea ceremony is a fine art that we are way behind in.  It was interesting to learn about, there were some rude people that kept blocking my view, but I graciously (in imitation of the Japanese) just gave way and moved to another area to continue looking on. Soaking up the culture folks. Soaking it up.  After the tea demonstration we looked around at some of the other displays.  One display caught my eye particularly.  Now, I know that looking at people's museum pictures can be boring, so I'm going to limit these, but this one is especially relevant.  I took this picture for Ed, Andy and Travis, so guys, here you go:

Just what does this remind you of?  Looks like a golf implement to me.  Unmistakable.  The crazy thing is, it was in the Japanese section.  Now. The Scots would have you think that the game of golf originated in Scotland.  And the modern day game did.  HOWEVER, the more ancient origins are a little cloudy.  There are a lot of theories on it, but I think the mystery is solved after our wander through the museum last weekend...Notice the little plate accompanying this display:

It says "they may have been used in rituals but the details are unknown." Um, I'm guessing these anthropologists are not golfers, because it seems pretty obvious that the "unknown rituals" were golf. They may not have called it golf then, but these are clearly ancient ritualistic golf clubs.  See what you can learn on a quick trip to the British Museum on a long layover? Mystery solved.

As we were walking out, I had another brain fog induced epiphany. The Origins of Golf Discovery was just the tip of the iceberg.  There were a lot of people there that day, and it occurred to me, the museum is an amazing place, filled with an astounding variety of things, but most things there are man made, and the natural things there are attributed to nature, and not our Creator. But the most unique sights in the museum, are not man's discoveries, but the people that come to see them.  Nothing in the museum can compare to the people in it, they are the most fantastic creation in the museum.

After all that thinking, it was time to eat!

No trip to the UK, no matter how brief could be complete without fish and chips.  Hence the visit to the nearby "chippy."

YUMO!

I have tried fish and chips all over the world.  Nothing compares to the homeland of this delicious meal.  Don't come here without trying them.  Look for a thinner section of fish as opposed to a thicker one, its crispier.  So good.

We went back to the airport early.  Turns out it was a good thing because we had a few delays in getting back and we didn't have to stress. After a little duty free shopping, we boarded our flight to South Africa.  It takes way longer to get to South Africa from Europe than it takes to get to London from the States.  You might not think so at first but those 11 hours on our last flight don't lie.

Well, thats all for this one.  I'll try to get another post out here soon. Oh, a note to any of our dear friends and family who may be thinking of coming to see us and find themselves intimidated by the length of our travel and the notes of how tired we are.  Remember, there are direct flights to South Africa from the States.  Also, keep in mind, we had packed our apartment (with the help of some wonderful friends) said goodbye to families and friends we love as though they were our families and we also traveled around before we left.  So our tiredness is different than yours would be in coming.  It was the culmination of many things to get here, so don't be scared!   We will be grateful for your hugs and the great time we would have. Also, you could pet lions. I mean, that's worth it right? ;) Just sayin.