Layover in London

So yesterday I finally posted on Facebook that I was going to India (mostly to see if anyone knew anyone in Delhi. The answer is no). But that post reaped a nice surprise: my friend Helena asked if I’d be stopping in London. I am.

I met Helena more than 10 years ago when we taught English in China, and I haven’t seen her since. She’s lived mostly in Asia, but recently moved back to England with her husband and newborn, which I’d completely forgotten.

I wrote to H, “Dammit! I do have a London layover, but I’m only at Heathrow for 5 hours. Sigh. I could have had an 8-hour layover, but it’s so expensive to get into London, so I figured I’d just stay in the airport the whole time… I’m really kicking myself for not thinking about you being there. I didn’t want to go into London just to look around, but I totally would have gone if I’d remembered that you’re there.”

She wrote back, “I will get to heathrow. Would LOVE to see you. So I am about 30 mins drive from heathrow so I will pick you up. We can go have dinner somewhere! Chinese?”

With a 25-hour trip ahead of me, I’m giddy at the prospect of seeing an old friend and a bit of London in the middle of it. The first time I left the country, more than 12 years ago, I went to England.

Eight hours to takeoff!