On to London

We awoke at 6:30, had our final Amsterdam breakfast at 7:00, and got on the tram to Centraal Station at 7:45. So far, so good. And then it all fell apart. Once inside the station, an announcer said something about Schipol, the airport. Then an employee told us that we needed to go to a different platform than what we'd been told the day before, take train one stop, and look for buses to take us the rest of the way. When we arrived at the next station, their employee  knew nothing about any buses. Turns out the problem was that a truck had gone off the highway and landed on the train tracks. Anyway, we were directed to the cab stand -- no cabs anywhere at that moment. However, word must have spread and cabs showed up quickly. We shared a cab with a Dutch woman on her way to Barcelona and split the fare by thirds. When we started to get out a tip, she told us not tip him because he went way out of the way. So no tip!

We got to the airport in plenty of time and decided to have coffee when we got to our gate. It was kind of unusual that we hadn't gone through the scanners yet. The gate seemed to be the place where that would occur. Silly us: we forgot that we couldn't take liquids through the gate, so we got coffee just as the gate opened. It was so hot that I burned my mouth, and we ended up having to throw it away to get into the line. Stupid. Then British Air had everyone put their carry ons in a measuring bins, and we then had to check our bags. Grrrr. 

The actual flight was uneventful, but the line once we got off the plane at Heathrow was sooo long. After waiting almost an hour to get our passports stamped and picking up our bags (which were actually on the carousel when we finally got there), it was time for the hour ride to our London-based exchange student's office via the London Underground. It was hot and crowded, but at least we had seats. Axel's office was quite elegant. We took a water break and chatted with him for a bit. We left our bags there and headed for lunch and the British Museum. 

Opting for pub food, we sat outside and surveyed the business area of London.

Iconic London bus.

On to the Rosetta Stone, the former Elgin Marbles (now Parthenon friezes), and an Anglo Saxon exhibit.

 We only stayed for about an hour because of the crowds and heat. 

The last leg of our journey involved Bob's carrying our suitcases up and down multiple sets of steps through underground and then on the National railroad to Axel's home. What a lucky woman I am. We got there in time to see Germany win in the quarter finals. We chatted with Steffi and played with children until Axel got home, and then we had Indian take-away for our late dinner.  Bed by 11:30ish -- Bob stayed up later than I.