Shady Me and Lovely London

Okay, to backpedal a bit... My entrance into the UK yesterday was a bit nerve-wracking. At the passport checkpoint, the guard detained me for about fifteen minutes. He asked question after question while flipping through my passport over and over again, scrutinizing at all the visas and stamps in it. He also minutely perused through all my air tickets and travel itineraries. To some of you, this may not be a big deal but this has been the longest that I have ever been detained during a passport check. Also, I have never had to answer questions about what sort of education am I pursuing, how much credit I have, how much money I have on my person, why I have the visas and stamps that I do, what my parents do, on and on. If anything, I would have thought that this would be something that would have happened to me during my travels in Southeast Asia! Oh well. I wonder if this is just a preparation for other passport checks to come during this trip. Anyhow, obviously, I finally satisfied the guard as I am continuing onward with my proposed travel.

Departing from Heathrow to Málaga was also another new experience for me. My carry-on bag, while being X-rayed triggered the staff to pull me aside to physically check my person and pull out everything in my bag in order to inspect all items. I am not sure what caused this but it seemed that my case containing my digital camera memory cards, my organizer, my water-purifier bottle, my digital camera were all causes for discussion among 3 staff members and their supervisor. Who knows? Finally, I was able to continue onward to a flight that was delayed for 3 hours. Yay!

Despite this, I would love very much to come back to London in the future - particularly during the spring or fall. It was quite cold today - 0 degrees centigrade. There were even some very light snow flurries! Nevertheless, with the little time that I had for exploration today, I was able to see Buckingham Palace, wave at a procession of the Horse Guards, take a stroll along the Jubilee Walkway, admire the gothic beauty of Westminster Abbey and Cathedral, hear the chimes of Big Ben, gape at 10 Downing Street and other such governmental buildings, glimpse at the London Eye partially shielded by fog, and laugh at the laissez-faire attitudes of the pigeons lounging around Trafalgar Square. I also checked out their Chinatown. It is so different from some of the other Chinatowns that I have visited. It is much cleaner (and less fragrant); the streets/walkways are wider apart; there are less bakery, grocery and souvenir/gift shops; and is fairly small. It is certainly a haven of restaurants, however! And what an abundance of theater and shows available to those seeking such culture! It was absolutely amazing. I have to agree with a friend that the Underground is much more convenient that our BART. But with so many stations where you have to ¨mind the gap,¨ I would not be able to say that if I was physically-disabled, blind or had a stroller for two.

Tonight I am spending the night in Málaga, Spain. Tomorrow I will catch the ferry across the Mediterranean to Melilla, another Spanish city (although it is located on the Moroccan side of the sea). From there I will start my Moroccan adventures!