Redeye Flights

Pat and his wife had never traveled overseas. They were really excited about the trip.
Pat especially. 

So the six of us - Pat and his wife, my friend Bee and her friend, and my husband and I - flew out of Oklahoma City. Our first stop, New York, a short layover.

We had a few hours in New York. Pat insisted that we should go to the top of the Empire State Building to view the Big Apple. 
Now, how much more obvious could you be, hailing a taxi from the airport and ask to be taken to the Empire State Building? 
We were out-of-towners!
We had the word TOURISTS written on our foreheads!  
Like the saying, "They see you coming."  We were definitely taken for a ride. It took more than the usual amount of time for the taxi to get us to our destination. But what could we do?
The return trip to the airport was noticeably shorter.
Pat did not notice the difference.

The view from the Top was impressive though. New York is always exciting. Pity, we did not have enough time there.

We had a long flight going to London. I was planning to sleep. Like a child, Pat was so excited that he would not quit talking. I had to threaten him that I would get even if he would not let all of us sleep. 

But it was his first trans-Atlantic flight!

We got to London the next day. 
We checked into our beautifully-appointed hotel. Turned out the hotel was just a few blocks away from when I lived when I was in London thirty years before. It reminded me much of my students days.

Those four-story tall town houses used to be private homes at one time. When I was in London in the fifties, a number of those homes were converted into apartments. I had rented one of them. Now, someone had taken several of those homes, designed some connecting passways, put a charming British touch of decorations on them, and turned them into beautiful and cozy hotels. The location was great. The service was wonderful.

London had changed quite a bit since I was there last. But the major attractions were still there. We did some sight seeing. And managed to get some tickets to see the musical Les Miserables! London theatre was the best.

Leaving London, we had a short layover in Zurich, Switzerland; then, we headed towards middle east. We made a stop in a small city in the United Arab Emirates (I don't recall its name) - a heavily guarded airport, with armed soldiers. We were confined to a small limited area while waiting for the plane to continue its journey. They had some nice shops though. 
All the passengers were body searched before boarding.

I did not know that was included in our itinerary!

Now, the reason why we had to make so many stops was because I booked the Cheap Fare for us, therefore, we were doing a lot or red-eye flights. 
Me and my bargain hunting!

It was a good thing that none of my fellow travelers complained, neither did my husband. I was relieved!

We made it to Beijing, China.