【走进北极圈】（1）London Calling

经历了黑夜里的一番颠簸，晨曦中，飞机带着我们盘旋在伦敦的上空。伦敦，我又来了！

上次来到伦敦，是为了前往多佛（Dover）港，从那里搭乘游轮穿越波罗地海。时间过的真快，一晃五年过去了。《穿越波罗地海》的游记至今也还没有写完，不过当时拍摄的照片都已经存档，也许等以后生活节奏慢下来后，会有更多的时间来回顾。当然有些地方还会故地重游，就像今天为了从多佛港搭乘游轮北上挺进北极圈，又一次来到了伦敦。

Thames River, London Eye, London Bridge, Tower of London, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, 还有Greenwich，此时此刻又出现在眼前在脑海。

在《穿越波罗地海》的系列游记中，虽然有两篇是写多佛港的， （2）多佛白色峭壁，和（9）多佛白色峭壁追记，但当时却没能有机会到访著名的多佛城堡。这次早晨抵达Heathrow机场后，我和驴友竟不惜花费200多英镑叫了一辆出租车，为的是能尽早抵达120公里外的多佛港，以便在下午5点前开船前能有机会参观多佛城堡。

车开离Heathrow机场后，起先一路都算通畅，但在进入多佛港所在的Kent County后，开始堵车了。车队长龙大摆，我们不断地查看时间，碎碎念叨着堵车到底是什么原因。三个多小时过去了，就在我们似乎已经可以看到前方的多佛海滩时，我们的出租车司机没能踩住刹车闸， 咣的一声撞上了前面的车辆。

由于是在堵车的慢速行驶中撞车，冲撞力不大，人员无恙，我们的车破相后还可以继续开动。

事故发生后双方的表现却令人感慨。我们的出租车司机其实是因为在玩弄手机走了神，没能及时踩住刹车才撞上前面的车辆，他却毫无自省，一直口口声声怪刹车闸不灵。而被撞车的大妈下车后的第一句话却是问候司机“are you all right？”，拍完照，抄完信息，临了还安慰司机说：“sometimes accidents do happen, take it easy.”

从Heathrow机场出来四个多小时后，我们终于抵达多佛港。等办完登船手续后，我们被告知由于港口附近无法预测的交通堵塞，我们的游览活动最好不要超出walking distance，以免误了开船时间。多佛城堡看着似乎不远，就在对岸，但还绕过去还需要10分钟车程，所以我们只能遗憾地作罢了。

在我们后来结束这次旅行，从多佛港返回Heathrow机场又遇到堵车时才了解到，多佛港的堵车源于“Operation Stack”（click to read more from Wikipedia），我们正好遇上了今年6月29日起实行的“Operation Stack”。下面转录一段Wikipedia上关于今年“Operation Stack”的解释：

On 29 June 2015 Operation Stack was implemented due to industrial action taken by French employees of the MyFerryLink company, as a result of disagreements regarding the imminent takeover of the company by DFDS. This has been the first ever incident which has seen the implementation of Phase 4 of Operation Stack, which involves closing the M20 from Junctions 9 to 11 coast-bound, meaning that continent-bound HGV traffic was stacked all the way from Junction 8 at Hollingbourne, southeast of Maidstone, to Junction 12 at Cheriton, near Folkestone. Operation Stack began to be removed from 3 July onwards, with more than 30 miles of parked HGVs needing to be cleared. The cost to the United Kingdom economy was estimated at around £250 million.[22]

Over 4,600 HGVs were eventually cleared from the M20 by 4 July,[22] however soon afterwards Phase 2 was implemented again for Eurotunnel freight traffic, due to over 150 migrants storming the Calais tunnel portal. This is a result of the ongoing migrant crisis in Calais, which is allegedly due to the French government's critical lack of organisation and security at Eurotunnel, and port facilities throughout Calais.[23] Operation Stack resumed later during the month. Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe complained the problem was too large for Kent County Council to deal with and met with the Home Secretary, Theresa May for discussion.[24]

我们的游轮缓缓驶出多佛港，眼前的一切仿佛又回到了五年前，回到了那次穿越波罗的海的旅行。

不过这次我们不再穿越波罗的海，而是向北挺进，会走的更远，走进北极圈（Arctic Circle）。。。