What are the chances. What are the chances, really. It's simply amazing that you could meet old friends and colleagues in a foreign city on a remote tour, the one that I wasn't supposed to be on (had missed the earlier one), when you least expect it.
CAPT Perdue, me, Luke and Lulu
Luke and I, at the last minute, decided to take the London for Free tour. We met at Wellington's Arch and took at 2 1/2 tour of the city, covering a lot of ground and history: Buckingham Palace, Churchill's War Rooms, etc.
I was truly amazed at Hyde's Park. The National Mall in DC had nothing compared to this freedom park in London.
I met Lulu during the tour, a student from Sydney, and we immediately started sharing stories about our European backpacking trips. But throughout the tour, I was enamored by someone who resembled an old shipmate from Bethesda. Nah, couldn't be.
The name, I was drawing a blank, but I never forget a face.
So I told Luke that if he is this guy, this would be the most astonishing and amazing coincidence ever.
Midway during the tour, I simply walked up to him, thinking that he would think I'm crazy.
"Are you from the States?" "Yes."
"Are you in the Navy?" Affirmative.
I knew right there and then, that the person I was staring at was CAPT Phil Perdue, MC from Bethesda and the National Naval Medical Center.
I was floored, but for the rest of the tour we had a good time sharing stories from Navy Medicine and the Navy.
Not to mention that the tour guide was just fantastic: Charismatic and interesting, especially the last story at Westminster Abbey about how Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Westminster in 1605.
What a tour, What a coincidence.
After the tour ended, Lulu and I decided to make a video
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