Monday, August 23, 2010

Arrival

From the beginning, I knew my travels to London would not be completely perfect once I realized at SeaTac that I would be unable to make my second flight due to my first flight's delay. After a slightly confusing/frazzled call to Delta, they were able to get me a good flight change. Both flights were comfortable, for the most part, and spent sleeping. I arrived into London only about 20 minutes late and go through customs very easily. I knew at baggage claim, however, that things would not be as easy. I waited for 45 minutes to reconfirm that my luggage definitely had not made it with me. As frustrating as it was, I wasn't too worried about it because all of my really important things had been crammed into my backpack with me. I finally met up with Matt, Ashley, and Matt's brother Pete about an hour and half late, but all was well. 

We drove to Matt's aunt's house in Balham, London as Matt and Pete tried to find their way through the London streets whilst avoiding the "Congestion Zones" that required pay. It pretty much felt like forever in the car and that we were driving in circles, but we found the house just fine. As I suspected, driving on the left-hand side of the road felt completely normal for me! Once we arrived at the house, Ashley and I met Matt's cousin Faye and were very warmly welcomed. We spent most of the day lazing around the beautiful house (it's HUGE!) and catching up, eating pickle and cheese sandwiches (apparently an English staple), curry, and drinking lots of coffee and tea. Ashley and I fought sleep and jet-lag for the entire day and finally decided it was appropriate to go to bed once the sun had set. I passed out until about 5:30am, which was actually 9:30pm for me, and tossed and turned for a bit, finally falling asleep again until 10:00am here. Now I feel MUCH more rejuvenated and ready to the experience London culture more than just talking about in on the couches! Don't know the plan for the day quite yet, nor for the rest of the week, but I figure I best get ready for anything!

With love,
Erin

3 comments:

  1. Yay, Erin! I'm glad you feel good today. My jet lag definitely took about 4 days to overcome! Anyways, I'm excited for you to get to hang out and try all of the European food. (I think I'll miss breakfasts the most... I love having big delicious breakfasts, but that won't be happening.)

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  2. A Full English Breakfast is what its all about!!! Sausage, Bacon, Eggs, Beans, Tomatoes, Hash Browns, Black and White Pudding, Toast, Tea....Its a meal fit for kings!!! Also very glad you got there safely! Stupid international flights connection and baggage issues......HUUUUH (i did the throwing back my head move too in honor of you!) Hope the jet lag isnt too bad, Colin....Get yourself a blog going too, would love to keep up on all the european exploits of you both!! All is swell here, one week left of wrapping up and writing reports and then we'll join you on that continent soon! :D

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  3. So glad to hear that you made it in. Enjoy your time in England and I'm looking foward to hearing about your adventures.
    Your Cousin,
    Jack

    Good luck and have fun1 (: :)

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