“If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.” - Coco Chanel
So I’m
writing this from London! I made it at long last! I left on Tuesday, April 1st.
Of course, I had a mad dash with my luggage. Everything suddenly became
overweight. I ended up leaving some stuff behind – pants, a jacket, a hoodie,
etc. I also ended up forgetting some stuff, like my computer mouse, camera, and
a pair of shoes. Oh well. It happens. I got to the airport three hours early.
It wasn’t necessary because the entire airport was totally dead. Sarah and I
hung out with our families and friends and at 8:30 (our flight left at 10:00)
we went through security. It was pretty sad saying goodbye. Sarah and I were
both travelling with lots of medication so we figured one of us would get
dinged at security. Sure enough, Sarah was, but it was because she didn’t
separate her laptop from the rest of her stuff. I love random ironies like that.
We
grabbed some drinks and spinach dip at Chili’s while we waited for our flight
to board, which occurred shortly after 9:00pm. We were flying British Airways (www.britishairways.com) and if you
ever fly them you should totally get their rewards card. We got 4300 points
each for our flight from Calgary to London. We can pretty much fly anywhere in
Europe for free. A few flights more like that and we can actually fly home for
free. It’s awesome. Anyways, I had a carry on suitcase but I guess it was too
big (it wasn’t). It wasn’t really a big deal. At that point they couldn’t
charge me to check it and I was allowed to take my medication and laptop out
before they took it.
On the
plane Sarah and I were at the back of the bus. There was a lot of empty seats
which was nice. I hate crowded flights. It was a weekday flight so it was
mostly businessmen and one family. Apparently the back is where they put the
young ones because it was the two of us, and a guy who looked like Opie from Sons of Anarchy across the aisle. The
male flight attendant decided to have fun with us. Sarah and I are both
children on airplanes and we were both hyper so of course we were being super
obnoxious. When the drinks cart came around I asked for a glass of wine. I
don’t sleep well on planes and on my last flight to England I found it helped.
Well, they don’t serve glasses they serve quarter-bottles. Sarah gets the same.
A few minutes later the flight attendant sets down another set of bottles,
saying nothing. We found this amusing. We drank one of our quarter-bottles and
saved the other one for dinner. He chastised us for taking so long. Unbeknownst
to us he was doing the same thing with the guy across the aisle, except with
Heineken. Dinner was served – along with a third bottle. Before we finished
dinner he brought us another one. Then it was midnight and I guess they can’t
serve alcohol after then. Probably for the best. We both slept good, at least.
The meal was decent, for plane food. I had some penne which was pretty tasty
and a roll which was less so. Sarah had beef and something that we think is
potato. We both watched The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire and then went to sleep. I only slept for about two hours so I
put on Rush and dozed in and out for
awhile. British Airways has an awesome entertainment system. Basically every
new release for the last two months. I didn’t see a lot of the television
choices but they seemed equally extensive. I watched a couple episodes of Modern Family and embarrassed Sarah by
laughing out loud. Sorry but that show is hilarious.
After a
nine hour flight we landed at Heathrow airport a little early. There was a bit
of a lineup at customs but not too bad – maybe fifteen minutes. We were
surprised to find we were supposed to go through customs together because we
were travelling together. In the past when I’ve travelled elsewhere you’ve
always gone up with anyone you’re related to. It ended up being a good thing
because at this point Sarah was not looking/feeling too hot so I was able to
answer most of the questions. It was pretty simple, surprisingly. She asked
what visa we were on, how long we were staying, if this was our first entry and
what type of work were we hoping to find. She also asked Sarah if she was
feeling okay. Oops. Getting our luggage was no problem and within moments we
were officially in London.
We are
spending the next few weeks at my aunt’s flat which is quite far from Heathrow
– about ninety minutes by train. We both had two suitcases and a carry-on so
taking the train was just not going to happen. A few days before we flew out a
booked a minicab on www.greentomatocars.com.
They give you the price outright and are apparently cheaper than black cabs as
they do not run on a meter. They even come in to the airport to meet you with a
sign. Our flight was early so we weren’t sure what that meant. I had originally
requested the cab pick us up sixty minutes after landing, which would have been
3:00pm. As soon as we left the luggage area, however, I received a text message
saying they had dispatched the driver. Five minutes later they said the car had
arrived. They even gave us the driver’s mobile number! We had a bit of
difficulty finding him but that’s just because we’re stupid. He was really nice
and took our five million suitcases to his car. It was a very long drive but
there was free wifi which was so handy! I have an iphone so I was able to text
my family and friends that I had arrived safely, as well as check Facebook and
just diddle around on the internet. Sarah slept.
When we
arrived at my aunt’s flat she gave us the tour. We were both feeling better and
the three of us walked to a pub called Wetherspoon
(www.jdwetherspoons.co.uk). I
love their Caesar salad. You can add bacon to it now. I also got their garlic
ciabatta bread with cheese (flying makes me hungry, ok?). Sarah decided to go
full English and get bangers and mash. Apparently they were just ok, but I
would never eat that anyway. The three of us split the greatest thing on the
menu: a pitcher of purple rain. Sandra and I discovered it three years ago and
were obsessed with it. It’s Sourz Cherry, blue curaco or whatever that stuff is
called, and lemonade. It’s delicious.
We got
back to the flat around 7:30 around which time my exhaustion kicked in and I
died. And thus, my first day in London was over.
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