London | England
I have survived my first official day in Europe. Luckily, and not really by accident, I flew into a country that speaks the same language – which I would recommend for first time or novice travelers. Just to kind of get into the swing of things, get used to taking different types of public transportation, etc. Overall though I would have to say that the culture here isn’t vastly different than back in the States. It’s a nice transition; however, you will still likely survive if you fly into Madrid or Frankfurt as well.The flight over was very smooth and easy. I sat next to a newlywed couple on the way to France for their honeymoon, and they were very nice. Didn’t chat much after the first 20 minutes or so, which was actually nice cause I just wanted to put my headphones in and zone out. The movie selection, on the screen directly in front of mah face, was perfection. Tons of free and new movies. I watched part of the new Vacation movie, which was just blah in my book because the original is such a staple. And then I acted like a 12-year-old girl and watched Hotel Transylvania 2 and Jurassic World; both of which were pretty good. After my inflight meal of pasta, bread, cheese, crackers, mozzarella and tomato balls, and this passion fruit pudding thing, I took some melatonin and unsuccessfully tried to get some sleep. I got maybe 2 solid hours and then gave up and just listened to music until we landed. Knew that I was gonna be hurtin’ later.
Landed and took a bus to the customs terminal. Stood in line. Got to the counter and gave the guy my passport, and I swear he must’ve asked me a thousand questions. I have never felt so guilty and been so innocent before. I completely understand why he was essentially interrogating me and I had no qualms about being 100% cooperative. But damn, I had to show a ton of receipts on my phone and I swear little beads of dew (aka sweat) were on the bridge of my nose and the crown of my forehead. Since I am not a terrorist, he let me into the United Kingdom. Whew. Got the second part of my backpack, strapped in, and headed for the Underground, or the “Tube”. The transition from the airport to the Underground was quite smooth and successful, which made me feel warm and fuzzy inside because I had a great start to my trip.
The Underground – mass transit that we just do not have in the States (not sure if this should be capitalized but I am too lazy to Google it so just go with it, ya grammar nazis). It’s not the most glamorous thing in the world, nor is it necessarily the safest; but, seeing these people sitting there with grocery bags, briefcases, babies, luggage, purses, etc. I appreciated the fact that this form of transportation existed. Ok, now that may sound like an odd statement but sometimes I wish we had something like that back in Austin to avoid sitting there in your car like a commuting zombie. I mean these people were zombies too, but as collective zombies it seemed to make it better somehow. Haha. Anywhoo, after being on the train for little over an hour I got off at the Manor House stop, took exit 2, and proceeded to my Airbnb on foot. I had a kick ass host, who provided me with very informative and detailed instructions on how to get to her apartment.
Once at the Airbnb I got settled, drank some water (cause I was dying of thirst) and had some good conversation with my host’s 16-year-old daughter. She was home sick from school. We discussed travel and our interests and I was fascinated to learn that her history courses consisted of a lot of American history. Like she almost learned more about American history than I did growing up, which is sad to say the least. My host had two black cats, one fat and one skinny. The fat one, Mustache, enjoyed plopping his entire body on my chest as I lay in bed and head butting me to get me to continue to pet him. Adorbs. Made me miss my kitty back home but it was also nice to have that animal companionship. I drank some peppermint tea and took a short nap, then just kind of walked around the neighborhood. Wasn’t out more than 45 minutes when it started to pour, so I went back inside. After that I just relaxed and watched movies until I fell asleep around 8.
Tomorrow I am off to France and I am giddy with excitement. London, it’s been nice. Cheers!
megthenomad 