Londinium- part 1

Hey Errbody!

We made it!! Ok so here's the story, as well as I can remember it. After a few last minute goodbyes (Crystal, Jamie, Derek!), Dad and I went to the airport and flew to Dallas with no trouble. Until we landed. When we landed, we had a little less than half an hour to make it from terminal A to terminal D. Not a big deal, except that we landed late, and the plane had to hang out on the runway for a little while. So Dad and I are sitting there, getting more and more nervous as he tells me about the time he missed an international flight to Budapest in a very similar circumstance. Then the flight attendant announced that our flight was delayed! Yay! (how often do you hear those words?) We hurried off the plane as soon as we could and took the little train thingy (which was a lot like the one at SFO, but a tad nicer), and then we got to our gate. They had already boarded around half the people, but we made the flight.

I have learned one thing from continually flying coach overnight. Sleep is terrible and hard to come by. On this plane, the seats were very close together, the plane was so cold that my toes were numb even with my shoes, and my only covering was a blanket-like table runner. Flying over England was really cool though; even the clouds felt different. I dunno, I understand that clouds are basically the same everywhere, but over the green fields and fairy tale houses, they seemed to be more fluffy, and more pretty. But that was probably me haha. Anyway, flying over England was beautiful. On the West Coast, we flew straight over the dry, brown, isolated desert, and here we flew over green fields and brown fields, constantly arrayed in different patterns. We even saw sheep grazing just a few minutes before we landed. Finally the wheels touched down and we (after waiting a few minutes) reached the gate. Then came Immigration, where we waited in line and spoke to a really nice lady who let me into the UK, even though I forgot the ONE paper I was supposed to remember. Now that you are probably laughing and shaking your head-we got our bags and went through customs, which was basically like walking through a metal detector, but must have beeped if you tried to bring in illegal things. Luckily, the guy who was working the scanner in San Diego kindly eliminated my brand new, obviously dangerous, super smelly good lotion.

We bought tickets for the train, and then took a cab to our apartment. Turns out that renting out a full apartment for two nights is cheaper than a hotel room, and a whole lot more awesome. The problem was that the cab driver had never heard of Fox apartments. Neither had the cab driver our driver yelled to from the car window. But our driver sort of knew the area, and he gave us a nice tour along the way. The apartment is so awesome. You walk into a hallway, which leads to the main room, equipped with a tv, two couches, a dining table, a full kitchen, and a conference room-like table. Then, up the stairs, (yeah, the STAIRS of the apartment!), are two bedrooms and two bathrooms. My room leads out to a balcony. Yay! We freshened up (10 hours on a plane means you smell bad lol) and went outside to the train station, which is maybe a two minute walk, and that's because of the stairs.

We took the train to the city and got off at Green Park station to find some food. We found a Hard Rock Cafe and a bunch of cafe bakery type things, but we hadn't eaten since breakfast on the plane (around 10:30-11 AM London time), and it was now around 4. Breakfast, by the way, for the vegetarians of the flight, was some yogurt (which I didn't eat), some melon, and a vegan cookie that actually wasn't bad. In other words, we were super hungry. So we ate at the Hilton restaurant, which was pretty good. Guess I'm not vegetarian material though, at least not right now haha, thanks to my turkey, bacon, egg, and veggie sandwich. Yum.

After lunch we went shopping for shoes! Haha I feel like Bree. I only bought one pair though. They are really cute, they are purplish pink (or pinkish purple) and are sorta lace ups. You'll see them in pictures. Oh! I totally forgot to tell you what my first picture that I took was. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't big ben. Or the London Eye (which is a big ferris wheel). It wasn't Buckingham Palace. Or a double decker bus. Ok, ready?

It was a Roman Wall. yep.

But how cool is it that a piece of ROME is here?! I even know whose wall it is. Well, almost. It's one of two haha. I think. Anyway.

We bought shoes and walked around for awhile. Around 7 or so we started slowing down, so we decided to head back. Upon arrival, I changed into pjs and began writing this entry. I have been interrupted many times though. You see, about ten minutes after getting back, we realized the tv didn't work. And that was kinda ok with me, and probably with Dad too. But I guess he was gonna go down to the adjacent pub (Fox also), to see if he could get someone to fix it, and he couldn't open the door. So I tried to open it, unsuccessfully.

It was locked. Even though we had unlocked the door to get in, and were inside the place, the door was locked. Ugh. So we fiddled with it for awhile, and then we decided to call the number on our paper that came with the apt. Dad was trying to figure out how to call someone (with a US number, from a US phone, with international roaming, little service, and AT&T coverage) for at least 30 minutes, probably closer to 45. He was getting more and more frustrated, which got me sorta tense too, so instead of writing to you guys, I was trying to help him. Anyway, finally we hear a knock at the door, and a click in the lock.

Salvation!!! This guy had obviously run to help us after he found out what had happened, because he was very out of breath. Then he proceeded to explain how the TV worked. His name is Sam, he runs the bar next door. And before all you weirdos get any ideas, he is married with kids. So no. After the rescue, Dad wanted a beer, and I was hungry, so we went to the bar and got nachos. Nachos were not a good idea, my tummy is now upset. But they tasted pretty freakin good. And now, we are back, and I am writing to you. But now I have nothing else to say sooo....nighty night.

And if you got through this massive entry...yay for you!