Thursday, June 13: I ran into quite a few problems on Thursday while last minute packing and getting ready for the airport. The main issue was after I had laid out all the clothes I planned on taking, I realized I had filled all my bags and still had half my clothes to still pack. I was already at two carry on bags and a check in bag and being that our plane had an embargo I was freaking out! Luckily I got a hold of the airline and they said I could check two bags for $100 each way (while expensive, it was necessary). As I was packing, I tested out the ‘auto power off’ straightener I had purchased a while ago for the trip. I then realized it wasn’t actually auto turn off meaning I couldn’t bring it on the trip. My mom was a lifesaver and went out and found me an auto turn off one at target as I quickly finished up packing. I was all set and headed to the airport with my dad and my four bags.
He made me practice rolling/carrying my bags to the ticket counter where I quickly learned I over packed and that moving more than ten feet without stopping was impossible. In a panic I started pulling things out of my bags that I thought I could get by the next two months without. Looking back I’m a little upset I took out my black pumps and leather coat, but nothing I can do about that now. I said a very tearful goodbye to my dad and made my way through the security line. Everything went smoothly and I just made it to my gate as they started boarding. I sat in the last row in the plane and noticed that this airplane had three sections across of seats instead of just two sections. I made the mistake of forgetting to take my wristelet/iphone out of my carry on bag that was stored up above in the overhead compartments so I was unable to take pictures of the view during the flight. I sat next to a man who told me he worked for the government, which made me feel a little safer and also made me laugh to myself thinking about the airplane scene from Bridesmaids. I was absolutely amazed with the food the plane served us. For dinner I had hot chicken over rice, a side salad, a roll of bread, crackers and cheese, and a pastry dessert! I’m used to just having peanuts and a drink so I was blown away! In the morning for breakfast I had a banana and a muffin. The flight also offered complimentary movies, tv shows, and games. I played some Spanish games to familiarize myself with some vocabulary, watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother, and watched the movie Tangled. For the first time in my life, I was able to get my own bag down from the overhead compartment without anyone’s help!
Friday, June 14: After getting off the plane, I waited in the customs line for a very long time, but then finally made it to the baggage claim. I asked a worker how much it cost to rent a trolley and he gave me a confused look and told me they were free of charge. I then gathered my bags and waited to meet a couple girls I had been talking to through Facebook. Once we met up, we joined the other girls in our group and headed for the underground train station known as the Tube. This was the BIGGEST struggle I believe of my entire life. The four bags totaled to double my body weight and I had the hardest time maneuvering around the busy airport and station. Not to mention, I had to stop almost every ten feet to reposition my bags or to give my shoulders/hands a break. The Tube was extremely packed and other passengers were getting frustrated with all six of us girls and all of our bags. To make matters more challenging, we then were faced with two different flights of stairs, which we had to carry our bags up. This was absolutely impossible for me, so luckily locals saw the disbelief on my face and heard me repeat, “I refuse” many times, and offered to carry my bags up the stairs for me, which I happily let them. I know it could have been a bad situation where they took off with my bags, but I put trust in these kind strangers and it worked out! I was SO thankful for their generosity and kindness. We finally made it out of the Tube, but only to wander around Camden Town with no luck finding our hostel. We walked around a bit and finally found our hostel in what looked like a pub. We then carried the rest of our luggage up the three flights of stairs to our room.
Our room was nicer than what I was expecting from everything I heard about a hostel. There were four bunk beds for eight people total and all the sheets were surprisingly pink! The shower was a bit of a struggle because the water turned off every 15 seconds, so you constantly had to turn it back on, but besides that I was very impressed with the hostel! The pub downstairs was a lot of fun as well and it was nice not having to leave our hostel if we just wanted a quick drink. We went to the Camden Eye for dinner, where I ordered my first British fish and chips, which was great! We learned that you do not tip the bartenders for drinks. Afterwards, we walked around the Camden area, and also went to another pub. Every place we went that served alcohol would ID only me as I walked in. I find this funny because the drinking age is 18 there and I just celebrated my 21st birthday in the US about a month ago. We soon realized that most pubs/restaurants have both an upstairs and downstairs, which I found very interesting. We went back to the pub and just hung out the rest of the night getting to know each other. Unfortunately our friend Kelly got pick pocketed on our way back and had her iphone stolen. Also, one of our friend’s luggage was lost in her connecting flight. Fortunately, I did not ruin into any of these problems.
Saturday, June 15th: So my roommate Shannon is from Cincinnati and she was scheduled to fly out from there to her connecting flight in Detroit. This would have been the same flight I was on going to London. The Detroit flight left at 10, and her flight from Cincinnati ended up being delayed due to all the storms and would not arrive to Detroit until after our plane had already taken off. The airline rescheduled her flight to leave the next day and to arrive instead on Saturday. When we woke up in the hostel Shannon had arrived and we all got ready for our day of sight seeing. We went to the tube and took it to downtown London. First we went on a double decker bus and then hopped off to see the London Bridge and the Tower of London.
At this point the weather was absolutely beautiful and the skies were bright blue. We then took a ferry down the river where we were given a sight seeing tour. It was FREEZING on the top of this ferry. I packed expecting Mediterranean weather and London was nothing like Mediterranean weather. I struggled all day in just a short sleeve shirt but it all worked out. We then wandered around trying to find a place to eat and asked two police offers for their suggestions. They were very funny and tried to the ‘American accent’. Afterwards, we ate lunch at a cute little pub downtown called The Clarence.
I ordered the ‘Ploughman’, which basically was a make your own sandwich and salad. Afterwards, we took pictures in the famous red telephone booths and in front of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben (although we learned the name Big Ben is actually the bell inside, not the name of the tower). We then took the bus to Buckingham Palace where it started down pouring on us. We then had to wait about 20 minutes for a bus to take us back and we waited it out on the steps of a building trying to find cover. Finally, we got on the bus, then the tube, and made it back to Camden. After relaxing in our hostel for a while, we went to a pub down the road I believe was called Camden Tower, and ordered delicious pizza. As soon as I went up to the bar, the bartender said, “You’re so American it’s painful.” I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this, but then he was friendly. On our way we stopped at a convenience store and bought some alcohol to save money since drinks were expensive at the pub. I thought my wristlet was stolen here and called out this news out to my friends. My one friend Brianna then ran up to this group of locals and demanded they give my wristlet back (none of them understood what a wristlet was) when I realized my wristlet was around my wrist. Oops! Haha at least I know my friends have my back! We then hung out getting to know each other more in the hostel and then went out to the pub ‘The World’s End’. My friends back home will understand the significance of this haha but I managed to take two shots! One tasted like sour apple and the other one tasted like peaches. We had fun talking to the locals and learning about London.
Sunday June 16th: Today was the day where we had to go back to the London Heathrow Airport to the Hilton hotel there where SAS check in was. While most of the girls in my group took the Tube, I absolutely refused to put myself through that again. So Brianna, Shannon, and myself called a cab. It only cost 20 pounds per person too so we got a great deal!!! The best part about the cab ride was the driver. He shared with us so much valuable information and drove us by such amazing sites, it was like a tour in itself. We found out he once had Paris Hilton, and the actor who played Dumbledore in his cab. We learned that in the UK if you were sentenced to ‘life in prison’ it meant that maximum you would be there for 25 years. I found this astonishing, especially if a 20 year old committed mass murder, he would be a free man at the young age of 45. So we checked into the hotel where we saw a ton of SASers in the lobby and waited for a couple hours until we could get into our room. The rooms were only supposed to have two people in them, however we fit six. Around dinnertime we went in a large group of SASers to the Oxford area via the tube.
We didn’t even realize it, but our friends all wore American colors which we found really funny. We ate dinner at an Italian place and got drinks (finally a pub had mixed drinks) afterwards. We then jumped back on the tube, hung out in our hotel room, and then called it a night.
Even though I’m writing this a week later, I will cut this post off here and continue with Monday through Thursday (life on the MV Explorer!) in my next post. Thanks for reading! :)
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