Safely in London!
I am thrilled to blog from London, because it means I got here safely. Flight from Austin to Houston was no big deal (only 30 minutes really) and I don’t even remember take off because I was already asleep by the time that happened. Not that I was tired or anything, after only 3 hours of sleep. On a good note, the Houston airport that I went to did not smell bad like the last time I had to go to a Houston airport, with Mal. Are there 2 airports in Houston?
Anyway, Montreal was fun, though even to simply get a connection flight I had to go through customs. That said, customs was super easy. Took 2 minutes, tops. London’s line for customs was a LITTLE bit longer, and by that I mean it took an hour rather than 2 minutes. Blurg alert. Still, could have been worse. Once I was finally in London, I had to get to the house I am staying at. SSW folk: she is one of Kathleen Russell’s best friends. She’s delightful. The trip from airport to her house involved riding the main line on the tube, switching to a different line on the tube, then getting on the train. All of this with luggage. The entire experience was interesting, and I didn’t get lost, which made me love myself a little bit more.
Once safely at the house, I took a bath, a short nap, and then went out for a walk. There is a little shopping area right up the road, and I stopped at the first place that said “café” and had a macchiato. Delicious. I also got a salad, because the plane gave us a breakfast muffin, but that brings my grand total of food consumption for today to: a muffin and a salad. Looking forward to some protein tonight, but the jet lag is making me nauseous.
Speaking of food, this is funny. The flight from Houston to Montreal announced that there would be no snacks on board, and that only drinks could be served. After serving all the drinks, he came to me and gave me a snack mix saying, “for being nice.” Note: all I said to him was “thank you!”
Thoughts from this travel experience
- Drinking water when flying is good, because airplanes could also rightfully be termed “dehydrators.” Needing to pee, but not wanting to disturb the passenger that is blocking you because you have a window seat? Not good. When I realized I had to pee: 1:50. Time of peeing: 3:00. World record for me. Also, in the course of the entire trip (Austin to Houston, Houston to Montreal, Montreal to London) I only went to the restroom on a place twice. TWICE. I hope this means I’m building a strong bladder that can handle a country where there aren’t public restrooms. (You read that right – I thought Urinetown was a joke, and I think it is real.)
- Hey, you know how in the US if you have tons of luggage it is not a big deal because you can just get on the escalators? Escalators are not common here. What you pack, you lift up multiple flights of stairs. Thankfully, I only packed 40 pounds in my checked bag, and I put an empty backpack in the checked bag so that once I got here, I could redistribute weight and be prepared for that. Still, with all that prep and multiple clothing purges, I wish I had brought less.
- Epic battle happened during the flights. Air in the plane vs. my nose. Air in the plane wins. My nose feels like someone filled it with cement, and I somehow got a slight cough that was not in my life prior to the flights.
- I also heard “mind the gap” about 15 times, which made me think of Kathleen Russell’s mug.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got for now. I think my night will be composed of eating dinner and then going to bed as soon as possible. Jet lag is a beast.
Sending all my love to my friends.