I always wanted to travel. One day I realized that I needed to make it happen. My assumptions and desire for travel were not resulting in actual travel. So, in celebration of my birthday month, last August I bought a ticket to London. London was an easy choice as I have a cousin living in London.
My flight was delayed an hour so we left Dulles International at 11:00 pm. I enjoyed a lovely meal and glass of wine in the airport.
The flight was enjoyable after the cabin settled. But first, the baby onboard had to scream out all her troubles and a hipster would tire of amusing his pal with his loud talking and cursing. Then the very British flight attendants offered a dinner of pasta or shepherd’s pie. I sat back and watched a disgruntled older man drink bottle after bottle of wine. I sighed out a prayer.
Finally, about 2 hours into the trip, the plane became very quiet. I didn't think it was possible. It was quite wonderful. In due time, we reached London. I never did go to sleep but stared at everyone else while they slept. I only began to nod off as the plane made its descent into Heathrow Airport.
The flight was enjoyable after the cabin settled. But first, the baby onboard had to scream out all her troubles and a hipster would tire of amusing his pal with his loud talking and cursing. Then the very British flight attendants offered a dinner of pasta or shepherd’s pie. I sat back and watched a disgruntled older man drink bottle after bottle of wine. I sighed out a prayer.
Finally, about 2 hours into the trip, the plane became very quiet. I didn't think it was possible. It was quite wonderful. In due time, we reached London. I never did go to sleep but stared at everyone else while they slept. I only began to nod off as the plane made its descent into Heathrow Airport.
My cousin Walden picked me up from the airport. We were joined by his 11-year old daughter, Morgan, who would keep me entertained. I knew this when I spotted her at the airport with her pigtails and hot pink sweater. Walden had a plan to keep me up until at least 8 pm to reset my internal clock. Full of disbelief, I turned to Morgan and said, “Great, only 7 hours to go!”
After we dropped my things off at Walden's we got on the tube and went to Harrods. If you need to stay up and want non-pharmaceutical stimulation, go to Harrods (below on right). Here are a few pictures from my first day in London.
I was fascinated with the food section.
I tried something new; cockles in vinegar. I ate them so I could say (with a British accent), "I once ate cockles in vinegar..."
Mostly, I enjoyed the energy of the streets and the holiday lights.
