London: Day one

I woke up at 8am and began my packing ritual of walking around the house mumbling to myself trying to think of things that I might need on my trip. "Toothpicks. Toothpicks. Toothpicks? Rain boots? Pink leather arm band?" Pacing back and forth peeking in closets and cabinets. The smart thing to do would be to have a check list and save it on my computer and go through it whenever I travel, but...no. There is something enjoyable about starting from scratch every time and going through my ridiculous process. I filled up the suitcase with as many comfy clothes as possible. I'm not gonna be clubbing, so I left the pleather halter top for another time. When I finally felt good about my clothing  and toiletry choices, I sat on the bulky silver suitcase and zipped it up.

I left my house at 3:30pm and took a cab to a cheap shuttle bus going to JFK. Here's the small line for the bus:

After 45 minutes, we (me, my luggage and 20 other strangers) arrived at JFK...

It was around 5pm when we arrived at the airport. My flight was leaving at 7:30pm. I had 2 1/2 hours to get my ticket, get through security/passport check-in, and get settled. It seemed like plenty of time but by the time I got to the gate, it was already 6:45pm and we were about to board.

I was really looking forward to traveling on Virgin Atlantic airlines. I mean *really* excited. Like weirdly excited. I was expecting great things from all the funky commercials I'd seen. But the economy class...wasn't as fabulous as I thought it would be. I was pretty cramped. Like no legroom. Or elbow room. Or face room. Like so cramped that I actually got a cramp trying to hold my body perfectly still and centered in my seat so as not to touch the person to my left or right (yes, I was the lucky gal in the middle seat). The in-flight entertainment was entertaining and somewhat unique, though. Each person is given their own remote control that allows them to control their TV watching experience with great precision. (But why do you need a REMOTE when the TV is one inch from your face??) There were a ton of movies  to choose from. I watched The Social Network for the first time and actually found it pretty darned interesting. I found it so interesting, in fact, that it held my attention long enough to take my mind off the pain in my right foot from being trapped underneath my five pound laptop, camera and coat. Anyway, I guess the reason i was so fascinated with the story is because I'm such a Facebook junkie(and that's what the film is about, in case you don't know). Whatever the reasons, I enjoyed it. I was also very pleased with the vegan meal that was provided. (I pre-ordered the meal when I purchased my ticket online.) The British stewardess delivered it to me way before anyone else got their meals, so I felt pretty important and..was kind of getting the evil eye from a lot of hungry passengers (pre-order your shit next time, bitches. Don't blame me.) I was served chana masala with okra and basmati rice (yum). I was nervous and hesitated several seconds before peeling back the plastic wrapping because, well, I was afraid the curry smell might take over Virgin Atlantic, but apparently it was fine. No one complained. Well...no one that I know of anyway. And whatever, I was hungry. The food was delish. Suck it, haters.

I attempted to sleep after my meal, but was unsuccessful. Oh and did I mention the 30-something-year-old woman to my left was sucking her thumb for 98.7% of the trip? I swear. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but to make sure I wasn't seeing things I looked directly at her and yes, she was in fact sucking on her entire thumb and not remotely embarrassed about it. It. Was. Disturbing. Anyway. Her cute English accent made it (sort of) charming.

The flight lasted about seven hours.

We landed in London at 9:30am on Monday...

 

I called my cousin to let him know that I've arrived and...what do you think happen next? That's right, my cousin had not looked at the itinerary that I sent a week ago and didn't know I was arriving! So...he quickly made a bunch of last-minute phone calls to friends to see if someone could babysit me while he was at work. He managed to find someone to take me in, but I would have to find my way to him. I had to find the Tube (aka train) and take two trains (tubes) to Barbican (Central London).

On the tube...

Then once I got to Barbican...

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...I had to find somewhere to go to kill time until he was free to pick me up. (All of this with no sleep!) I found a Starbucks (haha) on Clerkenwell Road and waited there until I got a text from Rob (Shane's friend).

 

He arrived at Starbucks at 12:15pm. (After trying to get online for 15 minutes, I realized that I had to buy a Starbucks card in order to make use of the "free" WiFi. :/ I FINALLY got online and in that exact moment Rob arrived. Oh well. Who cares about the internet, I'm in London!)
Rob is originally from Australia, but has been living in London for a few years. He also lived in NYC for a couple of years, which is where he met my cousin Shane. Rob is very sweet and so kind to let me hang out with him. He works out of his home, so I just did my own thing on my computer (and blogged and answered emails) while he worked...

 

He has a small and lovely modern two bedroom flat with bamboo floors and a brand new kitchen with a washer/dryer and dishwasher and huge fridge that looks like a closet. (See the "closet" next to him on the left? That's actually a fridge.) He shares this place with a roommate. I found that strange since Rob (and Shane) both work in the VERY lucrative field of pharmaceuticals, but London is *very* expensive, so it kind of makes sense. I mean, the American dollar is pretty much useless here. A small cup of coffee costs about 4 pounds and that's equivalent to about $6.50. A monthly train ticket (basic subway) cost about $500! EVERYthing is expensive. Manhattan ain't got nothing on this place.

Shane texted and said he'll be picking me up after work at around 6pm, so I had many hours to hang with Rob. Shane arrived around 6:30pm and we decided to all go out to dinner. Here's a (blurry, but cool) pic of Rob (on the left) and my cousin Shane (on the right) outside of Rob's place...

 We walked over to a nearby Thai restaurant called...Thai Thai. : )

We sat and ate THE most delicious Thai food ever by candlelight (ooooh).

We went back to Rob's place to pick up my stuff and head over to Shane's place half-way across town. Well...they walked and I *stumbled* back to Rob's place. It was now Monday evening, and I still hadn't SLEPT.

Shane was nice enough to pay for a cab 'cause he could see that if I attempted to get back on the tube carrying all my bags and  on no sleep...I might not survive the ride.

We made it to Shane's house at around 9pm.

Here's his living room...

Here's the bathroom...

Here's the kitchen...

 And here's my bedroom for the next three weeks...

I'm in London to spend time with family; to hang with cousins (yes, I have more than one) and aunts and uncles and to meet one of my half-siblings for the first time ever. My half-brother, Aaron and I are actually meeting *tonight* for dinner (it's now Tuesday afternoon in London) and I'm thrilled. I'll also be working on my schoolwork a few hours a day everyday. I'm doing an online program at the Integrative School for Nutrition. So while Shane is at work, I'll be listening to lectures online and taking notes and dong assignments and then traveling around London the rest of time exploring the city with my camera. I'll be traveling to Dublin, Ireland in about a week where most of my family lives. I'll be staying with my aunt Joan and uncle Seamus. I'll also be staying in a castle for a couple of nights (yes, a castle). Cool cool stuff.

Stay tuned...