We didn’t have to be up and ready to go until 11, so that was nice. Two days in a row I was able to sleep in. I love my sleep. We took the subway to the train station where eventually we had to go through customs and such because we were leaving France. The security guy who stamped my passport was particularly rude to me. He asked why I was going to London, and I explained that I was on a study of photography trip with other students and professors. I had to show him my itinerary and what not and he was asking about the places I had been. The problem with this entire conversation was that we were in a hurry, he spoke really quietly, and I wasn’t used to the English accent just yet so it was difficult to hear and understand him. He was asking me what I thought of Avingnon. And I repeated, ‘what did I think of it?’ to confirm I had heard him correctly and he responded ‘Yes, do you think much of anything?’ I went on about being in southern France compared to Paris, the busy city. I said I’m definitely going to miss the food to which he said, ‘So you don’t think the food in London will be good at all?’ I really could not believe how rude this guy was being. Eventually I mentioned how excited I was for tea and that made him lighten up and he remarked that ‘No one can make tea like we can’ or something along those lines. I mean I know it’s their job to question why a traveler is going places, but he had no reason to question my intelligence and what not. Definitely gave me a bad first impression of the English. If he hates his job so much maybe he should quit. Ugh. Anyways, at this point there were only three of us, that being Dani, Easton and myself, at the train platform with twenty or so minutes to spare (When it comes to trains, that is cutting it seriously close.) We had lost a good chunk of the group from the very get go when Dani and I got stuck before even getting through the subway because our little subway tickets wouldn’t work, even though they were unused. So we had to get them replaced while Armon advised Jen to take the rest of the group on and make their way to the train station. After we were through and at the train station stop, the rest of the group was nowhere to be found, so Armon stayed behind to wait for them while the rest of us, just three, went on. Long story short apparently the rest of them had gotten lost in the subway, which is easy to do because there are tunnels and long caves going every which way and tons of arrows pointing this way and that. Eventually everyone showed up to the train in enough time to board and find our seats which was so lucky. Having missed a train the very first day and knowing how stressful, not to mention EXPENSIVE that was, I was not going to let that happen to me again. This train went under the English channel, better known as the chunnel. We went underwater which is cool, but really it was just black for some period of time. We took the subway to our stop and made our way to our hotel which is only two blocks or so from the subway station. The hotel we’re staying in is an absolute maze. The entrance and reception area are on one side of the street, but to get to all of the rooms you have to go up stairs to find some over-the-street walkway tunnel thing to a separate building that encases all of the rooms which in itself is quite maze like. It reminds me a lot of the dorms actually. It’d be quite similar to them if every customer in the hall opened their door haha. It’s still a nice hotel compared to many we stayed in while in France. It’s quite roomy, and has a large bathroom. My favorite part: unlimited tea. We have our own electric teapot and bowl of free tea and sugar and milk that accessible whenever the heck I want and it’s the most amazing thing in the world.
After having set all of our things in our rooms we set out to find dinner. On the same street as the subway station I found a Starbucks (win) and also the English bank that partners with Bank of America, my bank, back home which is fabulous because I only have a 1% charge there. Yayyy. We ate at an Indian restaurant. I’ve never really had Indian food. My meal was alright, I mean I didn’t love it, but it was definitely tolerable and satisfying. Afterwards we hit up the market and I got some pistachios and a box of earl grey tea for myself.
I made a little table in my journal jotting down the things I’m “stoked for” and “not so much”. It reads as follows:
Stoked for:
-regular M&M’s
-tea
-English language
-breakfastz
-staying in one place
Not so much:
-food
-complicated subways
-no internet
All of that still pretty much holds true, kind of. The M&M’s here are quite different- the chocolate tastes odd- kind of malty. The food isn’t as bad as I expected (the guy at customs would be glad to know I said that) and the subways, known as ‘the tube’ here really isn’t as complicated as everyone made it seem. As long as you know how to read things and can map out your destination, you’ll be just fine.
A lot of people have been talking about wanting to see Stonehenge on a free day… I have no interest. I understand its significance and importance and what not and have seen a billion pictures. I just don’t feel like spending money to go see a bunch of huge rocks stacked upon one another. Hahah. Sounds like something Zach would say. I’m stoked to pretty much go to Hogwarts- we’re going to be going to Lacock Abbey, where they filmed scenes from the Harry Potter films of the students in the hallways of Hogwarts. AWESOME. And by this point my knee is doing great and much improved- prayer has been awesome that’s fa sho.
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