Goodge

So London was a successful first trip, Uezbakistani nationality and all. The good people at Ryanair were actually surprisingly nice, helpful and didn't charge me an extra dime. They even played a song each time we landed, the same song they play at horse races, I don't really see the connection but it certainly put us all in a spirited mindset. I sat with Liza and Zach on the way there, she sat in the middle holding our hands since she's a nervous flier. I sang my version of the Reba McEntire theme song to relax her as well as the 90s classic, "Said Boom Boom Boooom Errybody say Wayo0o" to which she would respond, "Wayo0o0". We are perfect traveling buddies since her yin is my yang, my yang is her yin, she is the Dingle to my Dangle.

We left Thursday afternoon but we were up at 6:30 am because we had to register with the police here. Since we didn't need to get visas we had to do this instead. I didn't have to register until 7:40 but it took us 30 minutes to wake up and get ready and somehow 40 minutes to find the place even though it was only 10 minutes away. I don't know if its due to the off season or just if its being out of America, but it is easy as pie to get through the airports here. Everything went smoothly, we met up with some kids from our program who were also going to London, so we all traveled together except when we landed in Gatwick Airport, we parted ways since they had booked tickets for a train and Liza and I decided to save a buck and take the bus. Bad Thing #1. Long story short, Liza sat next to a Very Creepy Man who said things like "Do I scare you?" and insisted that he would show us a place to stay when the bus got to London. Obviously we were planning on going towards the complete opposite direction of him when the bus got to London, but I grew worried while getting my luggage from under the bus when a woman expressed her concern for us and so Liza and I ran to the bathroom, locked ourselves in a stall and came up with a game plan which was to tell him we would wait at the bus station because a friend was meeting us. Thank goodness he got the hint and left.

But then I realized that my phone shut off and I didn't know my PIN number to unlock it so I could call Sam since we arranged that we would be staying at his apartment for the weekend. Bad Things #2 and #3. I couldn't turn my phone on annnnd of course didn't write his phone number down. Luckily I asked a nice fellow at a taxi stand if he knew of a cell phone place around, but he said better yet, ask my friend Martin over there in that cafe. Martin was nothing less than a life saver and my phone was on and working but Bad Thing #3 was that Sam's phone wasn't working. Bad Thing #4 was that Martin informed us that since it was getting late and it was so last minute, a hostel would be so expensive (and London is already expensive enough thank you) so of course our Plan of Action was to call Dad I mean Zach. Zach was staying with Kiley and the rest of the gang we traveled with but had to split up with at the airport and who were all staying with Kiley's cousin Sally. Long story short we end up spending the night at Sally's. After that there were no more bad things; she and her husband were SO gracious, hospitable, fun, sweet, and lived in the most BEAUTIFUL apartment. We all had pizza, drank wine, went out to a pub and then we all had a sleepover in the living room. Zach and I both forgot pajama bottoms but we made do with what we had (he his boxers and rug/blanket and I with my dress/makeshift nightgown) and might have made everyone else a little bit uncomfortable. Pretty perfect.

The next day while everyone did touristy thangs, Isabelle and I met up and went to Portebello Rd. which I will forever love. We went there everyday after that too just enjoying the vendors, shops, music and food. Oh the food. Then I FINALLY got in touch with Sam, went to Sally's to get our stuff, handed them a bottle of wine as a Big Fat Thank You and made our way over to Marble Arch where Sam lives. It was so great seeing him, I hadn't seen him for two whole years but I tell ya it felt like I saw him just yesterday. It also felt SO GOOD TO FINALLY SHOWER and then also so good to eat and not just eat but to eat Shwarma which I hadn't had for two years and which I've only had in Israel. This shwarma did all shwarma justice. And the chips? Get out of here. So good. Too good. With hot sauce? See ya later. That night we went to Nottinghill/Portebello Rd. again because Isabelle were under the impression that it would be the best place ever 24/7. Wrong. We went to the one pub that was open, felt weird, had one drink there and then went back to Marble Arch to smoke some hooka and then went to bed.

The next day we wandered all over having so much fun and that night planned on meeting Sam and his friends at the SECOND BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD buuut that was a bust and we stayed in and had so much fun at the Second Best Apartment in the World. The next day we went to Hyde park and Abbey Rd. which we got to when it was getting dark/rush hour. I had already been there years before but will never stop being one the coolest places ever so I just as excited as everyone else and just as frustrated at the amount of cars preventing us from getting a good cheesy touristy picture walking across. I was also getting VERY into it whenever I kiiiiind of sooooort of got a good picture of everyone. When I looked at the picture of me walking across I noticed an ORB OVER MY FACE. You know what that means. John and George are with me. I mean, all of them are but I've always felt akin to those two. That orb is like a big fat kiss of approval. I bet they even read this blog.

That night was also the night of the Superbowl which means 100% Nothing to me but everyone else cared a little bit. We planned on watching it in a pub but then Sam enticed us with the prospect of homemade Chili and so obviously we stayed in and ate bowls of chili and half payed attention to the game. Since I'm such a seasoned vet at chopping veggies (thank you Foodtown) I was a skilled helper and had a hot burning sensation all night in my hands from chopping up chili peppers. Totally worth it. The next day we went to the Tate Modern Museum which I've also already been too but I loved it even more this time around. Then we had to get going by the time we got out, said goodbye to Sam and his roommates and headed back to Gatwick. No buses or creepy men this time. When we got back to Shannon Airport in Ireland we SPRINTED through because we thought we could make an earlier bus to Galway. Picture a gaggle of girls running with backpacks and the smallest one screaming "WE CAN DO IT! RUUUUUUN!" (yes, the smallest one is yours truly). Turns out there was no earlier bus, and we had to wait for the 12:45 am. Needless to say we were exhausted and I didn't wake up until 12:45 pm.

I had so much fun and I'm so glad we were able to stay with Sam. So fun, so comfy and so free. One of my favorite parts was taking the Tube (but BOY is that expensive) and giggling at funny names of stations like Goodge amongst other things that are only funny to the immature mind. I'm excited to relax this weekend though and I guess get some work done (I literally haven't done anything yet. Don't worry Mam, nothing is due until the end of the semester) and I can't wait for the Market on Saturday and to eat the doughnuts there. It might be unhealthy how often I think about them.