The trip. Part the First.
Mar. 27th, 2003 01:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
litheraSo, I woke up and finished packing, after finding some things that I hadn't realized that were still in that suitcase. Ah well. I know where they are now. I didn't forget anything, either.
Got into the car with Kris' mom and then got to the airport. Met up with Holly and any jitters I had left were swept away by her presence. Holly is one of the few people who automatically puts me into a state where I can relax. It probably comes from living with her for five years and having gone through just about everything I want to go through at all with her at some point or another.
So, we check in and then go out to the gate and find that the flight has been delayed about an hour. I shrug at this and suggest food. Food is always good. Go and get Burger King and then sit down to eat. As I throw away my garbage I pass by a table with two people looking at a laptop. I walk five steps and then stop, looking back. Lo and behold, it is Evanescence.
After a bit, I go over and talk to them and say that I appreciated the show at the record store. They seemed a bit surprised that we recognized them. We chatted for a bit, found out we were supposed to be on the same flight. They were going to Spain for something and their publicist was apparently unhappy that they were running late. We then hung out, riding the subway back and forth. Then we went to have drinks and snacks.
Rode the subway back again, running into Evanescence again and they said hi as we went through the security checkpoint again. They got onto a flight to London on British Airways and we sat around for the flight that was now just "Delayed".
A few hours into this I shrugged it off and just dealt with it. When travelling I slip into this odd place where I am calm and Zen and function on limited sleep and food perfectly. We sacrificed a magazine and a bus schedule and had a drop of mint stuff that tasted like soap. A plane showed up and we switched to that on, instead of the broken one that wouldn't seem to be fixed. At 9:30 the flight way delayed for another hour. And then for 15 more minutes. Then we got on the plane.
The flight was smooth. I was very impressed, especially with my experience with Trans-Atlantic crossings. Watched The Tuxedo and Harry Potter 2. Food wasn't horrible but wasn't great either.
Hung out in Amsterdam for a bit, caught the flight to London, which I amazingly got a small nap on. I typically cannot sleep on planes at all.
Got to London found out our bags didn't make it to London with us. Yeah! I was taking everything in stride now. I had, in fact, kind of expected our bags not to be there, though I couldn't come up with any idea why they wouldn't have been. I ended up coming up with an explanation that made sense, but really, I didn't care. I was not looking forward to sleeping in my turtleneck sweater, as much as I love it.
Then got to the Tube station. Got on the Tube which had been delayed by various things, including a guy stabbing himself in the face with a broken bottle. Wheeeee. Got off at the Tube station the map had said and went entirely the wrong way. Both my direction sense and Sean's was entirely screwed up. Went into a hotel, looked at a map and oriented myself and went back the way we came and turned right. Found the hostel after a bit longer of a walk than I would have wanted. (I was never lost. I was just disoriented.)
We decided to go get to go get food. Went into a pub and asked if they served food. The guy behind the counter said, "No, but there's a dirty chicken shop down the street." On our way to somewhere else, I went back to where we were supposed to meet Kyna since I hadn't seen her there previously. Ran into her on her way out and we all met up and got yummy, yummy curry. Then we slept. I wish there had been pillows that weren't little thicker than cardboard, but who cares, it was sleep and blankets.
Got into the car with Kris' mom and then got to the airport. Met up with Holly and any jitters I had left were swept away by her presence. Holly is one of the few people who automatically puts me into a state where I can relax. It probably comes from living with her for five years and having gone through just about everything I want to go through at all with her at some point or another.
So, we check in and then go out to the gate and find that the flight has been delayed about an hour. I shrug at this and suggest food. Food is always good. Go and get Burger King and then sit down to eat. As I throw away my garbage I pass by a table with two people looking at a laptop. I walk five steps and then stop, looking back. Lo and behold, it is Evanescence.
After a bit, I go over and talk to them and say that I appreciated the show at the record store. They seemed a bit surprised that we recognized them. We chatted for a bit, found out we were supposed to be on the same flight. They were going to Spain for something and their publicist was apparently unhappy that they were running late. We then hung out, riding the subway back and forth. Then we went to have drinks and snacks.
Rode the subway back again, running into Evanescence again and they said hi as we went through the security checkpoint again. They got onto a flight to London on British Airways and we sat around for the flight that was now just "Delayed".
A few hours into this I shrugged it off and just dealt with it. When travelling I slip into this odd place where I am calm and Zen and function on limited sleep and food perfectly. We sacrificed a magazine and a bus schedule and had a drop of mint stuff that tasted like soap. A plane showed up and we switched to that on, instead of the broken one that wouldn't seem to be fixed. At 9:30 the flight way delayed for another hour. And then for 15 more minutes. Then we got on the plane.
The flight was smooth. I was very impressed, especially with my experience with Trans-Atlantic crossings. Watched The Tuxedo and Harry Potter 2. Food wasn't horrible but wasn't great either.
Hung out in Amsterdam for a bit, caught the flight to London, which I amazingly got a small nap on. I typically cannot sleep on planes at all.
Got to London found out our bags didn't make it to London with us. Yeah! I was taking everything in stride now. I had, in fact, kind of expected our bags not to be there, though I couldn't come up with any idea why they wouldn't have been. I ended up coming up with an explanation that made sense, but really, I didn't care. I was not looking forward to sleeping in my turtleneck sweater, as much as I love it.
Then got to the Tube station. Got on the Tube which had been delayed by various things, including a guy stabbing himself in the face with a broken bottle. Wheeeee. Got off at the Tube station the map had said and went entirely the wrong way. Both my direction sense and Sean's was entirely screwed up. Went into a hotel, looked at a map and oriented myself and went back the way we came and turned right. Found the hostel after a bit longer of a walk than I would have wanted. (I was never lost. I was just disoriented.)
We decided to go get to go get food. Went into a pub and asked if they served food. The guy behind the counter said, "No, but there's a dirty chicken shop down the street." On our way to somewhere else, I went back to where we were supposed to meet Kyna since I hadn't seen her there previously. Ran into her on her way out and we all met up and got yummy, yummy curry. Then we slept. I wish there had been pillows that weren't little thicker than cardboard, but who cares, it was sleep and blankets.
