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Good Morning And Goodbye
View of the Manhattan skyline from our terminal as we wait for the plane. Well, we made it. We got to Newark Airport in the dark, at around 4:45am. We made sure Sarah got to her ticket all right and found where security was before Richard and I headed over to the international terminal to wait for our plane to board. We waited quite a while, our flight wasn't scheduled to leave till 8:20am. Where we were sitting at our gate had us facing the Manhattan skyline, so it was neat to watch the sun rise over New York and look at the Empire State Building with an orange and yellow backdrop.
Virgin Atlantic is a great airline....if you are wealthy. Our plane was a huge Airbus 340, and when I boarded the plane I couldn't believe the setup in first class. Each person has their own like chaise lounge for a seat and there is a bar, an actually nightclub-esque bar, in the middle of first class. If you know someone who is unemployed or unmotivated, book them a flight on Virgin and show them what hard work and a good job can get you, or luck. As you continue down the aisle, you enter Premium Economy which just has a little
Watching Home Fade Away
View from the plane of the Eastern Seaboard. The last sight of the US for awhile. more legroom and leather seats. Richard and I and the rest of the poor people sat in Economy, which is like every other airline I have ever been on, except they do have more comfortable seats and your own personal screen in front of you where you can personally select what movies to watch, music to listen to, games to play, or track what part of the world your plane is at the moment. I told Richard its like we are on the Titanic and we are 3rd class passengers, stuck near the boiler room. The fligh attendants all were made up like models on a runway, they didn't look like models, but had weird Cameron Diaz hair and make-up. They were all British and kind of rude. Richard and I were sitting together, but my screen was all messed up (I think its because I selected a U2 song to listen to and God was punishing me). It took my about 5 punches on the flight attendant call button before someone came over and found me a new seat a couple rows behind Richard. He smelt so I didn't want to sit next to him anyway, just kidding. Because
Felt Like I Was In England Already
Photo of the wing of our Virgin Atlantic flight, just before they served me an English breakfast followed by some tea. the plane was huge and wide, it had 2 seats then an aisle, 4 seats then an aisle, and then another 2 seats. Other than the attitudes, the amenities were nice on the flight. They served breakfast (an English breakfast with eggs, potatoes, mushrooms, and sausage links), constantly asking if we wanted tea or coffee or something else to drink, an ice cream bar, and a brownie (I had both). The flight was long, but I watched Blood Diamond and played an intense game of Pong, so it went by faster than a 6 hour flight normally seems.
We landed at Heathrow at around 8pm, went through customs, got our bags, and exchanged currency. I watched $75 US shrink to £30 British pounds. We bought a train ticket that took us from the airport into the city to Paddington Station where we switched to a city train that took us somewhat close to where our hostel was. Of course figuring out which direction to go was the issue. The streets here don't have typical street names on the intersections, the street names are up on buildings which took us a while to figure it out. It was dark out,
Almost Across The Pond
Turned on tracking map on my personal screen and was happy to see we were almost to London. but the city was buzzing, even on a Monday night. But I guess its like the Manhattan of England, maybe even Europe, so this city probably never sleeps.
We walked through a really nice area, Kensington I think, and saw Mazerattis and Aston-Martins. We found the hostel, the Ace, and checked in. The place is rated in the top 10 for hostels in the world so it was packed with Americans and Europeans, but its a very clean and well run hostel. We got our room keys and walked up two flights of stairs and entered the room. Its dormitory style, so we barged in, there's a two sets of bunkbeds in the room, and I noticed a lump under the covers on one of the top bunks. We turn on the lights and this blond girl pops up. We apologized for waking her up, but she was cool and said not to worry in a British or Australian accent and went back to sleep. Richard and I were hungry so we walked around and found a place called Chicken Cottage. They served fried chicken in about 10 different forms and even a lamb burger. I ordered the lamb
You Have Arrived
After some wandering around, we made it to the Ace Hotel in West Kensington. burger, but it was too late, they only had the chicken out. Richard said it best when he said we are in elementary school again, trying to learn what coins and bills mean what amount. The food was alright, but we were both starving so it hit the spot.
I am convinced Richard and I are going to die here. Because the cars drive on the opposite side of the road, we keep looking the wrong ways when crossing streets. We are now on the computers in the hostel, there's no wireless internet in the place so I can't use my laptop. We both feel kind of awkward in the hostel, because its our first time in one of these places, but the people seem cool and I am going to invite them out with us for Richard's fist bar experience. Well, we are going to go head back up to the room and make this girl in the room hate us even more.
Have fun,
Matt
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Tracey Quick
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London bridges falling down.......
Enjoy London and all it has to offer. I can't wait to hear about your next adventure. Talk about living vicariously through your children. Yep. Dottie is doing well. She has her LAST pill today. Maybe she'll keep her nose out of the next snake hole. I'm going to put on my U2 CD now. Love ya, Mom