A Dark and Bumpy Landing

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Geo: 51.2408, -0.170086

Finally, after a long flight we are flying over London, the flight is early so we had to float about in the sky for 20 minutes! It is 6.30am and it is pitch black outside. When we did land at Heathrow, it was a bit bumpy and I wasn't impressed. I breezed through customs with my Italian passport, got a trolley to pile my luggage onto and headed out looking for Val, who I am staying with. Val is my Auntie Jacqui's cousin. I will stay with her and her family for a little while. They live in Redhill, Greater London. I looked and looked around for her, I hadn't met her before, but have seen a photo. There were lots of people with signs looking for people, but no-one looking for me. After a little while she found me. In heavy traffic, we slowly drove to Redhill, where she lives with her daughter Victoria and son Neil. I don't feel too disorientated, as they drive on the same side of the road as Australians. The houses here are very different. All the houses on the street look the same as each other. Every house has a chimney or two. Am feeling pretty good, awake and ready to go somewhere. Val and I walked into Redhill. It was a short walk. She showed me where the train station and the shops are. There's also a McDonalds here, a nice hot burger will go down well one of these days. After a little wander, we headed back home and arrived 10 minutes later. Then it hit me - tiredness due to jetlag, so I had a long, long nap. It's hard to believe that I am finally here, very exciting and looking forward to heading into London to see the tourist sights. I also realised that I am going to learn a lot while living in the UK.

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Photos

01 Passports
My two passports - the Italian one will make it much easier for me to work and open a bank account.