Socks on a Plane

We're here, alive...just barely.

So the adventures all began when we arrived at the Philadelphia airport yesterday, or was it today, or two days ago? We no longer understand time. After managing to check our suitcases and avoid extra fees, we headed straight to a typical airport pizza restaurant to grab a final bite to eat. Of course, the cashier assumed we were in some kind of relationship (not that we aren't), but we were not prepared to be recognized in public.

So once we reached 30,000 feet we were bombarded with some kind of beef stew and of course hot tea. I consider myself a vegetarian when I am above ground level, so I ate everything except the beef. Thanks to Tylenol PM, I enjoyed a nice 4 hour nap on the plane; however, not before I discovered the complimentary socks.

Never have I received such a wonderful in-flight gift. I mean paper covered pillows and itchy blankets are fantastic, and occasionally I will hold on to headphones; but the presence of socks shocked me. These socks are one-size-fits-all London fashion at its finest. Not only will they keep my feet warm in the cold rain, but they will also make a great souvenir. I wonder if British Airways specifically gave me socks so I would recognize them as some kind of elite airline because I can almost guarantee no one else on that plane realized their free pair of socks.

Enough about socks. So we landed and almost didn't make it through customs since apparently "study abroad" isn't a valid reason to be in England. After some minor setbacks, we went to the baggage claim. Though we were tempted to hop on the little conveyor belt, we did not want to make a bad impression in front of the professors and other students. So we dragged our luggage to a bus stop which took us directly to our hotel. And actually we both have some nice blisters because we packed entirely too much. Who knew each individual rain boot is about as lightweight as a Norton Anthology?

Sidenote: Our plane left PHL at 6:55 pm on January 3rd. The night before this we both were too anxious to sleep more than a solid 4 hours. The plane landed in London around 6:55 am London time on January 4th (so 1:55 AM at home). And from there we had a full day of delirium.

OK, so the flight left us sleep deprived and feeling like we were on drugs, but so far London has been confusing, expensive, and gorgeous. Just like me! It's like we were meant for each other. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful experience.

We got to our hotel and immediately had trouble opening our door. Good. I'm sure it will be so much easier when we come stumbling back from a night at the bars. We opened the door with some help and found...that our room was old. So old that its probably haunted but we would rather not think about that. It does have modern conveniences like...wait for it...a TV! It also has what we thought was a bidet but later figured out is actually a short sink? Oh the Brits.


Later we took a bus around London and scoped out some places to eat and shop. But more importantly we eavesdropped on everyone around us.

We have to admit there have been a few minor setbacks. First of all, the pub near our hotel hates us already. Who knew we had to order at the bar? It had tables, it had food, it looked like a restaurant, and we sure ended up spending money like it was a restaurant. After waiting at the table like the Americans we are, we finally went to the bar and all 7 (SEVEN) of us ordered the same exact meal. Fish & chips and a Guinness. It was delicious of course. We then sat at the table for another half hour debating about leaving a tip. Would it be rude to leave a tip? Would it be rude not to? How much do the British tip? Should we ask the bartender? Well that's dumb. Should we ask the couple in the corner? Why not!

After dinner, we went to Tesco to grab some snacks and water to keep in the room. We then headed back to The President hotel. By this point we have also decided that a "trouser press" is really just a convenient fold away mini bar (we have yet to utilize this). We knew a bunch of people from the trip would be meeting in the lobby at 19:30, so we decided we had a solid hour or so to nap. OF COURSE, we fell asleep and woke up around midnight. So now we are antsy and realize we have to wake up in a few hours to start another day of adventure. Also, in the small amount of time we slept, Megan went crazy. She started sleep walking down the hallway and locked herself out. She knocked on the door assuming her sister Kimmy would answer, and then thanked Kimmy (actually Brittany) profusely for getting out of bed and opening the door.

Good day, good night, WHAT TIME IS IT ANYWAYS?!