Well, I'm safely arrived in London just in time for the madness of the Jubilee and some classic cold, dreary rain. It's actually a welcome relief from the scorching summer that I left behind in Austin, and mild compared to the snowy Himalayas that I will soon be traversing. Consequently, however, I am finding my wardrobe sadly limited in terms of London weather appropriate clothes. Guess it's time to go buy a new sweater!
Rewinding a bit, however, both of my flights here were incredible (and therefore sleepless). I made wonderful friends on both flights, and ended up having a great adventure in Chicago as a result of the first one. Said adventure resulted in a lift from/back to the airport, with a few hours eating pizza, having great conversations, and walking around downtown Chicago. Step one of my adventure set me off on a great start!
The flight from Chicago to Heathrow was also brilliant, and included hilarious arguments with my seatmate, one of which resulted in me sticking a spoonful of cheese to their face. Good times, very little sleep.
Immigration was a horse of an entirely different colour. In fact, it was an emaciated, washed out, cranky horse that had been prodded one too many times with a pointy stick. After three hours of shuffling, delirious and near tears from lack of sleep, through a line longer than that of the Japanese fashion addicts outside Laforet on New Years, I finally made it to my immigration officer. Who, in turn, grilled me constantly about why I was visiting my friends from university and WHY I was travelling in India for six months. Lady, I have a six month Indian visa and my ticket out of the UK- what the hell do you care?
After some kerfuffles with getting a hold of my friend Yuko in London and getting my UK phone working, I finally put myself on the Tube and managed to get to London Bridge, where my lovely amazing savior (Yuko) was waiting to haul me off to her flat. There was dinner of quesadillas and guacamole (didn't I just leave Texas?), salad with Japanese dressing, pasta with homemade sauce, and Irish cream mousse for dessert. Then there was sleep for twelve blessed hours.
Today we walked around the London Bridge area, enjoyed the sight of so many nutballs out for the Jubilee festival, failed to get near the river, had a lovely cup of coffee and slice of tomato tart, and am now back at the flat just in time for it to start pouring chilly rain.
Now I've settled down with a cup of Moroccan mint tea to work on my novel while Yuko studies for the last of her postgrad exams. For the first time in many months I feel inspired to work on my novel, and have pulled out the scenes which take place in London to knuckle down on. I'm so hoping that the writing comes back to me, slowly, over the next week or two. There are also some poems that have been waiting an awfully long time to come out. I will try to put a few up here for you guys to peruse throughout my journey.
And now Esme must confront her landlady and a wealthy angry patron, and decide to buy a ticket for India. Mmm intrigue in the 1800's.
Next post will be from Brussels or Berlin, as I bus to Brussels tomorrow!
Rewinding a bit, however, both of my flights here were incredible (and therefore sleepless). I made wonderful friends on both flights, and ended up having a great adventure in Chicago as a result of the first one. Said adventure resulted in a lift from/back to the airport, with a few hours eating pizza, having great conversations, and walking around downtown Chicago. Step one of my adventure set me off on a great start!
The flight from Chicago to Heathrow was also brilliant, and included hilarious arguments with my seatmate, one of which resulted in me sticking a spoonful of cheese to their face. Good times, very little sleep.
Immigration was a horse of an entirely different colour. In fact, it was an emaciated, washed out, cranky horse that had been prodded one too many times with a pointy stick. After three hours of shuffling, delirious and near tears from lack of sleep, through a line longer than that of the Japanese fashion addicts outside Laforet on New Years, I finally made it to my immigration officer. Who, in turn, grilled me constantly about why I was visiting my friends from university and WHY I was travelling in India for six months. Lady, I have a six month Indian visa and my ticket out of the UK- what the hell do you care?
After some kerfuffles with getting a hold of my friend Yuko in London and getting my UK phone working, I finally put myself on the Tube and managed to get to London Bridge, where my lovely amazing savior (Yuko) was waiting to haul me off to her flat. There was dinner of quesadillas and guacamole (didn't I just leave Texas?), salad with Japanese dressing, pasta with homemade sauce, and Irish cream mousse for dessert. Then there was sleep for twelve blessed hours.
Today we walked around the London Bridge area, enjoyed the sight of so many nutballs out for the Jubilee festival, failed to get near the river, had a lovely cup of coffee and slice of tomato tart, and am now back at the flat just in time for it to start pouring chilly rain.
Now I've settled down with a cup of Moroccan mint tea to work on my novel while Yuko studies for the last of her postgrad exams. For the first time in many months I feel inspired to work on my novel, and have pulled out the scenes which take place in London to knuckle down on. I'm so hoping that the writing comes back to me, slowly, over the next week or two. There are also some poems that have been waiting an awfully long time to come out. I will try to put a few up here for you guys to peruse throughout my journey.
And now Esme must confront her landlady and a wealthy angry patron, and decide to buy a ticket for India. Mmm intrigue in the 1800's.
Next post will be from Brussels or Berlin, as I bus to Brussels tomorrow!
1 comment:
Hi, Corinne. I'm ready for an update! Wie geht's?
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