Day 1
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Location: Boston Logan International Airport
Time: 5pm
Flight Departure: 7:05pm
Result: Extreme boredom combined with great anticipation for impending departure
The 45 minute drive into Boston was full of adrenalin and excitement for my trip across the great pond. However, as soon as my mom's car pulled away from the curb and I started walking into the airport, the fun started to wear off. I have to make a confession: I kind of hate airports and traveling. Ironic, I know. I used to really like it, but now I fly so often (between school and home each year) that it's gotten banal and annoying. Of course, it's better than the alternative...
Now, usually they tell you to arrive at the airport at least two hours in advance for international flights. But I guess flying out to Scotland on a Wednesday evening means a fairly quick check-in and security clearance because I was sitting at my gate no more than 20 minutes after I arrived.
Annnnd cue 90 minute countdown to boarding. i.e. sit there on uncomfortable black airport seat trying not to get caught staring at the international people sitting across from me.
Annnnd cue 90 minute countdown to boarding. i.e. sit there on uncomfortable black airport seat trying not to get caught staring at the international people sitting across from me.
Luckily, on a large international flight the boarding started around 6:20 so i only waited a little over an hour. It was fun flying on British Airways because there were so many diverse cultures. I sat next to two guys who were near my age (I think). One of them was Italian, but I think the other may have been Spanish. I don't know. There was also a man behind me from Switzerland, a couple from England, and lots of other nationalities. It makes the trip a little more interesting when one can eavesdrop on others' cultural ways...not that I did that or anything...awkward...
Finally, after six hours, one and a half in-flight movies (The Tourist and Tron––which I don't recommend), two crying babies (twins?), a surly stewardess, and one vegetarian lasagna dinner, we landed at London Heathrow International.
Note:
This was the first time that I have had airplane food where I was literally reenacting Brian Regan's airplane bit. You know the part where he talks about how cramped you are so that you have to angle your elbows and twist the spork into your mouth?? Yeah...that happened. Eating was so difficult. I don't know why either, because I had the aisle seat. But for some reason my elbows were pinched together and I had to rotate my fork between my fingers and lean into the bite in order to eat. And of course the food tray is so small that it's a balancing puzzle act just to avoid tipping anything over onto yourself or the person next to you. Not to mention the fact that I didn't say one word to the guy next to me, so we were eating in silence––which would not necessarily be awkward, but when we both looked completely disabled whilst trying to ingest our dinner, I would say some awkward tension existed. I wanted so badly to bring up Brian Regan. I admit I was really close to laughing out loud at the absurdity of the situation...but then that would have created further embarrassment for me as the random Italian probably has no knowledge of Brian Regan or his relevant commentary on airplane experiences. In conclusion, I would submit that it is nearly impossible to eat daintily or attractively whilst on a airplane. Just remember not to make reservations on a flight for a date...it's not pretty. You've been warned.
Back to main train of thought...
I went through the passport line fairly quickly when it was short, but then I didn't have a landing card filled out so I had to go to the side to get one, then get back in line. By then, however, the queue had doubled with Indians (I have no idea where they came from...besides India) and it took me another 15 minutes to get through. Then I had to wait in three more security lines. In short, by the time I made it through security it was 8:30am. My flight began boarding at 8:40am. Needless to say, I was a little anxious. You may recall my last airport experience in London last spring...lets just say it involved cutting security, running a mile down the wrong terminal, leaving my backpack open and losing my favorite sweatpants, and almost missing my flight. Let's just say.
Fortunately, I made it through without a hitch. Of course, knowing my gate number and terminal always helps when trying to find the plane, so I found it pretty directly. I then proceeded to fly from London to Edinburgh where I had to wait in baggage claim for two hours to meet up with Ben from my group. His flight had been delayed so I had to wait an extra hour or so. But it wasn't too bad. Shardae came too, but she had planned to stay and wait for the rest of the group who were coming on a later flight. So Ben and I took a cab to the Premier Inn in Leif in Edinburgh. The drive was beautiful. Scotland is a lush green, with a beautiful coast. It looks a lot like New England, but more...European. Plus the coastal views included rolling hills in the distance, a nice aesthetic touch. Additionally, to my surprise, the weather was quite nice. Sunny and decently warm (although the sea breeze...really a strong wind...made it a little chillier). We had to wait a few hours though before we could actually check in so we explored a little bit. We went to the Asda supermarket (chain owned by Wal-mart) where I bought a water, and then we discovered that there was free wifi in the adjoining hotel restaurant, so we hung out there for awhile. To my horror I learned that the Celtics had lost in the NBA Playoffs, but then I remembered I was in the land of the Celts and I got over the loss fairly quickly (sorry Boston!).
At this point, jet lag (i.e. utter exhaustion) was setting in. We had left Wednesday evening in the States, stayed awake almost the whole flight over to Europe, and were starting a new day at 11am when we got to the hotel. And we had the whole day ahead of us. Not a pleasant prospect to be sure.
BTW: Scottish accents = awesome. Sometimes it's hard to pay attention to a conversation because the accent is so distracting. I tend to drown out what people are actually saying so I can just take in the sound of their voice. Probably not the best habit...
By 2pm the rest of the class had arrived at the hotel and we checked in. Unfortunately, I was assigned a room to myself. It was nice in the sense that I could do whatever I wanted, but I felt a little out of the loop. After check-in, we had a group activity.
We all went to visit the HMS Britannia, the former royal yacht used by the British royal family (including Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth etc.) That was pretty cool, but I will be honest, I was kind of in a haze. We had audio guides but I didn't listen very carefully. It was fun to go through all the rooms and parts of the ship though. I really liked the adjoining sailboat and cruiser. Beautiful vessels. They reminded me of the Kekko (for those of you who don't know, that is the name of our boat in Canada). Anyways...the tour was nice, but I wasn't really in the mood (I just wanted to go to bed).
Afterwards, we walked down the main street and Ben, Rogelio and I decided to go to the Starbank Pub that our cabbie had recommended to us on our way to the hotel. It turned out to be quite good (I ordered some sort of cheesy penne pasta dish) and eventually the rest of the class joined us. The waitress wasn't terribly happy about having fifteen students walk in for dinner at a pub, but other than that the experience was a good one. I even tried a bite of Rogelio's fried haggis dish (haggis is apparently a native dish of Scotland). It was good, I liked it. But then again, fried things are usually delicious, no matter what they are.
After dinner the three of us (who had finished before the rest of the group who had come in later) walked back to the hotel around 7pm. I went straight to my room, began to get my computer, then crashed on the bed. I was completely out by 8 o'clock. Woke up once around 1am then slept through until 8:15am.
Bliss.
Note:
This was the first time that I have had airplane food where I was literally reenacting Brian Regan's airplane bit. You know the part where he talks about how cramped you are so that you have to angle your elbows and twist the spork into your mouth?? Yeah...that happened. Eating was so difficult. I don't know why either, because I had the aisle seat. But for some reason my elbows were pinched together and I had to rotate my fork between my fingers and lean into the bite in order to eat. And of course the food tray is so small that it's a balancing puzzle act just to avoid tipping anything over onto yourself or the person next to you. Not to mention the fact that I didn't say one word to the guy next to me, so we were eating in silence––which would not necessarily be awkward, but when we both looked completely disabled whilst trying to ingest our dinner, I would say some awkward tension existed. I wanted so badly to bring up Brian Regan. I admit I was really close to laughing out loud at the absurdity of the situation...but then that would have created further embarrassment for me as the random Italian probably has no knowledge of Brian Regan or his relevant commentary on airplane experiences. In conclusion, I would submit that it is nearly impossible to eat daintily or attractively whilst on a airplane. Just remember not to make reservations on a flight for a date...it's not pretty. You've been warned.
Back to main train of thought...
I went through the passport line fairly quickly when it was short, but then I didn't have a landing card filled out so I had to go to the side to get one, then get back in line. By then, however, the queue had doubled with Indians (I have no idea where they came from...besides India) and it took me another 15 minutes to get through. Then I had to wait in three more security lines. In short, by the time I made it through security it was 8:30am. My flight began boarding at 8:40am. Needless to say, I was a little anxious. You may recall my last airport experience in London last spring...lets just say it involved cutting security, running a mile down the wrong terminal, leaving my backpack open and losing my favorite sweatpants, and almost missing my flight. Let's just say.
Fortunately, I made it through without a hitch. Of course, knowing my gate number and terminal always helps when trying to find the plane, so I found it pretty directly. I then proceeded to fly from London to Edinburgh where I had to wait in baggage claim for two hours to meet up with Ben from my group. His flight had been delayed so I had to wait an extra hour or so. But it wasn't too bad. Shardae came too, but she had planned to stay and wait for the rest of the group who were coming on a later flight. So Ben and I took a cab to the Premier Inn in Leif in Edinburgh. The drive was beautiful. Scotland is a lush green, with a beautiful coast. It looks a lot like New England, but more...European. Plus the coastal views included rolling hills in the distance, a nice aesthetic touch. Additionally, to my surprise, the weather was quite nice. Sunny and decently warm (although the sea breeze...really a strong wind...made it a little chillier). We had to wait a few hours though before we could actually check in so we explored a little bit. We went to the Asda supermarket (chain owned by Wal-mart) where I bought a water, and then we discovered that there was free wifi in the adjoining hotel restaurant, so we hung out there for awhile. To my horror I learned that the Celtics had lost in the NBA Playoffs, but then I remembered I was in the land of the Celts and I got over the loss fairly quickly (sorry Boston!).
Sunset at Western Harbor, Edinburgh, Scotland
At this point, jet lag (i.e. utter exhaustion) was setting in. We had left Wednesday evening in the States, stayed awake almost the whole flight over to Europe, and were starting a new day at 11am when we got to the hotel. And we had the whole day ahead of us. Not a pleasant prospect to be sure.
BTW: Scottish accents = awesome. Sometimes it's hard to pay attention to a conversation because the accent is so distracting. I tend to drown out what people are actually saying so I can just take in the sound of their voice. Probably not the best habit...
By 2pm the rest of the class had arrived at the hotel and we checked in. Unfortunately, I was assigned a room to myself. It was nice in the sense that I could do whatever I wanted, but I felt a little out of the loop. After check-in, we had a group activity.
We all went to visit the HMS Britannia, the former royal yacht used by the British royal family (including Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth etc.) That was pretty cool, but I will be honest, I was kind of in a haze. We had audio guides but I didn't listen very carefully. It was fun to go through all the rooms and parts of the ship though. I really liked the adjoining sailboat and cruiser. Beautiful vessels. They reminded me of the Kekko (for those of you who don't know, that is the name of our boat in Canada). Anyways...the tour was nice, but I wasn't really in the mood (I just wanted to go to bed).
The HMS Britannia
The Royal Sailboat
The Bloodhound
Me and Heather
Afterwards, we walked down the main street and Ben, Rogelio and I decided to go to the Starbank Pub that our cabbie had recommended to us on our way to the hotel. It turned out to be quite good (I ordered some sort of cheesy penne pasta dish) and eventually the rest of the class joined us. The waitress wasn't terribly happy about having fifteen students walk in for dinner at a pub, but other than that the experience was a good one. I even tried a bite of Rogelio's fried haggis dish (haggis is apparently a native dish of Scotland). It was good, I liked it. But then again, fried things are usually delicious, no matter what they are.
After dinner the three of us (who had finished before the rest of the group who had come in later) walked back to the hotel around 7pm. I went straight to my room, began to get my computer, then crashed on the bed. I was completely out by 8 o'clock. Woke up once around 1am then slept through until 8:15am.
Bliss.
What a good beginning...can't wait to hear the rest of the story.
ReplyDeleteHAHA "i have no idea where they came from, except India". WOW. you're the best. loved the first post, sounds like a lot of fun! (or should i say, alot of fun :) -- an alot made of fun). i'll be looking for the next post!
ReplyDeleteHaha, glad you guys liked it. Sorry it takes me so long, we've been putting in long hours every day. I just posted the next one though, so hopefully that will tide you over for a while :)
ReplyDelete