suchnone #366 Day 1 Arrival

I left for the airport a good 4 hours before my plane was to take off. It only took an hour for me to get there and then a record 10 minutes to get through security and to be seated at the gate waiting for boarding to begin. So I wait for 3 and a half hours but I know if I would have been late, I would have been even more stressed and anxious. Thanks again to my co-worker and her fiance for giving me a ride to the airport.
I read about half of Blood Sucking Fiends, a book by Christopher Moore while waiting at the gate. Also talked to a few friends on the phone and my parents before takeoff. I noticed a young boy running around, playing with his trucks, being loud, being a typical boy and I hoped he would not be near me.
Boarding began about 45 minutes before takeoff. It went smoothly and I ended up having no one sitting next to me but the boy and his mother were in my row. Sort of diagonal from me were a group of very loud and probably drunk guys. I worried I would not get any sleep at all, I do not sleep well to begin with so I just knew I was going to be worn out when I arrived in London. I had nothing to fear. The boy soon fell asleep and the guys passed out shortly after dinner was served. The trip was most quiet from then on. But not before two things happened.

First, about 5-10 minutes into the flight and while we are still climbing to our cruising altitude and with the fasten seat-belts sign still on, a passenger gets up starts walking around, opening the overhead compartment and so forth. The captain has to tell him twice to sit down and the second time he did not sound very happy. I think we were close to turning the plane around. But, the man sat down. Then 5 minutes after that, the intercom comes on and says:

"Are there any doctors on board?"

I begin to look around and no one is moving and then we hear:

"Are there any nurses on board?"

About 6 people in my area stand and go to a woman about 9 rows in front of me. She had never flown, was going into a panic attack and started hyperventilating and having asthma attacks. She was able to be calmed down and there were no more problems of this nature the rest of the flight.

The in-flight meal was good, barbecued pork roast with mashed potatoes. I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which I had wanted to see for some time. Very good.

Then I tried to read some more. Then I tried to sleep some. Watched Meerkat Manor, then tried to read and sleep some more. I am guessing I slept more than I realized because just after thinking we had so many more hours left to go, the captain said:

"We are just off the coast of Ireland and will be landing in London in about an hour and a half."

I watched the sunrise over the green coast of Ireland.

We landed and I prepared myself for the long process of getting into England. Fifteen minutes later, after going through security, having my passport checked and then through customs, I was in England, but in a line, I mean a que, to get a Gatwick Express train ticket to meet my friend PSP(I cannot remember what I have called him before) at Victoria Station.

Arrived at Victoria Station in about 30 minutes time from Gatwick. Walked around looking for the Krispy Kreme where I was to meet PSP. Krispy Kreme was a small coffee cart like structure and sure enough there was PSP waiting for me. We made our way to the Underground ticket office where I purchased a three day pass. We then set out for Paddington Station which our hotel was near to. Actually less then five minutes from the station. Our room was not ready so they let us leave our bags in a back room and we walked down to a little diner on the corner and had tea. It was so good. The day was somewhat overcast or maybe it was cause I was in a fog what with jet lag but the rest of that day is a blur. I know we finally got in our room. It was on the 3rd floor and the heat rose so we had to keep the window open or it would have been too hot, well at least for me. It was below freezing at night and in the 40s (Fahrenheit during the day. We walked around Paddington Station, near a big park which I cannot remember the name of right now, walked to the Jordanian part of London where PSP who has lived in Jordan told me what all the smells were, so many spices, fruits, tobaccos etc in the air. London does not smell like other big cities I have been to, maybe it was the closeness to the park or maybe it was cause I was in a fog but it was pleasant. We walked around some more, basically trying to keep me awake. I had said I would stay awake at least until the sun went down. What I did not realize was the sun went down at 4pm. We went back to the diner for a light dinner. I was not that hungry but knew I needed food to help me adjust. I had a bacon and egg on toast.

We went back to the room(will describe it later) watched some BBC, think it was the news and a quiz show called Mastermind Junior(I think). I have no idea when I finally went to sleep that night but I slept some of the time and woke up ready to go the next morning.

Up next: Day 2 Walking Tour of London