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Wednesday, July 25, 2012- London, England

Today, I woke up at 5:30 am. It was rough. It was twilight. I was able to get ready. I must admit that I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. It is easy to travel when you are functioning in your own country or in your own language. It is harder when you are functioning in another. Plus, the local train functioned in both Dutch and French. Crap! My friend got me to the station 20 minutes early. She got me to the track. The train reminded me of the Long Island Railroad but nicer. It was a double decker train. And, it was packed all the way from Landen to Brussels. At Brussels, I was able to make my way to the Eurostar station, there were plenty of signs. At the Eurostar station, I picked up my ticket. Then, truly began my adventure. I used my passport to get through the first custom agents. They were Belgian. Within 10 steps, the UK custom point. I had to show my passport again and fill-in paper work. The custom agent asked me, “What was the purpose of my trip?” I explained that I was flying out of London. She asked for the ticket that I hadn’t printed yet. But, thank you, Jesus for smart phones. I was able to pull up my emailed ticket. She was really mean but she let me through.

The Eurostar train was nice. I had breakfast service. It was a 2 hour ride through Belgium, France and the tunnel. It was a flawless trip through the countries. There was even food service. I got to London. The energy there is contagious. The Olympics are coming. There were olympic symbols all over. There were people waiting for the official team of France to escort them somewhere. The train station in London called St. Pancreas International was gorgeous. It was really busy. It was a bright and pretty. I had about a 40 minutes to an hour before I had to get to Heathrow. I got a snack and some Earl Grey tea. The tea was awesome. Then, I picked up some things that said London on them. Then, made my way to the Underground. I had to ask how to get to Heathrow. I found out that there was an express train that went there from St. Pancreas. I hopped on the train. I must have looked either perplexed, lost or like a turtle. A nice looked black male offered me his seat. What?! Then, I had to get up a tall set of steps. Another guy helped me with my rollaway. What?! A guy that worked at the Heathrow Airport Express went out of his way to help me. Really? I made it all the way to the airport.

My flight home was amazing. I was able to fly home in first class. I have no idea how that happened. I am home on Long Island. I am already planning my next trip in August. I think that I am going to write like a cultural similarities of my European experience. Stay tuned…
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