That all brings me today (Saturday), the day where we left our home for
five weeks to go to our respective destinations around the world or United
States. Goodbyes/see you later’s began in the evening the night before and
continued into the morning. We got one last English breakfast at Café Maya and
ate back at the flat as we were waiting for the cab. At 11:00 AM, our final
goodbye was said to Jasper as me, Mike, Margot, and Moira piled into a cab to
travel to Heathrow. Right as we were pulling into Terminal 5, the song “Home”
by Michael Buble came on the radio. It was almost too fitting to have been real,
but it happened. I said my final goodbyes to them and lugged my overabundant
bagged into the airport. The check-in process actually went really fast. I had
a few hours to kill once I got through security, so I hung out in around the A
Gates, the same place where my team hung out waiting for our connecting flight
to Italy. Thus, another full circle moment. I couldn’t believe that just over
six weeks ago I was there with my teammates, awaiting our ten day adventure
through Northern Italy. Once my gate finally popped up on the screen, I made my
way to C63 and waited to board my British Airways flight. I was delighted to
hear that I got upgraded when I got to the ticket counter to check in.
That
all brings me to right now (middle of the day Saturday), sitting in my business class reclining
seat/bed/nook. This is nothing compared to a normal intercontinental first
class, which I have flown once. I feel spoiled and ignorant sitting here. I
made eye contact with a girl who looks about my age who also got upgraded, we
excited excitingly dumbfounded looks. I explored the different features of my
seat before taking off and read through the extensive menu they gave us. I
spent the beginning of my flight watching 21 Jump Street with Channing Tatum
and Jonah Hill, which was hilarious. Last time I tried to watch this was at
Emory with a few of the guys. By watch I mean connected a laptop to the
television and tried to watch an illegally recorded version online. I think
this is much better ;) The lunch I was served was the most extensive one I have
eaten on this trip, haha. Salad, salmon appetizer, and a risotto and seafood
dish have been keeping me incredibly full and content throughout the entirety
of the eight hour flight. It also says there is a snack bar area at the
gallery, but I don’t know where that is so I’m just sticking to my seat, haha.
The second movie I watched was one with Jason Segal and Andy Bernard from the
Office, his name is slipping my mind right now. It was interesting, wasn’t the
greatest movie but they’re both always hilarious. Now I finally have caught up
with my blogging, my eyelids are definitely heavy between the late evenings and
lack of sleep due to the spring coated beds. I am definitely looking forward to
my bed at home, you know there’s something wrong when you’re seat/bed on the
plane is more comfortable than the bed you’ve been sleeping in for the past
five weeks. For now, bidding adieu until I wrap this post up later during my
connecting flight from Atlanta to Washington, DC.
Okay
so that all brings me to now now (Monday afternoon in Starbucks), I’m home but want to detail the rest of my journey back. Connecting
flight from Atlanta to Washington, DC didn’t actually happen until Sunday
morning. Once I got through customs, got my bags, re-checked them, went
through security again, and got Qdoba for dinner, I made my way to the gate.
While just sitting around they asked for volunteers to give up their seats for
the flight that evening. I ended up bumping my flight until the morning. After
waiting for a while to get my hotel voucher sorted out for the night, I
navigated to ground transportation to find the shuttle for the quality Motel 6
they set me up in. The Atlanta air hit me in the face as I walked outside. I
couldn’t believe how hot it was even at 10:30-11:00 at night, which still makes
me question how we’re able to make it through preseason every year in these
temperatures. I know it’s a heat wave now, but hopefully it’ll cool down a tad
before we go back to school in August! Anyway, after about 20 more minutes of
groggy, tired waiting the shuttle game and a group of us piled on. We cued to
get our room keys and I headed up to the sixth level for the night. At this
point, I wasn’t concerned about the quality of the place where I stayed, I just
wanted to get some sleep. And that I did, in a King sized bed. As my house is
still without power and AC, I didn’t mind bumping my flight until the morning.
Plus I got $400 Delta Dollars in the bank to use within the year, which I
definitely plan on doing so for either getaways or visiting friends during the
Spring J
After uploading some pictures from the last week, I hit the hay for six hours
until my wake up call.
Finally,
finally took the last leg of my journey home on Sunday morning. Exhausted from
traveling and late nights, I was a little draggy throughout the day but excited
to be heading home. The flight from Atlanta to DC was painless as usual, aside
from a bit of turbulance. I got in around 11:30 AM where Papa Stein came to
pick me up and meet me at baggage claim, a dozen roses and all. Apparently my
baggage still came in on Saturday night, even though I didn’t do so myself. It
took us about seven minutes to realize that they were there and not coming
around the baggage loop with everything else. After getting all of my stuff, we
headed home to a house with no electricity or air conditioning, woohoo! When I
was going through the Atlanta airport, I noticed that my body was definitely
still in London mode. I walked to the left side to try and go down the
escalators, wrong move. I also tried to pay $11.25 for an $11.33 meal, thinking
that the quarter was equivalent to the 50 pence coin in London. Not to mention
I also almost walked into the men’s bathroom and then almost dropped my phone
into the toilet…was thinking that they were all signs saying I should go back
to London. Once we arrived at home, I gave my family all of their souvineers
from both Italy and London. I passed out for about 30 minutes before we went to
Champp’s to watch the Euro 2012 final!
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