Day 1 – The positive side of the unexpected (London)

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Yesterday was a pretty sucky day because of all the mess with the flights, which resulted in an unplanned layover in London. As soon as I knew I was going to London, I texted my roommate, whose best friends study in London. I didn’t think they would be able to hang out with me with such a short notice, but they are amazing and they said yes! I got to the airport in London, after sleeping on the plane and winning over the common jet lag, and after answering a few questions about my first visit to the United Kingdom in customs, I met my roommate’s friends. Meeting them made everything better. Having friends around the world is truly one of my best assets! We walked around the South Kensington area, Kingsbridge, and Hyde Park. London is not known for a typical plate other than fish and chips, but since we didn’t have a lot of time, we ate a pretty good pizza at a restaurant called Pizza Express. As we were eating lunch, they kept talking about afternoon tea, so afterwards, we decided to go get some literally after-noon tea at Valerie’s Patisserie. I ate a pistachio (my favorite) macaroon and had the most amazing berry tea of my life. Soon after, we took a “tube” back to the airport and said our “see you laters” (I’m planning to come back in June). 

DAY 0 – Could it be any worst?

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After a long night of packing, saying goodbyes, and lack of sleep, I was on my way to the airport early in the morning with my amazing Arkansan host dad. I checked in, had something to drink, and everything was going as planned. BUT THEN, the day I had looked forward to for months quickly turned negative when I found out my flight had gotten delayed. When I got to Charlotte, I ran to catch my next plane, but I missed it, of course. I was sent to customer service, waited for about 30 min. in line, and was told I could try to catch the 4:00 p.m. plane to Miami. I was upset, but tried to keep it cool and wait until then. BUT THEN, I got an email saying they had cancelled that flight  and that they had put me in an early morning (next day) flight that would take me to Chicago and then Miami. Since there was no word about my flight to Barcelona, I called the airline and they told me I could catch a flight to Philly, which was departing in 20 min., that would later connect me to a flight to Barcelona. BUT THEN, I ran and ran and when I got there, they told me it was full and there was nothing I could do. WHY!!!??! I kinda had a panic attack and called my parents and they helped me calm down. Finally, after waiting a long time, they told me they would send me to London and do a 7 or 8 hour layover. I didn’t care anymore, I just wanted to leave (…)

Once I sat on the plane to London that night, it hit me. I WAS GOING TO A NEW CONTINENT! I was on my way to Europe! On my way to a country I had never visited. And then ( this is a positive one “then”), I got excited again 🙂