Saturday, January 7, 2012

Day 209: Stripes


Alright, friends. It's officially catch-up time! I am going to go day by day and tell you what I did on my England and Ireland trip. I kept notes so it'll be just like you were there with me! And you'll get to understand the inner workings of my brain as well - how did you get so lucky?!

Day One + Two: December 22-23, 2011

These two will count as one day because December 22nd I went to work at 6am, then came home at lunch and did last minute packing. At 1:30pm my family and I went to Peter's Drive-In. So delish. At 3:00, I was at the airport ready to go! My plane left at 6pm. Let me tell you, I did not sleep at all. I think it was excitement of what was to come. Seriously though, it was awful. I watched The Help, which was not a great movie in comparison with the book (I hate that!). The 9-hour flight went by quickly though, so I was glad for that.

Upon arrival at Heathrow (10am, Dec 23), I felt like a movie star. As I walked out of the doors to the reception area, there was a man filming the arrivals. I was the only person that walked out at that point, so I wished I had my sunglasses to play it up a little.

Krista and I eventually found each other and maybe cried a little upon getting to hug again for the first time in approximately six months! So good!

We took the tube back to Krista's - my first time back on the London Underground since I was a 14-year-old. We ate Ketchup chips, which I had brought with me from Canada specifically for Krista. England has gross chip flavours (and they call them 'crisps' not chips). Prawn cocktail flavour, anyone?...I didn't think so. Yuck.

We had lunch at a pub near Krista's house called "The Mitre" and I had my first bottle of Bulmer's Cider. The pasta I had was so yummy and the cider was perfect. At this point I started to really feel only 45 minutes worth of sleep on the plane, but I needed to push forward until bed time to get on a proper schedule.

We then walked in search of a clinic because Krista's nose piercing decided to hibernate under her skin. This ended with us in "A&E", which is England's version of Emergency - but only after this delightful mixup:

Walk in to clinic attached to hospital.
Clinic Worker: We've just closed.
Krista: I'll just explain what's happening. It may only take a minute to fix. 
Clinic Worker: Alright.
Krista: <explains nose piercing issues>
Clinic Worker: Why are you here?
Krista: Because you are a clinic and I thought you could help.
Clinic Worker: Ummm...we're a sexual health clinic.

Oops. That explained the gigantic poster about STIs that I was laughing about on the way in.

We went to A&E and Krista got all fixed in no time - not like the year-long waits in Canada. Then we went to Oxford Circus and walked down Regent Street. I probably messed that up, but I was SO tired at this point. We had dinner at a HEAVENLY restaurant called Mother Mash. It was bangers and mash. The mash I chose was Irish with cheese and green onions in it. The gravy was onion. The bangers were I think Cumberland Sausage, but I don't quite recall. It was incredible food.

We walked (read: I stumbled, barely putting one foot in front of the other) to the tube and headed home.

Krista was successful in keeping me awake until 9pm and I was very thankful for it after I woke up the next morning feeling rested.

xo

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