Monday, August 31, 2009

Journey To London: Final Stage


(I found some sort of an internet thing for now - getting connected today - so pictures of the flight below....)

The things I remember most distinctly are these: the jerk of the plane, and the speed... how smooth it felt, and how I gasped as I realized we left the ground; the sensation that I was flying; seeing labyrinth of blackness, suddenly streaked with a pale line of light - dawn, in foreign territory; my first glimpse of English countryside; suddenly coming out of the fog and clouds and having five seconds to look around before we hit the ground; my first step on British land.

The plane ride was perfect. It was the perfect length of time.  They showed a favorite movie, which we watched; then they served dinner, and after that a beverage, and then tea/coffee.  I read a few chapters out of Little Dorrit, I wrote a four page journal entry, wrote a few pages in my book, listened to music for a little, and then watched the blackness turn to dawn, and watched the dawn turn into sunrise, and watched the sunrise turn into morning.  But below us there was a thick blanket of grey clouds.  We plunged into it, and couldn't see anything.  As I said, I caught a glimpse of fertile, vibrant green English countryside, marked by hedgerows and everything...  And then we were served breakfast.


Sunset.



















Dawn.




Sunrise.

Really, a delightful trip. Except... I didn't sleep at all. Neither did Chloe.  And the best way to deal with jetleg is to not sleep during the day, and try to stay up till 9 PM (London time) and then sleep. So, right now, I have not slept for 33 hours.  Every time I sit down to read, I really almost drop asleep.

Because we were so tired, and because Auntie had to teach a class and wasn't here to keep us awake, Chloe and I decided to hit the town.  We walked down to the British Museum, and then to Trafalga Square and took pictures of Lord Nelson, and then walked down to Westminster Abbey, and went near Buckingham Palace (although we didn't know it was Buckingham Palace - just thought it was some random building :P) saw the Parliamentary Buildings, the Churchill Museum, the Supreme Court, and other buildings.... Good heavens! This was most interesting.  We didn't go in anywhere, because we wanted to wait for Nana and Aunt Paula, but we got our bearings, and it is amazing how easy it is to memorize London. :D  So, when we go the next few days to visit places, we'll know better how to plan our trips.  The great thing is about this place is that everybody is walking.  People do take the buses, but everybody is walking, walking, walking.  Everybody gets their exercise.  It's nice... And it's nice to be able to go out and walk in different directions and see historical statues and stuff.

Speaking of which....

I saw a statue from behind of a hunched man in a long trench coat, with a hunky sort of head... And as I walked towards it, I said: "O, that is Winston Churchill!"  And sure enough, as I walked around to the front, I recognized his hard, stern eyes, and hard mouth-line, and stern, intimidating features.  But I am always amused when I see his face, for some reason. Not in a disrespectful way, though.  I love his writings, and I admire all the research he did and the time he took to write such detailed histories for us...

And before we started the who-knows-how-many-mile trek back to Auntie's flat, we sat under a tree by a statue of a man named "Derby" and ate dark chocolate. :D

And now we are about to have dinner, and after that BED!

Again, I am not connected to the internet on my computer, so I am unable to upload pictures. But I WILL DO SO tomorrow when I get my internet, because we took some really good pictures.


11 comments:

Olivia Howard said...

Oh Ruby! That sounds simply splendid! Reminds me of my trip. How many hours ahead are you? 7? Love you and am thinking of you constantly knowing you're having a great time.

Rach and Catherine said...

Catherine about your pic with the bangs: "She looks a lot like Ruby!" Me: "That *is* Ruby." Catherine: "Oh. She looks a lot like Tirzah!"

Jack about your haircut: Me, "weeelllll???? what do you think?" Jack, "I DON'T. CARE."

There ya go. :)

XOXO

Anonymous said...

Ruby, My Dear!!!
It sounds like you're haveing a simply mah-velous time!! Continue to do so, and we'll continue to love and miss you terribly!!
<3 McKenna

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Stupendous pictures Ruby - especially sunset. Thanks for loading them. I just might have to expropiate that sunset image for Powerpoint presentations sometime. I don't think you'd sue little old Ryan now would you? :-) Sleep well.

Unknown said...

lovely photos Ruby!!

Ashlee said...

O! Those pictures are glorious!

Rachel said...

Coolio pic-chaz! I really like the sunrise one. I have been thinking of getting up early to take pictures of our sunrise for about the past 5 months now. Haven't gotten around to it. Mmmmm.

I'm SUPER looking forward to more posts!

:-)

James said...

Ruby, Those pictures are really good - especially the sunset.
God Bless,(and get some sleep,)
-James

Ruby Jean Hopkins said...

Olivia:

Nope, just five hours ahead! And it is simply delightful - I am loving every minute of it!


Rachel (and Catherine for that matter):

Haha! Aww. :D You gotta love little kids.

Lol! Just what I expected from him.... I'm so glad he thinks that way. :P


McKenna:

I miss everybody at home SO much and I can't wait to get back (even though I am having a splendid time) and I do hope that I'll get to see you again!


Ryan:

Well, you know, if that means more money, then yes as a matter of fact I would sue you. ;)
Glad you liked the pictures - I'm a little upset because for some reason on blogger they are not as vivid as they are in my photo library. Oh well. :)


Chelsea:


Thanks, I'm glad you liked them!

Ashlee:

I know... you would have just died if you saw the real thing. :)

Rachel:

(why do you have to comment so many times? :P)

Yeah, I'm looking forward to posting more! Especially with pictures. Having you like my pictures is really a compliment. Chloe is always complaining about the pictures I take, and then when I hand her the camera, she says: "Why are you giving it to me? You're the one who takes such good pictures!" So I don't know... :P

James:

Yeah, I had a lot of fun with the pictures. I'm glad you liked them - and thanks. :) I am still trying to cram some more sleep-hours into my schedule... :)

Thank you for the comments everyone!

~Rub

Ruby Jean Hopkins said...

Oh, that's supposed to say Ruby, by the way. :P