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.