Waking up this morning, I was excited to be getting on a plane again! With all the train rides I've been on the past month, I can definitely say I appreciate airplanes so much more than I had previously.
I slid off my top bunk and quietly got dressed, grabbed my suitcase and new duffel bag (..had to! Didn't want to be overweight again, haha!) I headed for the checkout, then the metro to Plaça Catalunya and then the bus to the airport! Phew!
I had made sure I was up early this morning because, as I had recalled, the bus ride from the airport was rather long and I didn't know what the airport would be like once I got there.
Well! When I arrived, I was about 3 hours early with not a soul around! I checked in immediately, hoping to enjoy all the shops I had seen when I flew in a few days earlier -- buuuuuut of course, with my luck, not only did I have a ton of time to kill, but all those great little shops were in a different area of the terminal that I couldn't get to! Bah!
I found a duty free, to which I had a gander around, then in a desperate act of hunger, grabbed an egg McMuffin from McDonalds... Not the smartest decision I could've made. I don't eat fast food all that often, so my stomach instantly turned after eating it.
With my phone on its last brink of life and my stomach feeling like I just swallowed a bucket-worth of grease, I found a cold tile on the floor to sit/ lay on beside a plug to charge my phone. Eventually, I had wandered looking for my gate, which they didn't actually announce until approximately 35 minutes prior to the flight.
Now let me just tell you...I boarded my large British Airways plane, and by gosh - AH-mazing! Can we just talk about the leather seats for a minute??! I was in the regular ol' economy seating that had big cushy leather seats and more legroom than annnyyyy delta flight I have ever been on! If I have the option to fly B.A. to anywhere I need to go in the future, you bet I'll be on that plane again! I believe... when I sat down... I just about burst out with a solid "Yippeeee!" in excitement.
Well done, British Airways, well done.
I arrived at London Heathrow airport within a few hours, most of which I had slept through. I sauntered on down to customs and I have to say, the customs officers in London are the happiest folk! Obviously this is the second time I've flown into London on this trip and both times they have been so friendly! The customs agent chatted me up about school... and art... and my trip... he asked me which country I had liked the best... It was so nice! And at the end of it he even told me to have a great time in London and with my family in Southampton! I walked away with a smile on my face and so appreciative of his friendliness! See! Simple kindness like that can go a long way!
I grabbed my suitcase at baggage claim and then headed out to find Julian & Karen, my dads cousins, with big, welcoming smiles on their faces and waving Union Jack flags! We hugged it out and then set out for Southampton!
Southampton is about an hour south of London, famous for the departure of the Titanic. My grandfather was born there and that's where a lot of his side of the family still resides. Needless to say, I was excited to see a little bit of my heritage and meet some family members I hadn't met before!
When we arrived, it's funny, all I could think about was how much Southampton reminded me of and resembled my hometown in Ontario. I definitely wasn't expecting that, but it was so great - it made it feel homey to me. Arriving at Karen & Julian's home, it was such a cute little house! Filled of nic nacs and photos and Beatles collector items! (Love the Beatles!) I was shown the bedroom that would be mine for the next couple nights and then just relaxed for a little bit before meeting up with Margie & Lec, two more family members of mine.
We went to a little place called...Uhh...Horseshoe... Horseshoe something-er-other Pub. Haha... Well whatever the name, they had great fish'n'chips -- and that was ooooookay with me! We had some drinks, some laughs, and Margie was sooo kind to have brought me a little goodie bag full of souvenirs I could take home to remember my visit! So, so nice of her!
Afterwards, Julian, Karen & I headed back to the house and all hung out on the couch watching this hilariously, raunchy show called Celebrity Juice. It was absolutely rah-diculous! Omg! A show like that would NEVER fly in North America! God, I love UK television! Haha! So funny! We watched a few episodes then called it a night!
Tomorrow, we plan to go see the Titanic Museum, so excited!
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