But let me start at the beginning. After flying into Gatwick in London, I maneuvered expertly on the trains to King's Cross [No, I didn't make it to platform 9 3/4, but I'm told there's a cart there half-way through the wall]. I was supposed to meet my friend there, but my phone wouldn't dial any numbers. And since European numbers require some sort of magic genius to understand, all the numbers I had in my phone were somehow incorrect so I couldn't contact a single person even from a pay phone. Situation: In a large city with no destination and no way of contacting anyone... So I started to panic. Out of sheer luck, I saw a friend of mine from Haverford who was leaving for the weekend in King's Cross (major coincidence) who told me how to get to another friend's dorm. Once I got there, I couldn't find out her room number (security) and my phone had somehow erased her number from my phone so I couldn't call her even with the expertise of an Englander at my side. The scene ends in me crying to the receptionist while he hands me tissues and tries to feed me chocolate. Disaster. But somehow, I got a hold of another friend of mine (coincidentally, the one whose quote I stole) and when I left to meet him, I ran into the friend I was supposed to meet in King's Cross -- miracle.
Some post-recovery activities were as follows...
Unfortunately my camera died after this photo, but I went on to stand in the middle of the deep blue water (on a bridge) and gaze all around to see the beautiful lights of the London Eye, Parliament, and Big Ben. What a gorgeous sight.
Mmmm so many delicious things in Harrods! My friend and I perused the huge department store and all of its rooms. If I were a child, this is where I would want to get lost.
Portobello Market! Incredible. Olives, avocados, all kinds of fruits and vegetables, clothes, strange souvenirs, ornate objects, hot, ethnic food, and everything else.
This dessert is called pavlova. It is literally going to be my summer goal to learn how to make it. I actually think it was the best dessert I have ever had.
Obviously there was a lot of tea to be had on this trip. The one in the middle was Earl Grey with Blue Flowers. It was a little sweeter than the classic EG, but had a nice flavor. There's a lot of tea here in Granada as well and I am loving all the new flavors! Oh, and this tea shop was in Covent Garden which was beautiful!
Running to catch the last tube to get to a club we lost a friend of ours on the wrong tube and this is what happened while we watched her through the window as the tube pulled away. Basically total deterioration of any composure.
Saturday night was a blast. We went to a huge club called Fabric where one of my friends' friends bought a VIP table where the bartenders waited on us hand and foot and we had a view of several crazy dance floors. This guy bought an outrageous amount of alcohol, I can't even imagine how much money he spent. Moral: People who live in London do not have a problem parting with dinero. But seriously, it was such a great time! These are some of the girls I went out with, but not even half of my friends who were in London this weekend! It was pretty much a Haverford fiesta en Londres.
Camden market! This was the coolest place I went to I think. They have motorcycle seats as chairs and tons of ethnic food simmering in huge pots and gaudy jewelry and printed clothing. It's a rush just taking it all in.
After such a crazy weekend of walking all day and going out all night, Sunday was a little bit of a struggle. I finally got to the airport, only to find out that my flight was delayed meaning I would miss my bus back to Granada (I flew into Málaga). Sitting on the plane, I problem-solved how I would get back since the buses stop running after 10, which was when my plane was getting in. I figured I would just get a hotel and miss my class (bad news bears because our grades get lowered if we skip like 2 classes) but I have a habit of blabbering on about my anxieties when I'm nervous so I started telling the woman sitting next to me about my dilemma. Turns out she was going to Santa Fe (the town next to Granada) and offered to drive me to Granada! What good luck. A series of unfortunate events had led her to the seat next to me (daughter's last-minute operation in London, a fear of sitting next to the wings in a plane), so it was incredibly coincidental that we were even introduced, but it was quite a fortunate event for me!
This ends my traveling days for a couple weeks. I am going to Córdoba this weekend for a day and perhaps the beach the following weekend (an hour from Granada), but my next big trip is at the end of March. Spring break in Italy and Ireland!
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