We got off the plane and went to the baggage claim to get our luggage. My second thought: "Heathrow airport is kind of old and dirty". It's true. England is not like America. Since the country it's self is alot older, everything in it is old. They are alot more frugal, and environmentally minded, so everything is not replaced with new all the time. Still, not really what I expected for the world's busiest airport. There is also ALOT of stairs - where everywhere here has escalators. And escalators that do exist, are really steep. It's a little nerve racking looking down from the top of them. Stairs or escalators, it is a lot harder to get around with alot of luggage.
First thing we did is get a cup of coffee (tea for me). Another new experience. They are served in actual cups with actual silverware, unlike in the states where everything outside of a sit down restaurant is disposable. Oh, and the tea is served in a little teapot, which you then pour into a cup yourself, once you sit down. The coffee is always the nasty instant stuff. It's pretty hard to find a place that brews coffee like we do here. That didn't bother me, though, since I hate coffee.
After our little break we headed downstairs to the subway terminal.
I've never ridden the subway (or the tube, as it's called in England). So trying to figure out the schedules, was a little confusing. Since Patricia lived most of her life in England, she knew what she was doing and explained it all to me. I caught on really fast.
We rode the underground to Liverpool Street Train Station, to catch the Train to Ipswich, where Patricia's mom and sisters live. I giggled a little every time the subway stopped and the intercom announced the name of the station, followed by a reminder to "mind the gap".
We had a few minutes to kill, so we went outside, and I got my first real view of London. I was so excited to see the old buildings, the red double decker buses, and the London taxi's.
By the time we got on the train, I was exhausted. I had a really hard time staying awake during the hour and a half train ride to Ipswich. I really didn't want to take a nap though, because I new it would be much easier to adapt to the 8 hour time difference if I forced myself to stay awake until it was nighttime. I was right! I really didn't have any problem with jet lag, when we got there. I also really enjoyed watching the views of London and then the English countryside from the train window.
We got off the train in Ipswich, and caught a cab from the train station to Patricia's mom's (Grace) house.
When we arrived at the house, Patricia's brother, Brian, was there. He gave me a tour of the house, and of the garden. There were alot of blackberries and pears, and cherry tomatoes that were ripe. I was really excited about that!
After visiting with Brian and Grace for a little while, I decided that I couldn't stay awake any longer - even though it was still pretty early. I went up to my room to change, and unpack a few things before going to bed. That's when I discovered that even though I had checked my bag 900 times, I had forgotten the charger for my laptop. Not cool.
After only getting a couple of hours of sleep in a little more than two days, I crashed. I slept like a rock.
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