I woke up once to my dads false alarm at 5:30. I woke up again with our wakeup call at 6:30, and again with another wakeup call at 6:45.
Got up, packed quickly, and we were out the door around 7. We were planning on taking a taxi but a bus was there so we opted for the £4/per option.
Got off at terminal 3. Checkin was easy, and I even got them to mark my luggage "fragile" to be hand placed on the plane, since it has bottles inside.
Picked up a few cigars in duty free and got a couple free tastes of Chivas Regal 18 year old whiskey (because whether or not it's 8:30am, free whiskey is free whiskey) before we headed to the plane.
I will not elaborate on my dad obliviously piling chocolates up on a counter and then purchasing more, holding up the line. But it happened.
Our plane turned out to not be delayed too much because of the nor'easter. We boarded after I was body-searched.
30 minutes after we were supposed to take off, my dad glanced at the row behind us and noticed no one was sitting in any of the four seats. We grabbed up the two end seats of the row, so my dad could move forward to our previous 2 seats (and the one unoccupied between those and the Hasidic Jew sitting on the other side) when we took off and I could lie down across all 4 seats behind him.
Before we took off, an announcement came on; "Would passengers Dreyer, Rosenberg, and Schwartz please identify yourselves to the crew?" surprise surprise, the Hasidic in front of us was Schwartz. They were checking to see if the special in flight kosher meals were satisfactory.
Scheduled to leave at 9:20, we taxi'd at 10:40, expecting to make up some time with a tailwind we apparently were expecting.
We took off at 11. My dad moved up a row when the fasten seatbelt sign went off, and I stretched out across the whole of row 46. I turned on The Informant!, and watched from the comfort of my supine position. It was a good movie, but less haha funny and more dark funny. But if that's what they had in mind, they got it.
Food came. Gotta love Virgin Airlines and free wine with your meal, and coffee and tea.
I watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which was sufficiently awesome for my tastes.
Started doing chinese characters, figuring the more I get done now the sooner I can finish for the year this homework spawned from the mind of the devil himself.
To distract myself from the characters I watched GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra. Mindless, numbing, and perfect for what I needed; a time waster. Best line by far is when the soon to be announced Commander Cobra (Rex) says in his raspy, thready voice "Kill them. Kill all the Joes." Now where have I heard something similar before?
We landed at 2:11, leaving 2 hours and 39 minutes until my flight to st louis left.
Waited and waited for my bag, and it finally came through. We hurried to the taxi stand, got a taxi to La Guardia, and arrived around 4.
Checked in and waited. The plane was delayed and my mom had to bring me my bag from home with extra clothes and my computer. She arrived, I said my goodbyes to the parentals, and I went off through security.
Security took the toothpaste from my bag but not the 6 Cuban cigars sitting on top of it. Who woulda thought it?
My plane left at 6, and landed 3 hours later at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
I took a cab to school and walked back to my dorm. I plopped myself on my bed and crashed. It'll be weird go to school tomorrow...
Final thoughts:
In the future, the better way to do this trip would be to land in London and decide upon a place a few days in advance, so as to have more choices, and to not immediately book a return flight, so we can go from A-B-C instead of A-B-A.
But it was a wonderful change to be in a new place without any preperation. Normally one who travels plans their trip months in advance, reading about the region, even learning the language. In doing so, they develop an idea of the region before they've been there themselves. They have preconceived notions of the area, the people, the sights, and the culture. But by showing up on the fly, your reactions become your own, and your notions become original. It is for that reason, if for no other, that I would make a return trek to ____________ given any opportunity.
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