Adios, London!

Yesterday was our final day in London. I can't believe how fast it all flew by! Our flight was at 12:50, but we had a long commute to the airport so we actually had to get up pretty early. We had to walk to the metro station, take the metro to Victoria, walk to the bus station, take the bus to the airport, fly to Madrid, walk to the metro station there, take the metro to the train station, and then take the train back home to Avila! It was some crazy traveling for all in one day but we survived. Our flight left about an hour late, because they were having some luggage transfer confusion, but it wasn't a huge deal. The skies were blue and clear and so they flight from London to Madrid was absolutely gorgeous! Definitely lucky to have landed a window seat.

Another fun thing to end my London weekend...

We got to board our plane straight off of the runway! I've always wanted to do that and thought it'd be the coolest thing ever, but I didn't think I'd ever actually get to do it. We were walking down the hallway thing and suddenly we were going down a set of stairs instead of up. Shanna asked why and I jokingly said we were going to get to go on the runway. And then we rounded the corner and VOILA! We were on the runway! The four of us freaked out with excitement and even made this random guy behind us take a bunch of pictures of us climbing up the stairs. Haha. Such a small thing, but it was a great moment in my life and definitely something to check off the bucket list!

When we got back to Avila, I was surprised to find my host mom waiting at the train station for me! I was SO excited because I really didn't feel like walking across Avila with my backpack full of stuff at that point. It felt so good to come back home and be in my own house with my family again. It's weird, considering I just moved here three weeks ago, but it definitely feels like home and I was so happy to be back. My family was super happy to see me too which felt so nice. Marta and I talked and watched some TV and then we ate dinner and I unpacked and did my homework. I'll have to show them my pictures tomorrow now that I've sorted through them all. Explaining random pictures in Spanish is a little bit difficult though.

London was so much different than Spain, way more than I expected. It is much more modern with buildings and technologies, and a lot more similar to the United States in many ways. It was a really nice break half-way through my time here to get away from school and be able to speak English for a while and experience some more modern-day things. They have a lot of American restaurants and companies there. It was really weird at first when we got to London and I kept getting excited when I'd see signs/businesses in English! It is much easier to ask for information/directions though when you don't have to stop and think about what you want to say first, or hope you can understand the worker. And oh my gosh, British accents do exist! I've never really heard anyone with a real British accent before and so these past 4 days were awesome!! They never stop being cute, EVER. And I think it'd be really difficult to sound angry with a British accent. Another interesting difference: they drive on the wrong side of the road. Which isn't a big deal when you're driving, but it's a little confusing at first because buses board on the opposite side of where you'd think they do. Also, since that's natural for them, walking is the same opposite direction. When you're going on the sidewalk or up a set of stairs, you go to the left, not the right. Which was really weird and hard to get used to. It was also really nice to get a little break from the Spanish diet. I like most of the food here, but it's all very similar and it's so nice to have some American type food once in a while!

As much as I loved London and did not want to leave, it feels so good to be back in Avila. And I mean really, having to go to Spain isn't anything to complain about! It was hard to get back into the Spanish speaking swing, but it came back pretty quickly after I got some good rest. I was so excited to be able to cut my fingernails, take a good shower, lay in my bed, and have some home-made meals. I'm so glad that I decided to go to London for the long weekend and so glad I went with Shanna, Emily, and Abbey! We had so much fun and 4 was the perfect number. It's enough to have fun and not get sick of each other, but not too many where you need to worry about losing people or not being able to get enough tickets/space for things. It was nice to be able to divide 2x2 if we needed to sit on a bus or something, or have a photographer for our crazy tourist moments. I really enjoyed spending time with those 3 great girls and can't wait to spend 3 more weeks with them.

That's about all from my marvelous weekend in London!!! When I think back on it and look through all the pictures, all I can do is smile :)