A Scoop of London

The last few days have been pretty crazy but Friday was amazing. Joan and I woke up at 3 a.m. to drive to the airport and catch our flight which was at 6:25. We were able to board the plane first-very V.I.P and we chose the first row of seats, the best ones I think. So, we were sitting the plane, I was looking forward to buying my books and drinking my Starbucks when Joan asked the flight attendent if he could buy tickets for the STN Express. "Are we going to London?" "Yes" I started crying immediatly. I've been wanting to go to London my entire life and now I would be. I was laughing and crying and kissing Joan and giving him hugs. It was such a nice moment. For Joan too, he actually suprised me and I had no idea it was coming. Except for this morning when he told me to bring the camera for "taking pictures in the airport." I was a bit suspicious but only for a second and I brushed it off, we couldn't be going to London, right?

After going through security we went to see Tom, the Supervisor for the IDs we make. I got my Security Pass and we went through the employee tunnel, underneath the airport to not have to go through Security. We arrive and Joan's pass is "parked" as they call it. Deactivated. He hasn't used it in awhile and that's what happens. So, we walked back to the office which is a few meters away from the airport. We waited and waited until Tom activated it and we took the tunnel back to the airport. Getting through security in the employee area is exhausting. They checked everything. They even turned on my camera. I was felt up by a woman and Joan was scrutinized as well. After 15 minutes of that nonsense, we could finally get through to Tom's office, have him sign the papers and our work was done. We had to go back to the ID office to return my pass. Joan warned me to make sure it was with me because if I lost it and we were in the restricted area-the police would come. The police in the airport walk around with machine guns. Scary.

Finally we were boarding the train to go to London. Arriving to Liverpool Street Station was an incredible feeling. We took the metro straight to Westminister Abbey. As soon as we stepped out I saw Big Ben. Not as big as I thought honestly. It was beautiful though. I saw the London Eye as well. The weather was amazing not cold at all and incredibly sunny. We walked over to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guards. We practically ran across the way to the gate when we noticed they were doing it. We took pictures by the fountain, walked through St.Jame's Park and dreamed of owning a nice flat overlooking the park. We only had four hours so we took a taxi to Piccadilly Circus. Once out of the cab I saw Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel, everything. We had to eat so we found this posh restaraunt next to Starbucks and enjoyed a great meal. I actually had a proper cesar salad and cranberry juice! I miss cranberry juice. After we walked around a bit, I went to Cinnabon as well and we just enjoyed it. We soaked everything up and Joan promised we would return one day very soon. He told me, "Think of today like a scoop of London-just a taste before you decide if you want the whole sundae." We decided we want the sundae. London was brilliant and we will return soon and for the weekend.

We made it back to the airport with plenty of time so I bought two books, "Second Glance" by Jodi Piccoult and "The Book Thief " by Markus Zusak, I believe. I'm almost through with The Book Thief and it is an incredibly amazing book. I also bought a Good Housekeeping Mag that came with a recipie book for the holidays-I'm in love. Before we boarded the plane, Joan got me a Gingerbread Latté, the perfect ending to the perfect day.

I will always remember our four hours in London. Our little scoop of British life.