Okay, here's the start of the story of our trip. I had originally intended to blog while we were there, but since we didn't have a laptop or regular internet access, it just didn't happen. So this is mostly from my trip journal that I kept while we were gone, which I was able to write in whenever I had a few minutes.9/13/10 - Everett/Seattle
On bus - Finally on our way! How is it, after months & months of planning, plus a whole weekend free for tying up loose ends, PLUS the whole morning & early afternoon to get ready, is it possible to feel rushed and unprepared? I know we are as prepared as can be, and I think it must just be anticipation, and anxiety about being gone for a whole month. Neither Geoffrey nor I have been gone that long, anywhere. This will definitely be an experience.
SeaTac Airport - Monday is apparently a good day to fly, we got to the airport with tons of time (bus from Everett to downtown Seattle, Link from downtown to SeaTac), made it through security with no problems and didn't get forced to check our bags, and are now at the gate with 2 hours and 15 minutes to spare. There's a baby screaming its head off nearby - please God, don't let it be on our flight.
We're flying out of one of the satellite terminals, which you reach by riding a little subway-tram thing to get to. It's funny, the last time I rode it was when Amanda was coming back from England. I very clearly remember Aaron practicing his pole-dancing skills in the empty car, to everyone's amusement. That was back in the day when you could still go meet people at their gate of arrival.
14/9/2010 - London/Madrid (switched to European date-writing)
Heathrow Airport, Terminal 3 - I love London, even the airport is fantastic. This terminal feels light years away from the one we just flew out of at SeaTac. There are tons of different food places - Starbucks (of course), an Italian place, a bagel shop, a couple of pubs, a few nice looking bar/restaurants, and a sandwich take away shop. (I feel like I'm suddenly shifting into the Queen's English - I keep describing places as "proper" - "a proper coffee shop", etc." Not sure why.) There are a lot of high-end shops - Harrod's, Paul Smith, Chanel, plus the usual assortment of duty-free places. We've got a couple of hours before our flight departs and we haven't even been assigned a gate yet, so we're hanging out in the food/shopping area, snacking on bagels and people watching.
I went into some of the drugstores and bookstores and noticing all the the different kinds of snacks, candies, and beauty products, and it really hit me that we're in another country. I think it's easy to think that London will not be so different from the US because they speak English, and I'm really glad to start out in a place where that's the case because I'm in travel zombie mode, but it is absolutely not home. I'm trying not to think about what time it is at home (7:53 AM) because it just makes me tired. I don't know why I can never sleep on planes - I can sleep on the bus, on the train, during movies, but not planes. I've gotten to the point where I don't even expect to any more, because if I'm planning on it, it won't happen. So now, if I manage to doze, it's just a nice surprise. I do enjoy getting to watch a bunch of movies ("Letters to Juliet" and "The Backup Plan" - both totally predictable, but it's always nice to get a junk food movie fix).
So far, our flights have been smooth, no problems with delays or luggage (knock on wood). I'm really going to try to sleep on the flight to Madrid, though, because it would be nice to not feel like I'm sleepwalking when we're out to dinner with Natalia & Javi, and with us only having a few days in Madrid, I don't want to spend the entire time sleeping.
A little girl a few seats over from us is blowing bubbles.
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