Touched Down in London Town

So my plane ride was pretty uneventful.  I got to see The Social Network on the flight over. Great movie, maybe not better than The King's Speech, but still great. I got asked if I wanted tea at least seven times. And all of the flight attendants were British, and they all smelled the same. Guy or girl, young or old, it's the same scent.  It was the same smell as the hand soap on the plane, so maybe they get free tubs of it and bathe in it. Who knows.  Sadly, I didn't get much sleep on the plane.  They kept me up with my Stoffer's-esque beef brisket and Sprite on the flight.  The food plus sugar kept my sleepiness at bay.  There was some turbulence, and I had flashbacks to "LOST" (my winter break was filled with a lot of episodes of it).  After landing, the real fun began.

Before even heading to customs, I tried to get money out of the ATM.  It only let me take out 100 pounds (which ended up being more than enough for the first two days).  The phone graciously donated to me had a PIN number that I struggled to remember, but after two guesses, it unlocked.  I couldn't even figure out how to send text messages on it because it required a country code that I wasn't sure about for the UK.  The guy at customs was extremely probing.  He asked about where I was staying, why I was there, when I was leaving, what I was doing, what my occupation was, how I paid for the trip if I'm a student: it was ridiculous. How I paid for the trip?!  Really..... it was a joke. I actually thought for a moment that he would NOT let me come into the country.

Then I grabbed my luggage and took a breather.  I was a little overwhelmed by not knowing where to go, having all my luggage and being a hot mess with my over-sized suitcase/backpack plus a sweatshirt and winter coat.  I was hot as hell, to say the least. Luckily, I came to realize the airport (later, I realized the entire city) was designed to help instruct anyone that can read a sign, literally.  A woman bombarded me to sell the appropriate Heathrow express ticket.  Water bottles and food were available for marked up purchase once you left the baggage claim (or "reclaim" as they call it).  Of course the water bottle wasn't refrigerated, but I've always been fine with lukewarm water.   After retrieving my bag, water and a ticket on the train, I made my way to the Heathrow Express.