Day 2!

Alright… how’d I manage this 😂 on a $300 ticket I got more leg room than first class! Unfortunately this didn’t enhance my sleep and honestly did quite the opposite.

Where the seat was positioned I was almost always in the way of the food/drink cart and everyone that got up to go to the bathroom infront of me would bump into my legs or chair. I probably slept for only an hour or two on the 9 hour flight, but luckily I had a little entertainment outside of my audio books and music.

I honestly played so much Yahtzee and had a blast every game (minus the fact I was insanely tired). I of course had to throw a little self promo on the leaderboard 😂 While I was playing I got flooded with very lovely memories of the countless Yahtzee games I played over the years with my Kansas City friends (yes friends, not coworkers)!

As far as flights go, the crew on the SAS flight was lovely and they were very apologetic when they bumped into me and it became a running joke. But the food however was not as fun as the food on my Korean Air flight back in July/August of 2023.

After takeoff they served us a little breakfast croissant which was actually quite enjoyable! But a few hours before landing they served us “brunch”

I did enjoy the cheese in the salad and the potatoes and the tomato in the meal. But overall I was a little underwhelmed and very glad I took Maddie up on eating in O’hare vs. my typical move of being very anti airport food (thank you so much again).

But enough complaints (I’m always going to keep it real and not sugar coat things)! We landed safely in Copenhagen and we were met with a lovely dusting of snow and a below freezing temperature 😁

Fortunately I was just passing through! I’ve never been to Copenhagen before and it’s definitely some place I’ll visit in the future, but the airport was absolutely dead… it seemed like a fairly large airport, maybe it was just the terminal I was in. But it felt like I was the only one walking to my terminal at noon on a Thursday!

After a quick dental hygiene session and around an hour and a half layover, I was off on my last flight to England! While waiting for my flight I ended up chatting with a person I recognized from my flight out of O’hare. She had a big teddy bear strapped to her backpack so I was curious if it had anything to do with paddington, but it turned out she had never left the country before and was studying abroad and wanted to bring something that reminded her of home!

I thought it was awesome to see that she was taking a big step outside her comfort zone and taking a risk leaving her small town and small college (that near her small town)!

Thankfully on this flight I had a window seat and was able to catch a short nap. Along with that, a thing I really enjoy while traveling is hearing all the different accents and languages. There’s so many I’ve never heard before!

The flight ended up being under 2 hours which gave me plenty of time to figure out my bearings when arriving into this new airport, London Heathrow.

One of the big things I did before this adventure was canceling my phone plan. Which now means I need to get SIM cards in every new country I go to. The process was a lot more straight forward than I anticipated and I got it all sorted out quite easily! This is something that will help me save a lot of money especially when visiting countries in South East Asia!

The next task was filling up my Oyster Card. My parents have been to London (and my dad multiple times) so luckily I already had the card and quickly made my way to the underground where I filled up my card and got my first Tube experience on the Piccadilly line to Russell Square!

It was about an hour ride to downtown and as we got closer and closer to the heart of the city the car got more and more packed. I can already tell how lovely it’s going to be in such a walkable and public transport heavy city (and country)!

Now… it’s walkable… and I knew I was going to get rained on. But for some reason the rain decided to get extra heavy for my visit 😅

The walk from the Russell Square tube stop to the hotel I’m staying at was short, but I ended up getting fairly soaked! But… I had someone lovely waiting for me at the hotel… my dad!

I’ve been spending a lot of time at home so I’ve seen him recently. But since he left a few days before me we had some catching up to do! And seeing how I only had one meal for the day, it was time to eat!

After getting settled in, we braved the rain and walked a few blocks to one of my dad’s favorite pubs in the area, The Lamb.

As this is my first English pub experience, I don’t have much to compare it to. But it was quite lovely! It was a very small and intimate pub with very friendly patrons. I ended up getting a meat pie (unfortunately the last one, sorry dad) and my dad got, what he claimed was, “the best fish and chips he’s ever had.” I’d have to believe everyone has their favorite spot they’re partial too, but after tasting it myself, I’d have to say it was very good (not that I have much to compare it to yet).

We of course got a couple pints too! I got a Young’s London Special, which I can’t say I was the biggest fan of. I’m going to have a few more different “proper” beers before I give my official thoughts on the beers here. But I’m optimistic I’ll find some that I like! Just because it’s a new taste doesn’t mean it’s bad!

After a lovely dinner and chat, my dad and I headed back to our hotel room for the night. He’s still recovering from jet lag and I’m only just beginning… and after a full day of travel with very little sleep I am BEAT!

I’m very glad I get to ease into this next adventure by hanging out in a new place with people I love to hang out with! I can already tell I’m going to really enjoy England and we’ll see what tomorrow’s adventure brings!

– Elie