>6/27/02 Versailles, France (Phillip)
>
>Let me tell you about the fun time I had getting
>here and to catch my
>$7 flight! I was running really late getting from
>the center of
>London to the airport. But I thought I had given
>myself enough time
>to get me there an hour before take off. I was
>wrong... trains were
>running late and slow. I eventually got accross on
>the tube to the
>train station I needed for Luton.
>
>Well, such as luck would have it, the trains were
>running late. When
>I was sitting in the station I recalculated how long
>it was going to
>take and panic set in. I realized that I would make
>it to the train
>station near the airport only 15 minutes before
>departure! Not
>good... There was nothing I could do except sit on
>the train and pray
>for a delay! When I finally got to the airports
>train train station
>it was 10 minutes before departure. I ran off the
>train, pretty much
>alreqdy resigned to mising my flight, and ran to
>find a taxi (the
>free bus was empty so it wouldve had to wait for all
>the passengers
>from the train). Luckily a taxi appeared of nowhere
>and I flagged it
>down. Frantically I said "Airport departures fast!",
>but the driver
>turned around and asked if I had ordered the taxi.
>So i lied..... He
>took me to the airport where I jumped out and ran as
>fast as I could
>still praying for delays... Of course there were
>queues and no line
>for the Paris flight (it was now 8:45 and my flight
>left at 8:50!). I
>ran to custo,er service and he casually asked me to
>wait. Watching
>the time tick by I did. Eventually he sends me over
>to an empty line
>and says that shell help me.
>
>Again the lady was very calm, eerily in fact, but
>then I found out
>why, my plane hqd been delayed by 2 hours and so I
>could still get
>on! I thanked God and retreated to departures.
>
>THats not even half the story though! MeaNZhile;
>unbeknownst to the
>passengers. The airport ter,inal in Paris was
>closing! There was an
>identical flight to Paris leaving at the same time
>mine was supposed
>to (it was delayed from a couple of hours prior). So
>they patiently
>waited (flic says she was trying to look as pregnant
>as possible)
>until everyone had deboarded and finally were
>informed that was the
>last flight and the terminal was closing. The later
>flight (mine) was
>cancelled.
>
>Unfortunately that wasnt true. I did try to phone my
>mum to let her
>know my plane was delayed but her phone was
>constantly busy. So i
>gave up and sat down. Chatted with some of the other
>bemused
>passengers, most were panicing becuase by the time
>we arrived public
>transport in Paris Airport would be finished.
>
>Anyway, we finally board about 2 hours late. Easyjet
>has open
>boarding meaning you just grab any seat you want. I
>managed to lose
>the lady I was talking to in Departures; she wasnt
>so nice, and
>spotted a georgous girl and sat next to her (dont
>even act surprised,
>you know me better than that :) So I chat to her and
>first she seems
>nice. But then I realize that she seems to hate
>everything, America,
>England, babies, flying etc.... its still an amusing
>flight though.
>
>By the time we finally arrive in Paris, the terminal
>is closed. The
>wee bus from the plane drops us at immigration
>except there's noone
>there! The french start banging and yelling and my
>friend translates.
>I suppose its all that post-world cup anger built up
>in this
>country :) Some police finally arrive and let us
>through to an empty
>terminal. and no sign of felicity.
>
>Well, I already knew I had forgotten to bring her
>number, so as my
>fellow passengers fight for taxi's or a place to
>sleep I find an ATM
>and get cash. Except of course phones here dont take
>cash! My friend
>(never got her name, oops) offers me her phone card
>but eventually we
>get my credit card to work and i phone my mum. No
>answer, not good.
>It was after midnight in London so I knew she hqd to
>be there and I
>kept calling. Eventually I get her and get flic's
>number. My mm tells
>me that everyone had been told that the flight was
>cancelled! Called
>Flic and we decide its eqsier for me to get a taxi
>(she lives about
>50km from the airport). I have my french friend, who
>I appreciated at
>this point, explain to the driver where to take me
>and I say goodbye
>to her and off I go. Finally arriving around 2am!
>Long day!
>
>Well thats 5 countries i've been in in less than a
>week! Thinking of
>going to belguim tomorrow for a day. John arrives
>tomorrow night so
>I'll show him Paris this weekend. I just hope his
>flight is better
>than mine!
>
24/6/02 London, Jolly Old England (Phillip)
Well, I survived a crazy day of flying. Hopped on an early morning flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok. Collected my bag from luggage storage there (I've been traveling for the past month with a small backpack, much preferred!). The final England world cup game was that day so I watched it along with a few thousand spread through Bangkok Airport. One thing I've noticed about the Asian take on the World Cup is that they simply like goals. Rarely do they actually shout for only one team, when England scored the airport leapt in enjoyment, however, when Brazil scored the airport leapt in enjoyment! Flew back to Hong Kong before stepping on a plane to London's Heathrow airport. It was almost 40 hours of flying but I managed to get two or three meals on every plane and stole just about every magazine on each airline! I figured I might be up all night reading (I can rarely sleep on planes) so I thought I should stock up.
When I finally arrived in Heathrow it was wonderful to see my mum waiting for me. She was actually only a few hours off a plane from Seattle but was in great spirits. It was definitely nice to be home...
Coincidently my best friend, John Plauche, was over working for a law firm in London. So Saturday was spent meeting him at Royal Henley Woman's regatta. Quite an exclusive and high society thing in Britain and a great thing to show John (ex-rower). My mum is one of the umpires so I was all dressed up (we had rushed home after the airport so I could change) and hang out with Britain's riches. When John showed up we wandered around chatting before getting in my mother's launch to follow the races.
I finally got exhausted around 6 in the afternoon (2am Hong Kong time) and we headed home. 12 hours of sleep and I was back again to meet John at his place in Chelsea. I've seen just about all of the uk's sights a thousand times (every time a friend of mine is over from the States I give them the tour of Britain) so John and I decided to try and go somewhere different. Leed's Castle was our choice, however, Britain's rail system had other ideas. Lines were closed and the train we needed wasn't running. We opted for the Royal Museum instead. Museums in the uk are free and so I was quite happy with this plan :) The Museum is packed with stolen riches from countries past. Looking at the loot it's amazing there's anything left out there! Seems like every tomb in Egypt has been raided and the mummies brought here! I mean did you know the top of the Parthenon is actually in London??? It's a brilliant museum though.
We spent the day chatting about the past 6 months in both of our lives and shooting down each other's ideas of happiness and success. John's definitely the person I turn to for realistic advice. I've now got about 20 ideas of what to do after I finish in December. They range from the UN or British Army of Engineers (rebuilding the telecommunications infrastructure of damaged countries) to becoming a pilot to returning to Austin. Too many options I'm afraid, but John's great at bringing me back to reality: "you don't have an army bone in your body". So my options have been cut in half. Actually the preferred route long term now is to get an MBA over the next two years (while working of course, those things cost money) and then enroll in law school specializing in Intellectual Property law. That way I could use my technical background but get to stay on the cutting edge of technology without it being my life.
After the museum we headed out to the country. John was pretty amazed at the English countryside (we only went as far as Hamstead Heath, but he's not to know :) Finally I got home last night right as exhaustion was setting in and hung out with my mum.
Today's Monday and I'm just taking it easy today. Unpacking my bags and going through the other clothes I left here in December. It's like Christmas because I've been wearing the same selection of clothing since January! I'm trying to figure out my next step. Basically I think I'm going to go into London tomorrow and talk to some courier companies. They offer flights for as low as $50 anywhere in the world, but in exchange you sell your luggage space to them. That way they can get packages in the absolute minimum amount of time and I get a cheap flight. If I can get flights to South Africa
for less than $100 then I'll head off there for a month, otherwise I've worked out some great ways to see Europe on a budget. The current plan is to take a ferry from the North of Scotland to Iceland, hang out there, connect to another ferry to Denmark, continue to norway, through Sweden, into Finland
and take a train to St Petersburg Russia. I have to meet John again in Eastern Europe in September, so I can travel from Moscow through a selection of Eastern European countries without stepping on a plane (saving money!). Obviously anywhere in Scandinavia is terribly expensive so by combining it with Eastern Europe I can break even in the end.
In two days I fly off to Paris/Versailles to meet my sister and then both of us fly to Scotland the following week. John is actually coming to Paris next weekend to meet me so I'll get to show him the sights of Paris which I'm not as burned out on yet! Plus he gets to meet my new brother-in-law, which is nice. Hopefully my morning-sickness prone sister doesn't throw up on him! :)
Hope you're all having a safe and fun time out there. If anyone's got some free time coming up and you want to see Eastern/Northern Europe let me know!
Posted by Admin at June 24, 2002 01:58 AM