My first original bit of this update - since I was so busy with getting to the UK and prepping for the wedding I didn't have much chance to update.
Aug 26
Had a relatively uneventful night - Janet finally recovered from her hangover after I'd gone on an epic journey up the hill to this old castle overlooking Nice. It was amazing. Though far too many stairs. I wasn't prepared for the massive hike I took myself on and thus did all this walking in my flip flops.
Got lost in Old Nice, but that was okay because it's a fantastic place to get lost in.
Back to the hostel and got Janet moving. We met up with Jake and the 3 of us went for dinner in Old Nice (nevermind that I had just come from there). I showed them where I'd gotten some amazing gelato and we wandered around for a little while.
Attempted to drink on the beach but everyone was just exhausted so it was an early night.
Aug 27
Up and packed around 9... went and got some breakfast and strolled along the boardwalk one more time.
Bus to the airport, checked in and got on the plane - lucky I did too, as Janet was stranded in Nice one more day due to a whole host of issues.
Froze on the plane since I didn't think to grab my sweater as it was 27C outside in Nice. Should have thought though, since it was about 18C when I touched down in London. It was fun to fly into London City Airport since we flew over all the iconic landmarks - the Gerkin, the London Eye, Tower of London, Tower Bridge etc.
Got off the plane and figured out how to get to the hotel. Waited for the guys (forever) at the Aldgate East (Leman St. Entrance) because I didn't think walking was going to be an effective way to find people. Eventually they found me and we went to the hotel. Almost got hit by a car 3 times within as many blocks. Pretty much every time I came to a street I looked the wrong way and stepped out into traffic.
Dumped the stuff off and put on warmer clothes. Off to the pub at the end of the street.
Back to the hotel to figure out what we were doing in regards to meeting Huff's sister Liz and her bf Jimmy. Grabbed our map and set off to find them on commercial street.
Got lost. Walked in circles... realized our map only shows bus routes. Flippin useless. Found a pub. Decided it was best to stay there while we waited.
Liz and Jimmy found us - off to Brick lane we went. Got haggled by the guys at all the curry shops all saying they'd give us the best deal (how odd is that - the brown guys saying they'll GIVE us a good deal! Usually they're wanting the good deal) Got overwhelmed and had to stop for a drink... 2 for £5!! How could we say no, really.
Walked back down Brick Lane with the goal of getting a couple rounds of drinks, papadums, starters, mains, rice and naan, all for £10 each. We almost succeeded. Got starters, mains, rice, naan, and 20% off drinks bought at the store for £10 each. Not too bad. Picked probably all the hottest things on the menu and had a great time.
Back to the hotel we went, I crawled into the beds (we had 2 twin beds pushed up beside each other for the 3 of us) and slept on the crack between the guys.
Aug 28
Up super early to pack and get ready for the wedding. Packed an overnight bag and had a shower. Out the door to the tube station and off to Kings Cross station. Dropped my big bag off at the left luggage people and went to buy a ticket. Figured it made sense to buy a return ticket to make Sunday easier.
Got some breakfast (muffin and coffee) and onto the train. Yay for free wifi on the train.
Got picked up at the train station by someone, but not sure who he was (found out later that he was the best man's father). Dropped off at the hotel where the girls were getting ready. And cue photo-gal....
Shot the girls getting ready, got myself ready and off to the church we went. Wedding ceremony was long (I thought) for a protestant wedding but easy to shoot due to great lighting conditions. Was befriended by the videographer.
Will skip all the boring wedding info - it was a great time, suffice it to say. Off to the hotel, completely exhausted, passed out pretty much the moment I laid down.
Aug 28
Slept in a bit, though it seems the only sunny parts of the day in the UK are at 6am.
Walked to a McD's for breakfast, but missed breakfast. Back to the hotel to get our stuff and head to the train station. My foresight of getting a train ticket for the return was pointless because we were leaving from a different station and on a different line. They couldn't even exchange it for me.
Arrived in Liverpool station - had to tube to Kings Cross to get the guy's stuff. I left mine there to make life easier. Tube to Aldgate - check back into the hotel from the other day, have a nap. Coordinate with Sonya, plan to go to her place around 7:30. Head out in search of something to eat. Walk... stop at a pub.... walk.... find a grocery store, buy random food.... walk.... stop and eat random food outside a university....walk.... debate another pub... walk... and arrive at Sonya's.
Enjoyed some finger foods at Sonya's and some drinks along the canal behind her house. Put the pictures on her computer and then had to head back to the tube station. Tubed to Kings Cross, grabbed my massive backpack and tubed to the airport... 25 stops later. Arrived at Heathrow something like 12:00am.
Scouted out a spot to sleep - another girl joined me and we shared the bench. Alternated between emailing people and attempting to sleep. The airport was insanely cold. Eventually at 5:20am the check in desk opened and I was able to check my bags. Proceeded to customs because I really just wanted to check in and eat something and nap til my flight left.
Got on the flight - slept the entire way to Helsinki.
Helsinki to NYC was a good plane - lots of movies to watch and food was decent too. Arriving was something of a panic situation because there didn't seem to be enough time to get my stuff and get to the next flight. Luckily they said it was delayed so I didnt' need to panic. Got onto the smallest plane ever (only 3 seats in each row) and took off to Toronto.
I was an extremely happy girl when Adrian told me that he'd pick me up, so I didn't have to wait for the shuttle to take me home. He met me outside the arrivals and took me home...
Aug 31
Back to work. Sigh. Pictures will be up on my photo blog soon!
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