Castles, Cobblestones and Crepes: London, England

boom

I almost went into culture shock!!! Everyone is speaking ENGLISH, yes in a very different accent that I'm not used to, even though it sounded better than the american accent by far. But it was just insane to hear err one speaking english. I've been to quite a few different countries lately all with a new language and of course they spoke english, but not just so easily and fluent. It was just insane to hear, also with the British accents, reminds me of watching Spice Girls when I was younger, like a dream.

So on my way home from Turkey I caught a connection flight in Paris to London. My Saudi friend from back in the states was home for vacation and went to London to see his brother, and of course I had to see him. Europe is so small and easily accessible by plane to anywhere within a few short hours. There was no doubt, I had to see him. I arrived about the same to London as Saud, but at different airports. His brother had arranged for someone to pick him up then they came and picked me up and we headed back to the hotel where his brother lives. The Hotel was awesome, a 5 Star Hotel! The nicest hotel I've ever been in. A lot nicer than the hostel I'm used to staying in in Europe. We got there and talked to his brother for a while then went to our room and took a nap, we both hadn't slept for over a day due to traveling, we were both exhausted, and I'm still sick at this point.

We then found out that a friend from back home was also in London, I have never met her but she is a good friend of my friend, and she has met Saud before, so we asked if she wanted to hang out with us, of course she did! So she came over to the hotel and we had a few drinks then went out. Well I was just wearing normal clothes, no one said anything to me about going to club, and we ended up going to this really nice club. So there I am in jeans and a shirt a some posh club, but that's okay, I'll never see those people again. I still felt really sick so I wasn't much in the party mood, but Brooklyn is really fun and got me in the mood, despite I felt like shit. After that we headed back to the hotel where Saud's brother Fahad, had arabic food sent to our room, so good. He ended up going somewhere else that night so Brooklyn and I had free reign over his room! And Saud went back to his room to sleep.

The next day the three of us got the London Bus Tour pass, there are about 3 or 4 different tour bus lines and you can jump on and off them anywhere for two days. The lines tour around the most famous attractions in London. So we jumped on the bus that took you to the main well known sights of London and just rode it without getting off, just taking it all in by sight from the Bus. After about two hours we were getting pretty tired again, so we went home and took power naps. That night Shanon, my friend from Oregon who studies in Freiburg arrived, she is also good friends with Saud. That night we went out to this arabic restaurant/bar with live music and belly dancing. I really enjoyed it. The food was good and the entertainment was good. We stayed there until like 3 or 4 a.m. I believe and headed home. Brooklyn had to go back to her uncles because she had to fly back to the states in the morning.

The next day Shanon and I took the bus Tour, this time we got off and explored a little at some of the stops and got some great pictures. Then later we met Saud at Harrods, a famous shopping mall in London, with all the fancy designers and expensive shops. We walked around a bit, did a little shopping then headed back to the hotel. Shanon and I fell asleep and didn't wake up until about midnight. Saud was off with his brother so we decided to order in some food, bad idea. Turns out the food Shanon had ordered had peanuts in it and she's deathly allergic to peanuts, so she quickly went to the bathroom to try and throw it up before it got in her system. And she continued to do that for an hour or so, she got out her epi-pen and advised me if she were to go unconscious I were to give it to her! Good thing I'm rescue scuba diver certified, I have couple tricks up my sleeve to save a life, even though we're not in the water. Luckily I never had to give her the pen and she didn't have to go to the hospital either, in the end she ended up surviving, but it was scary.

The next morning was not fun. So I called downstairs to get a taxi called in and then I walked down there and they asked if I needed a taxi, I said no, I just called the front desk to get me one. So I sat down and waited, and waited and waited. And finally I asked the doormen where is my Taxi? They were like "Oh, I thought you ordered your own." I'm like no I asked you to, so they quickly got me one and I was on my way. By the time I got to the airport the taxi bill was insanely expensive I just wanted to cut my wrists. And there was about 40 minutes until my departure so I went up to the desk and the lady was like I'm sorry it's to late, you've missed your flight! errrrrrrrrr... So then I had to buy another ticket home and wait like 6 or 8 hours in the airport. Luckily they had computers so I just paid to mess around on the computers all day. And good things they sell alcohol at the airports, I bought a few shots before my fight, got me a little tipsey, which was awesome because I passed out on the flight home.

I arrived at Frankfurt Hahn around midnight, I either needed to go to Heppenheim to Luisas or to Heidelberg. I went to go buy a bus ticket to Heidelberg and there was an old guy standing there and said he had an extra ticket if I wanted to buy his, because he came to pick up some people instead of them taking the bus. So I waited for his people to arrive. He asked where I was going , I said Heidelberg or Heppenheim, he said if there was room in his car he could give me a ride to Heppenheim, it's not very far from where he lived. So I accepted the offer. It was him, two old ladies and a young man, I figured if this wasn't safe, then the world is just doomed. So I jumped in the car with them and we were on our way. It was only little over an hour ride and quickly I was back in Heppenheim. I offered him cash for his ride but he refused. Luisa was freaking out thinking I had jumped in the car with some random rapist or something. Please I'm not that stupid,,, unless he was cute ;)