I Miss You Londontown!!!

My last night with the group was everything I could have wanted. Our banquet was so moving, complete with a slide show of the group's adventures and a delicious dinner at Pescorati. We had preset menus which included (for me) an asparagus appetizer, salmon for an entree, and a canoli with orange glaze for dessert. The dinner was amazing and it was great to have one last night with everyone. We gave gifts to Charlotte and Dietrich and then Macki, Ingrid and Racheal made superlatives for everyone. I, of course, received the "Future Mrs. McCartney" Award that I plan to send to the man himself along with my phone number :)

After dinner, we did what we do best and had one last night out on the town. I was hoping to have a bigger group just so everyone could be together on the last night, but I'm happy with the group I went out with. It was all my favorite people on the trip and it was amazing. Saying goodbye was ridiculously hard, especially because I wouldn't see most of the people in the morning. But it was awesome. Live music, pints, and good people is all I could ever ask for and it was amazing.

The next morning my dad showed up bright and early to help me carry my stuff over to the hotel. Well, not really bright - it was actually raining for the first time in a while. Mary said the Gods were crying because we were all leaving. It was really sad but I was trying hard not to cry. Staying in the hotel was weird. I felt like I should be right down the street in my own flat with my friends, but I knew that couldn't happen. That day (Saturday) we went to Camden Market for the last time (the first for my family). It was nice to walk around one last time and relive all my memories. Then we bought some shoes, had Pizza Express for dinner and headed over to Witherspoon's for my last drink in London- a G&T, I might add.

Sunday, we headed to Paris and too meet Emily's boyfriend, John, who lives in Sweden. Most of Sunday was spent figuring out how to find him in the train station. We finally found him and then my dad and I split from the lovebirds and roamed around Paris. I don't remember what we actually did but we all met back at the Eiffel Tower to go up it at 7ish. It was really interesting to see the city during the day from that height. I loved looking at the layout of the city. Then we had dinner at the same little restaurant Macki, Mary and I had our escargot across from the train station. It was really nice but really late and we were both so ready to go back to the hotel and go to bed. Unfortunately, we got incredibly lost and ended up walking around for the better part of an hour I'd say. Walking around the streets of Paris at midnight with a bunch of crazy, homeless people was a bit uncomfortable. Especially when one guy seemed like he was following us for a while. But no matter, we finally found the hotel and went fast asleep.

The next day we just walked around the city to see all the sights. It was very strange to be in Paris without the rest of the group. Seeing the same things just with a new group of people. We ate at this amazing little Italian restaurant and headed for the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up at night. My dad and I smoked a cigar, shared a bottle of wine (and a random bottle of champagne) and just hung out and talked under the lights of the tower and the stars.

Tuesday was our last day in Paris so in the morning I took then up to see the Moulin Rouge and the Opera House, which were pretty close to the hotel. That's pretty much all we had time for so then we headed up to Gare du Nord to say goodbye to John and then get on our train. My dad had some trouble getting onto the train becuase the guy who had to write him a ticket messed up the number. Ugh. We finally made it onto the train and sat across from a lovely little English/French family. The girls were adorable and spoke French and English! They were all over the place though and I was really happy to get off that train. Then we had to ride the Tube (*tear) to our hotel out near the airport. It was a really nice room and after a hot shower, a cup of tea and one last moment of good ol' BBC, I was tucked away under the covers ready to wake up and come home the next day.

I, again, had to refrain from crying all morning becuase I just didn't want to leave. But I managed to stay strong with the thought of returning to England very soon and, who knows, possibly permanently. The flight went fine, I watched movies and t.v. shows the whole way back including Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which I'd been wanting to see ever since Mary and I tried to watch it on the way to Edinburgh.

There was one minor problem about the flight that could have resulted in a very unpleasent night in New Jersey. First off, the flight out of Heathrow was 45 minutes lae to take off due to "weather". So we were already almost an hour behind and were due to land around 1:30 and we had a connecting flight to Norfolk at 3:10. Yikes! Except, to make matters worse, the dumb ramp thing that connects to the plane to let everyone off wouldn't fit or something so we sat at the gate for another 45 minutes! We didn't even get off the plane until 2:35 which is when our next plane was set to board.

We basically ran to security and waited impatiently as the line seemed to creep along. We finally made it up the the desk and made it through without any problems. Then we hit the line for security. It was epic. Emily, who had a skype date with John that evening, was not having it. She ran up to a guard, explained our situation and got us to the front of the line. As we got up to the belt, I took all her things so she could run to the gate after she got out of the metal detector to try and hold the plane or something. At this point it was like 3:05!!! My dad and I finally made it through and I just took off running through the airport. I found the gate and Emily was standing there looking frantic! She said we had to hurry because they were closing the gate in like 2 minutes. My dad finally caught up and we boarded the plane in a tizzy. Everyone was staring at us because we all looked stressed to the max and were out of breath. I couldn't believe we made it and I was so relieved that we didn't have to spend the night in Jersey. I just wanted to be home at that point so I could see my mom and Dan.

I didn't remember how hot home was! Oh my gosh, it was stifling. I'd been away from the heat and humidity so long it all hit me like a ton of bricks. It was so good to see my mom and hug her. It felt so strange to be driving home and, again, I had to hold back tears. Tears of relief, and joy but, of course, also sadness.

Here comes my reflections and thoughts. Brace yourself. So this summer was the best two months of my life. I met some of the most amazing people and gained so many great friends in the process. I've seen and experienced so much that I never thought I'd get to do. I saw my idol in concert, climbed Arthur's Seat in Scotland, stood at the edge of the Cliffs of Moher, celebrated fourth of July in England, worked in a British office, watched the World Cup in an actual pub, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower twice, saw the Queen, and so much more! I had the time of my life and I wouldn't change a second of it. In fact, I wish I could relive each and every moment. It was unforgettable and I am so blessed to have had this opportunity. I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

For now, I can't wait to get up to JMU to see all my new friends again and to decorate my new townhouse. I'm growing up. Yikes!

I suppose this will be my last blog entry. To everyone who kept up-thank you. I really appreciate someone reading this so I didn't feel like I was wasting my time. Maybe I'll write again when I have something to write about. But for now, it's the same old same old.