The Eurotour!

Hi all, here's the email I sent out after my trip to the U.K.--just for those of you who didn't/couldn't receive my mass email:

Hello hello,
So, everyone- you can rest and relax- I am officially back in Bangalore! Eurotrip 2005 is over (sob!) But was it ever great :) I will try my best to keep it brief (using point form) and highlight, well- the highlights!
Monday- arrived in Heathrow- Johnny is there waiting :) To the hotel (Thistle Lancaster Gate- near Notting Hill), which is very nice....dinner at a lovely Italian restuarant. It was soooo nice to have 'normal' food and to be 'anonymous' again. The anonymity alone almost brought tears to my eyes- for real! The air also smelled so fresh after the Bangalore pollution. The trees were changing, the air was crisp- ahhhh- it was a much needed break! Weather was good- 2 sunny/clear days, 1 rainy umbrella day and the rest were gray/spotty (typical London!) Tuesday- went on the London Eye as the weather was clear. Very cool- in a little 'pod' and you get great views. I loved the blue and white bridge- Westminster Bridge- is that it?! Shoot- I forget- Johnny? Walked along the embankment after and saw the Queen and Prince Philip drive by- no joke! It was an anniversary of the bombings, so they were attending that I guess. They drove by in the Royal car, reslpete with cops clearing the road ahead of them! I didn't see the Queen's face, just her hat, but I saw Philip's face...he was kinda scowling :) Pretty cool. That night I think we ate at a pub- fish and chips- yummy! All the food just tasted to gooooood- I craved a real banana and got one wherever I could. Who knew I liked bananas so much until I can't get 'em the way I like 'em!!?? Wednesday we did the Tate Britain and then took the connecting riverboat to Tate Modern, which unfortunately had a whole floor closed, but hey, it's free, so you can't really go wrong. After that I think we did some shopping and had dinner at this great Moroccan/Lebanese place in Soho- and it just happened to be the night that George Clooney got in a brawl just a few places away- we almost has a second celeb sighting, and I must say, George would beat the Queen :) Yup- had amazing red wine that I will remember, as I kept the label. Thursday I think we went shopping...and one of these nights here we went to a presentation of King Richard II at The Old Vic- I think that was Tuesday actually (I am getting my nights muddled!) Anyhoo, Friday we met up with John's Uncle Ant, who showed us around- and took us to our very first opera! It was an English opera called Salome, which is some gory Biblical story. It was quite neat though, albeit comical in parts where the person would sing in falsetto 'what is that on the floor that I just stepped on....?' So funny. Mmmm- had lots of great tea and coffee- and roast chicken and pepperoni pizza and a hamburger- and smoothies and salad that I could eat without worrying about getting sick!! Can ya tell I liked that part!? The girl at the chicken place on the last night was so amused, she said she's never seen anyone so excited at their food before. Saturday was so fun- we went to a football match (read: soccer game) in John's Dad's old neighbourhood- Queen's Park. We cheered on the Queen's Park Rangers as they faced Ridley..no- R something- darn it, what was it Johnny?? Johnny got all the 'schwag' as he calls it (football jerseys etc.) I got a Team England jersey for fun. I didn't go mad shopping either. I got one necklace at TopShop....although, believe me, that was my shopping paradise- it's just everything's so damn expensive :) I got a pair of fun pink and gray puma 'trainers' (reminds me of About A Boy) for 10 quid (about $25 Cdn). Hmmm- I bought some groceries too- stuff I can;t get here, although supermarkets in England are not as extensive as ours in Canada. I'd have had to go to many specialty shops to get all the stuff I could get in one aisle of Loblaws. Bless you Loblaws, I miss you! Anyway, I got my rye bread and my mustard and my salsa- too bad everything was in glass jars, my baggage was too heavy to check at first- Johnny was kind enough to take some stuff back with him for me :) Yup, as of right now I've been up for 20 hours and have just taught a full day of Grade One! I am soon going home to CRASH! I am skipping Bollywood dancing tonight. The flight home was okay- I was sad, and only in regular class because- tada! On the way there it was the inaugural BA flight direct from Bangalore to Heathrow and I was their first passenger EVER!! So, I got bumped to first class which was swishy- and got my photo taken with the manager and all that. He also told me I'd be on BBC, but who knows if I actually was. Anyone see BBC on the 31st? We all got a commemorative coin and a certificate and stuff like that for being on the first flight ever. Very cool. Oh, and in the airport going back I saw Simon Cowell of American Idol fame!! That's almost 4 celebs in less than 6 days! Woowee! So, I arrived back in Bangalore on time (5 am local time) and proceeded to find myself in the busiest airport I'd ever seen. I guess an Indian Airways flight had been waiting over 2 hours for their luggage- so there were many angry Indians! So, I just sat back and waited....and waited....and waited. Whenm I has waited until 7 am I started to get worried/ticked off. Most of the BA passengers had their bags- then they said they were all off. And mine was nowhere to be found....so- I had to file a missing bag report and stuff and they promise to deliver it to the school as soon as it arrives. The BA flight direct to Heathrow flies 5 times a week now, so it may be here tomorrow. It must have never been put on the plane in London for some reason. Anyhoo, I'm not as pissed as I thought I'd be- I just hope everything gets to me eventually. I am luckier than most I guess, as there were a few ticked off white businessmen whose luggage also didn't arrive, who dodn't have the luxury of giving a permanent address where the found luggage could be taken to :) Gotta look at the bright side, eh?! So, I am here and I am safe and my house is safe and sound. Oh, and they also gave me INR 2500 for my troubles at the airport (about $75 bucks Cdn) which is cool as I wasn't expecting anything! They do that for 'mishandled' luggage as they called it. I am going home now- no Bollywood dancing for this girl- I need to resort myself and shower and sleeeeeep! I am aiming for 7pm.....fading fast!!! I have all your emails eagerly awaiting me in my inbox, but I won't get to them until tomorrow I am afraid. I do miss you all dearly though- a taste of home just reminds me of what I have back in the great white North!! xoxoxoxox,
Jess
ps- Some things I forgot....Richard the Second was starring Kevin Spacey! Pretty cool- lots of celeb sightings on this trip! Also, the night after the footie game was Guy Fawkes night, celebrating the fact that a man named Guy Fawkes was UNSUCCESSFUL in burning down the parliament buildings 400 years ago! We saw a huge fireworks show and saw the largest bonfire I've EVER seen at a park that night....the fireworks show was just massive, although they didn't have those neat heart shaped ones we saw at Ipperwash this past summer! I think that's all I forgot....