ok, 15 minutes to dash off my thoughts so far:
Heathrow is a fucking orwellian labyrinth, complete with lots of fences and bored gaurds and weirdness so that it’s right in the uncanny valley. The kind of shit that freaks you out a little after 18-24 hours of no sleep and flying. Seriously, I was turned the fuck around just figuring out which terminal I was supposed to get to. You had to go down a long hallway, don stairs, around several bends, onto a bus, up two floors, down another hallway, descend one floor, go through security again, and then you’re there. But the departures board there doesn’t show a gate until right before time to board. So you have to wait in this packed shopping mall area (high end stuff, sure, but do I really need a Luis Vuitton or a Rolex while in the middle of an airport?).
About that: Flying kinda sucks. It should be the miracle of flight, wow, soaring, but instead we’re packed like sardines inside a stuffy, hot tin can. This might have something to do with the broken back last year making sitting for 8+ hours pretty uncomfortable (bordering on painful). I almost lost my watch and flashlight on the flight between Houston and london too. Actually, first I lost the cloth I put in my laptop to keep keyboard marks off the screen, and then I liost my watch reaching for it, and then I lost the flashlight looking for the watch. And a packet of cookies. I spent 2/3rds of the flight watchless and flashlightless, a little nervous that they were gone for good. And My knees were aching, I had a sinus headache from sonome’s perfume, and my back was acting up for the first time in months and months. In other words, a pretty typical trans-atlantic flight. edit to add: I’m drafting this again on my last flight, and this one I got a row all to myself. Instant Karma.
What else? I’m smelly, sweaty, and very tired. edit: now just smelly and tired. This flight is much cooler, and I got a reasonable nap in. Now all I have to do is clear customs, hop a city bus to the main train station, and walk five minutes. Then I can rest. After I post this though.
update to the edits: took me four hours to get to my hostel, walking a lot, being lost, etc, etc. That’ll get written up later though. sleep now.
