Trip Highlights and Lowlights

We ended up skipping the fish and chips last night, and instead opted for falling instantly asleep as soon as our heads touched a pillow. I don’t think it really hit me how exhausted I was until I posted on the blog last night. The whole time I was typing, I kept seeing little blurry spots dancing all over the screen-- It was impossible to focus. It was like my eyes had given up and were on auto-shutdown mode.


I had to pretty much immediately give in and go to sleep. Now, eleven hours or so later, I still feel a little dazed, but overall much more alert and able to perform basic tasks. (Like seeing.)

It’s 7am UK time, and the apartment is pretty quiet. Matt and Frankie are still asleep, and my guess is that they’ll probably sleep until they’re so hungry they can’t stand it anymore. In the meantime, I thought I’d share the results of the game of “most favorite/least favorite” we played last night.

Frankie, Matt, and I went around and talked about each of our individual “most favorite” things about our big trip over.

Frankie’s answer was an easy one. Her most favorite thing about the trip was the playground at the Philadelphia airport. It was really adorable—It looked like a miniature airport, with airplanes and control towers that kids could climb all around. We had a four hour layover, and Matt was kind enough to supervise her while she played at the little playplace for almost two full hours. She loved it so much, she probably could have played for two more.

Matt’s most favorite part of the trip was the airplane ride from Denver to Philly. Mostly, he liked the ride because it was short and totally uneventful. (Personally, I would never call a 4 hour plane ride “short,” but to an expert traveller like Matt I suppose it felt like it all went by in the blink of an eye. Me… not so much.)

My answer was, surprisingly, the plane ride from Philadelphia to Manchester. As soon as we took off, they fed us dinner. Immediately after, they shut off the lights and everyone on the whole plane fell asleep as if drugged. Not me, though. I stayed wide awake and watched movies the entire time. US Air had a whole set of “on demand” movies that you could watch (for free) from the tv in front of your seat. All of the movies were from the last year or so, and there were a bunch that I wanted to see but just never got a chance to get to the theater to watch. They had “The Blind Side,” “X Men: Wolverine,” “The Informant,” “Whip It,” and a ton of HBO shows like Flight of the Conchords and Curb Your Enthusiasm. It was like an all-night movie marathon.

Now for the “Least Favorites.”

Frankie’s least favorite trip moment was getting off the plane in Manchester and having to wait in line at Customs. The line was pretty long and slow-moving, and after being cooped up in an airplane for seven hours all she wanted to do was run around. At that moment, standing patiently in line was not at the top of her list. (Side note: We were almost denied entry into the country. Remember those Visas that we agonized over? When we handed them to the Customs agent, he said, “These look fine. Now, where’s your paperwork proving that you’re coming into the country to do the job you say you’ve been hired for?” Ummmm…. We kind of thought that was what the Visa was for?? Matt didn’t really have any additional paperwork to prove he was hired to come over and work as a mechanical engineer …really, why would he?... but after a talking to the Customs guy and showing him a business card, he let us in with a warning about being more prepared next time. Yeesh.)

Matt’s least favorite trip moment was the 3 hour drive from Manchester to Bristol. We got off the plane in Manchester already exhausted, had to drag seven suitcases from baggage claim to the car rental place, and hop into a minivan to drive to Bristol. Matt’s so amazing. I can’t believe he was able to stay awake to negotiate our way through unfamiliar British roads and to our apartment. He downed two Red Bulls and a cup of coffee and despite consuming enough caffeine to give himself heart palpitations, still got us to Bristol safely. It wasn’t so bad for me and Frankie, since we fell in and out of a semi-conscious sleep state the whole time. For Matt, though, it was rough.

My least favorite trip moment was stopping at a grocery store on the way from Manchester to Bristol. The place was a huge discount shopping center that is essentially the UK equivalent of WalMart. It was crowded and (since all of the products were different from what I’m used to) confusing. Ultimately, it was way too hectic and stressful for the mood I was in. I came away with the realization that I don’t like WalMarts in the UK any more than I like them in the US.

On the bonus side, at the grocery store we discovered “Whatsits,” which are like Cheetos’ more delicious UK cousin. We literally couldn’t stop eating them. Matt and I kept joking that they must be what Liz Lemon’s favorite snack “Sabor de Soledad” tastes like. I fear we’re already slightly addicted to them.

So, that pretty much covers the trip highlights. I’ll try to post back with a few pictures soon.