Day Forty-Four

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

The day started out bright and early as Abbie and I woke up from our second night in the hostel. All things considering, it had actually been a very restful night of sleep. Even though it was only 8 a.m., most of the other people in the room had already left, leaving us plenty of space to repack our things for the move to London. Once packed and dressed, we headed down to the complimentary breakfast (still no sign of a toaster) and then went out on the town since we didn’t need to leave until around 1:30.

Though still early, it was already beginning to get hot and I was regretting once again the pair of shorts I had left behind in our suitcase in Dublin. Abbie’s goal for the morning was to procure a certain liquid of which type is only legally purchaseable in certain places, so we searched around for a store in which one buys such liquid. The supermarket, unsurprisingly, yielded no results, though she did buy batteries for her camera and they directed us to a nearby off-license.

While walking to the store, we discovered Dam Square (there may or may not be an extra A in there—I’m not really sure) which held a vast monument relating to something to do with Amsterdam, I’m sure. Interestingly, there was a calliope nearby that was playing music and oddly making the area feel sort of like Dutch Disneyland.

After finding said shop and procuring said liquid for a friend who should be eternally grateful (seriously, Abbie bought stuff for EVERYONE. I’m selfish and bought things for me. Love you all, but I am kind of #1 in my world). We still had a couple hours until we had to leave, so we mused about the canals for a bit before deciding to buy another hour of internet from the hostel.

At around 12:45, we grabbed our stuff and made the trek toward the metro. We actually had to buy a ticket this time, fair enough since we had ridden it the past two times for free. We arrived at Centraal Station (yes, there are supposed to be two ‘a’s) and had about a half hour until our train, so sat around on the platform until it came. I quite enjoy taking the train and was excited that we were finally able to take one during out journey. The cabin was cool and comfortable and the ride to Eindhoven seemed to take no time at all.

Once off the train at the station, it was once again hot and sticky and we quickly made our way down just in time to grab a bus to the airport. The Eindhoven airport may, honestly, be the smallest airport I’ve ever seen in my life. Literally, you are able to walk up to it. I admit, I slightly misjudged our travel time and we ended up having almost three hours to wait since Ryanair didn’t check in until an hour and a half before the flight. But we got through the wait somehow and boarded our plane to London Stanstead.

The flight was short and relatively uneventful. England was cold and cloudy when we landed, and even though it wasn’t any later than 8 p.m., it was already getting dark. Our bags were first off the carousel (seems we’re fortunate with that) and since most of the passengers were from the EU, we avoided a long line at passport control. I sailed through with relative ease, even though I put down the Holiday Inn as the address where I was staying (so sue me, I didn’t know Adanna’s address.) Abbie managed to get a stricter agent who gave her the third degree, wanting to know exactly which Holiday Inn she was staying at and to see her travel itinerary. When she whined that her friend who had all the information was already through, he let her go. We have since agreed that she is apparently the shadiest white girl alive.

We didn’t have to wait too long for the train from Stanstead into Liverpool Station, but by the time it came, it was already dark and raining. From Liverpool, we somehow managed to figure out how to buy an Underground ticket and made the two changes to get to Kilburn Park near where Adanna lives. By now, it was pouring, and when she came to meet us she was already soaked. I admit, after a long day of travel, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to have to roll my suitcase through the rain and puddles as we walked the ten minute walk to her house, but it wasn’t exactly like I had any other options. After arriving at her flat we set our things down, properly greeted one another and then went to bed in preparation for another early morning the next day.