Heading to London

Getting myself prepared to leave home for three weeks proved to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated. I've taken long trips before, but not while renting a home and owning two dogs. Never the less, after I got the bills prepaid, the mail stopped, the dogs' boarding settled, transportation to/from the airport booked, and bags packed, I was ecstatic to be on my way to London! I left the house very early on Wednesday morning (August 18th) and didn't get to Joanna's flat until 2pm on Thursday. However, once I stepped out of the taxi and onto her Notting Hill street, the hours of travel slipped out of my memory and I was ready to go and explore.

Going to London was really just a stepping stone on our way to Croatia. Thanks to my sister's amazing vacation planning skills, 15 of us would be meeting in Dubrovnik's port on Saturday to start a week long cruise throughout the islands in the Adriatic. Rough life we all lead, I know. Many of us had different flights on different days coming through different cities, but Courtney, Hillary and I all found our way through London and decided to start our holiday immediately! Joanna was still at work so the three of us headed down the street to a pub called the Prince Bonaparte to partake in some pints and fish & chips while we waited.



Maybe it was the beer effecting our extremely jet lagged bodies but we laughed and laughed for hours. We were definitely those "loud Americans" but, given that we were the only people in the pub, even I was able to relax and just have fun. (I've found out recently that I'm far too concerned with what other people think of me and if I could possibly be bothering them. It takes a LOT to get me upset but people being rude or inconsiderate sets me off. Anyways, I digress...)

After the pub we met up with Jo at another place for dinner and a few more drinks. We ran into some more of her friends and talked for a while but the lack of sleep finally took over. It was to be an early Friday morning getting to Gatwick for our flight to Croatia so I needed some major shuteye. We headed home, face planted into some pillows, and called it a night. We may have only made it a few blocks away from her flat, but a night in London is always a great night!