Saturday, May 29, 2010

Day 2: Shock and Awe and Rain and Rain

We made it to the Fusco's. It's late, and I haven't slept in almost 48 hours. We landed in Heathrow at 10pm GMT. It was desserted. And we had to walk what I'm sure was about 2 miles of terminal to get to customs.

on the tube to Victoria Underground Station


It's amazing how unplanned I felt. Where was an ATM? Where did I get tube tickets? Which line do we take and where do we go once we get off at our station to find the place we're staying (The Fusco's)? I accidentally had Jo and I exit Victoria Underground Station to the south. We walked around in the dark and in the rain down many streets I'm sure we shouldn't have gone down. But my knack for directions (one of the few things I'll boast about) kicked in.


We bought rain jackets before we left. But I didn't pack an umbrella. And one of the first things I noticed abotu London is that all their street lights are very orange. There's no fluorescent light or bright yellow glow, just an eerie orange hue everywhere (Note: we found out later it's because London wanted it to look like simulated old lampposts that burned real flame). So it was dark and we were walking around for quite some time.


We made it to the Fusco's flat - which is about a 15 minute walk from Westminster and Parliament. Also, Alvaro Fusco (our host) is one of the kindest men alive. His wife and daughter are out of town for the weekend so it's just him hosting us. He made Jo hot chocolate (which she spilled on herself) and both of us ham and cheese sandwhiches. Jo called her dad. Now someone on the other side of the world knows we're alive (we didn't bring our phones so we couldnt call anyone from Chicago).

a picture of Alvaro that we snagged from Facebook
because I forgot to take one of him while we were there. Duh.

It is incredible that you can travel 6000+ miles and find yourself in the warmth and comfort of a complete stranger's home/flat. It's even more incredible that they don't feel like strangers after much time at all. A 5'5" Brazilian man wearing slippers that look like dogs, who makes us food at 1am despite his 7am church meetings the next morning is my new best friend. Tomorrow is the first day of our hectic, touristy schedule. We'll see how it goes . . . in a lot more rain.

our first video of the trip. not the best filiming,
but i was pretty dang tired and the place is small

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