Follow The Cobblestone Road

While I was one of the only ones awake on my flight from SFO to Heathrow, I decided to write about what I had been feeling/experiencing so far..

So here I am, sitting on the plane on my way to London (currently flying over Greenland) for a connecting flight to Copenhagen and watching Entourage. The sky outside is dark but in the horizon I see a beautiful blend of deep reddish/orange, green and blue. Let’s back up, I say goodbye to Maura, Alicia, Hallie, my mom and Ron, get through security and arrive at my gate a half an hour before the intended boarding time. I sit there anxiously staring at the wall;only to find that the “free WiFi” network doesn’t actually work and I’m left there with nothing to do.

A few minutes later, I hear my name over the intercom among other names, requesting I go to the front of the gate. I assume the worst: that they’re bumping me off my flight. Rather, the woman at the front desk hands me a new ticket saying, “We needed your seat, so we put you in Business.” I was stunned, said an obedient, “Okay” and walked back to my seat, feeling a little confused. Boarding time comes around and I get in line for the “Business” boarding door, I walk down to the plane where I’m greeted by a smiling woman, I show her the remainder of my ticket that says seat 12A, she points me down the row. Let me tell you, life isn’t all that shabby in Business class. I still have the window seat I originally requested, but my seat also came with a personal TV, an amazing amount of leg room, and a staff who are extremely helpful. I even got a little travel pouch with a sleep mask, socks, some lotion, tooth paste and a tooth brush. Perhaps I’ve racked up some karma that has led me to this point. The plane takes a while taxiing with my head up against the side of the plane, soaking up my last few visual memories of the beautiful California for the next ten months. As we take off, I look out the window at San Francisco; a city that I love so much, in all of its beauty and I begin to feel that unavoidable wave of emotion that comes with the uncertainty of leaving home for so long. The woman I’m sitting next to is on her cell phone when I first claim my seat next to her, and so far we haven’t spoken except for me to ask her to lower her foot rest so I can use the restroom for the first time in 4 hours after downing glasses of water; she obliged somewhat willingly and quickly fell back asleep. I’m listening to the music provided on the airplane, hearing the likes of Kate Nash, Kesha, and now Jay-Z's “Forever Young.” Among me are a ridiculous amount of sleeping people, I find that I can’t sleep on planes, I sleep for 40 minutes which feels like an eternity. Let me also mention that I have never seen so many people asleep on a plane at 5:30/6 p.m. California time.

UPDATE:

So I'm officially in Lund! Everything went pretty much seamlessly: no flight delays, no lost luggage, no crazy long custom lines, no wait for a train, no wait for a taxi. And I am currently reporting to you from my new room, sans bedding :(. I took a little time to walk around Lund without a map and just see where it took me. I love the feeling of Lund, it's quaint with its cobblestone roads, and beautiful architecture..I think I could certainly get used to this.