Monday, March 19, 2012

am I really in London?

This is my second day in England and I am feeling really tired but at the same time very excited and happy. I feel like if I sleep I'll miss something. Weird because I am actually at home right now :))
Belavia airlines surprised me with punctuality and they managed not to lose my luggage. The only negative side was the Minsk airport which is even worse than Baku aiport. At least we have free wifi and our airport is not as empty as theirs. When I arrived to Gatwick I was nervous that they'll ask me lots of questions at the passport control or even call Miika. This is the bad side of reading russian forums, a lot of people wrote that people at the UK border are very unfriendly. I waited in a long non EU nationals queue with many Americans, Canadians and Belorussians from my flight. When it was my turn I nervously approached very friedly looking woman and she just asked me when we plan to get married, if this is my first time with this visa and also what is my fiancee's name. I answered them and she stamped my passport. Then I went outside to the baggage area and grabbed my 26 kgs, stuffed to maximum, grey suitcase and went through the "nothing to declare" exit. A police dog sniffed my bag for drugs and then I ran to the exit with a big smile on my face. My dear Miika was standing there with a rose. We hugged, kissed and I felt so many emotions at once. Happy to finally see Miika and confused that it was so easy to pass the border control. On the way home the road was so green and beautiful. Half way to Croydon we stopped at a green hill (I'll add the name later) and it was sunny, warm and smelled very nice. Everything here smells different and the sky is so bright blue and the clouds are pure white. We came home and there was a welcome package waiting for me which included the gift cards from my favorite shops, beautiful roses in a beer glass vase :)) and also a present from Miika's grandma. That was all sooo sweet!!
Then we walked to East Croydon train station and bought me a young person's railway card (good that my 26th bday is in june and I could get this discount card). Train and underground look really complicated here, so many perons, stations, underground lines... I am totally confused. My yesterday's imressions after visiting Camden Town, walking in Oxford Street, Picadilly Circus and Covent Garden are that London is very international, crowded, beautiful and has very complicated public transportation system. Compared to London, Istanbul to me looks teeny tiny right now. Walking in London yesterday made me feel like everything is very surreal and I'm in a movie right now. Miika kept making fun of me that I look like a 5 year old. We stumbled upon Laduree shop in the Covent Garden. I tried Laduree for the first time in Bebek shop in Istanbul a year ago. I remember me, Baturalp, Ozge and Mert bought maybe 6 or 8 macarons with different flavours and shared them. It was quite expensive in Istanbul and here 1 macaron was 1.60£. I bought 1 chocolate and orange flavoured. Miika loved them and I dreamt that one day we'll try them in their Paris shop. I've tried macarons in a lot of places but the ones in Laduree taste just heavenly delicious.
By the way I got a bit sick yesterday. I guess it was because of the icy cold water that I drank with the chinese food in Camden Town. The weather was windy and I was already cold and with that iced water I got sick. I'm sure I'll survive...

2 comments:

  1. u made me almost cry.. kom v gorle.. (
    so happy for you guys!

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  2. Thank you! I really wish you get your visa soon!! You are on my mind and I cross my fingers for you!

    ReplyDelete