Four years ago, my brother, two cousins, and I were fortunate enough to go on our first ever international trip. That October, we visited southern Germany, western Austria, and Venice, Italy. It was a great trip, opened our eyes to international travel, and you can read all about it by clicking HERE. After four quick years that didn’t allow us to take such a big trip for various reasons, we were able to get back to it this year. It was probably some time in the month of May at the bar in Lowe’s Foods that we sat down and discussed the possibility of taking such a trip, and where we would all like to go. After throwing around a few different destinations in our conversation, it seemed we kept coming back to England. So it was settled. The exact same group as four years ago would be flying to London sometime in the upcoming months.

The wheels of the airplane departed the ground sometime around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, September, 29th. Since we had been in this situation four years earlier with a long international flight, we pretty much knew what we were in for. And that is, we had a long, long day ahead of us. I don’t know how easy it is for most people to sleep on an airplane, but three of the four of us were not able to get any sleep, just like last time. I tried desperately, but being crammed into a tiny airplane seat that you cannot recline back in just isn’t a recipe for going to sleep.

The flight was a fine one, but with flights that cover such a substantial amount of distance, you’re just so ready to stand up and walk around by the time you arrive at your destination. And such was the case with me. We arrived around nine o’clock Saturday morning at London-Heathrow Airport. The three of us who weren’t able to get any sleep were already running on a full day with no sleep from back home, with another full day ahead of us. I guess that’s just part of traveling, but that first day is always extremely rough because it’s like you just pulled an all-nighter and then have to hit the ground running.

But we were definitely anxious to hit the ground running. We were all in England for the first time, one of the greatest cities in the world. After getting through the airport without any problems and picking up our rental car from Enterprise, we were off on our own. One of the things that we added to our itinerary at the last minute in planning was Windsor Castle. We learned that it was very close to the airport and we knew we would have a little bit of time to kill. So after arriving in the very busy town of Windsor, we were greeted by bicyclists, runners, and very tight roads. Just looking for a place to park so we could take pictures of the castle was extremely difficult. But we finally lucked out in finding a spot, got out of the car, and decided to walk down the long, straight path that led to the castle. I don’t know how far away we were from the castle, but it would have taken a long, long time to walk there. We could spot it off in the distance, although it was like a simple dot on the horizon.

The plan all along was to just get a decent view of the castle, take some pictures, and head to our next destination. But after walking maybe twenty minutes, we knew we just would not have the time to get a good picture and still make it to our next destination in time. I don’t have a great lens on my camera to be able to zoom in really far, so any pictures I would have taken would have made the castle look like the dot on the horizon that it was. Nevertheless, it was great to get out and walk for a little bit after the long plane ride. And it was a wonderful place for it too, with all sorts of trails and paths filled with locals and tourists walking.

The main thing we had on our schedule that first day was a soccer game in London. West Ham United of the English Premier League was facing off against Sheffield United at 3:00 p.m. I have never been a big soccer fan, and don’t know much about the teams, or even the rules for that matter, but my brother and cousin are. So this was a big deal for them. But I have to say that I was very intrigued at going to a game. I’m always up for new experiences. I knew going into it that the English are very serious about their soccer (or football) so I knew it would be a fun atmosphere. We arrived at the game early enough to look around the stadium a little bit and grab some food and a beer. We were seated in the middle section of the stadium and actually had our own lounge behind us where we could eat and drink. We all cashed in our ticket for a free beer and felt like VIP’s while we drank in our exclusive lounge. Though it was crowded inside, it was still really nice. My pre-game hamburger was really good as well. It was the first meal we’d had since the plane, so we were all more than ready to put something in our stomachs.

Our seats in the stadium were fantastic. We had great views of the entire field and all the action taking place. Some of the fans around us were pretty comical because of how much they were invested in the game and their team. But being in an exclusive seating area like we were, it definitely wasn’t the raucous crowd like the ones seated behind the goals. We were able to sit down in our seats, rather than having to stand up, and enjoy the game the entire time. West Ham ended up beating Sheffield 2-0, so the home crowd left the stadium happy. Even though I didn’t know much of what was going on, I still very much enjoyed the game and the fun atmosphere.

By this time we were all dead-tired. Even though we had nothing else on the schedule for that day, we still had to make the drive south from London to Dover. I got behind the wheel, which was situated on the right side of the car, and was not feeling great about driving on the left side of the road, especially in the big city of London. Just getting out of the tight parking deck was an adventure, trying to get used to the many differences (shifting with your left hand, looking on the left side to see your rearview mirror, etc.). I knew driving on the other side of the road would be confusing and take getting used to, but the one thing I didn’t even consider was how difficult it would be to keep the car in the middle of the lane. With the steering wheel on the other side of the car, it throws everything in your brain off, and you think you have way more room on the passenger side of the car than you actually do. It may sound like it would be an easy adjustment, but it’s certainly not. It takes some time to get used to. And you definitely have to get used to all the roundabouts, in place of intersections, they have as well. The multi-lane roundabouts can be very confusing trying to figure out which lane to get in because sometimes a certain lane will suddenly drop off before your intended exit.

After driving like a 95-year old great grandpa all the way to Dover, and fighting traffic for most of the way, it may have taken us two hours or a little more to get there. But when we got to Holiday Inn that night, I have never been so glad to pull into a parking space in my entire life. I was just glad I got there without any dings or dents on the rental car. And I was also just ready to eat and sleep.

That’s exactly what we did once we checked in. We ate at the hotel restaurant, showered up, and hit the beds early. That first night, just like the first night on our trip four years earlier, it didn’t take any time at all to fall asleep once I got in the bed. We were all excited to be in England, and for everything that was to come, but first we needed a good night’s sleep. Cheers!

Garett

England Trip: Day One