Globe Trotting

I finally have my travel itinerary for Qatar. I won't announce the exact dates online, but I will be gone for 11 days! The flight will be about 24 hours each way and we will come in a few days before the conference to participate in a charette with the other students. I will miss seven days of school. I'm glad all my classes are in my department and they will let me go. But I have no idea how I will get everything done this semester.

To add to everything else going on I found out this week I won another competition. It's not time yet to announce the details, but it will involve me travelling to San Francisco three days after I get back from Qatar! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Arrival

Our flight finally arrived at San Francisco and we were off. I don’t mind flying. The food was pretty good and the in flight movie (Failure to Launch, oddly appropriate don't you think?) was ok, but it was long – nine and a half hours. It was also a red eye flight and I didn’t get much sleep.

Heathrow Airport is a huge contrast to San Francisco.



It might have been nice once, but now it is run down and dirty. It reminds me of Tomorrow Land in Disney Land when I was little. It was such an outdated vision of the future that it was laughable. In both places the once modern white surfaces and glass panels were dirty and in disrepair. This is not a welcoming place to enter the country. It also didn’t help that the first things we were greeted with after baggage claim were a liquor store and a small casino. The last thing I wanted to see when I arrived in Great Britain was a slot machine. But the grimy nature of Heathrow was an oddly appropriate setting to be reminded of Las Vegas.

We were met at the Meeting Point by Corrine, one of our instructors, and taken into London on the Underground. Once again, grimy and rundown, in large part due to the heavy traffic. It was also hot and humid. It’s a 40 minute ride into London and with luggage it is not fun. It is even less fun to drag that luggage through the heavy traffic and narrow streets of London, but we finally arrived at our flat.

[photo of flat will go here]

I am in room 17F, on the third floor (61 steps!), which I have all to myself. My flatmates are Megan R., Audrey, Susie, Janelle, Kelly, Una, DeAnne, Susan, Tim and Marty. There are six bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a common room with a kitchen. Remember everything I said about my little basement apartment in Salt Lake? I take it all back! This place is a dump with a rat problem. At least here this is my view out the window:



If I lean out far enough I can see the top of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

When we arrived we were given just enough time to drop our stuff, and grab a sandwich before we were led to Sainsbury’s, the grocery store, by Darrin and his daughter Kelsey. It was quite a walk, and I bought only what I knew I could carry back. Everything is so expensive here! We are incredibly spoiled in the US.

Back at the flat, once again, we had just enough time to drop off our stuff before we headed out on a walking tour of the city. We jumped on the Tube at South Kensington, which was quite a feat. There are over 20 of us and the trains are crowded. You have to be aggressive or you will never get anywhere. This is the London Underground:



And this is Trax.



Trax isn’t usually this empty, but once again I realize I’ve been spoiled. Trax is clean, air conditioned, and very quiet. The Tube is hot, stuffy, and loud.

We got off at Westminster and walked out in front of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.





We were right on the Thames and across from the London Eye, the world’s largest ferris wheel. After a quick walk through the streets, and traffic, of London we were finally taken back and allowed to sleep.

I'm Off

I am not usually a procrastinator. I always try to get things done early, but beginning my month in Europe on a relaxed note has been impossible. I finished my internship on Friday, moved out of my apartment in Salt Lake and came home on Saturday, unpacked on Sunday, and couldn't start preparing for this trip until Monday. My flight left Salt Lake at 11:23 a.m Tuesday morning. Or at least it was supposed to. The plane was 45 minutes late due to heavy air traffic. I travelled with Tim, Susan, Wendy and Megan P. We finally arrived in San Fransisco, rushed to the international terminal, and got through security in time to find that our connecting flight had left 6 minutes early. Thanks to a flight attendant telling us the wrong gate we missed the connection to Heathrow by a few minutes. The next flight to London didn't leave until 7:00 p.m.



Six hours is a long time to wait in an airport, but it could be a lot worse. San Fransisco is a nice airport to wait in. The building is well designed. It's bright and contemporary, comfortable to be in, and easy to find your way through. The high ceilings let in ample daylight and the white Richard Meier-esque corridors contrast with black granite partitions. It was well past lunch time after we got on stand-by for the next flight, so I broke down and paid $8.61 for a plate of penne pasta with tomato cream sauce and goat cheese. The tables in the food court have a playful Modrian pattern with a curved metal band. The chairs was utliltarian and plastic, but they had a nice shape and were surprisingly comfortable. So I picked one up and turned it over to see who made it. It's the Genoa chair.



The airport map had a room labeled as a mediataion area. You don't see that often so we went expoloring. It is called The Reflection Room and located in a corner of the terminal overlooking the hillside. You enter the room through a vestibule with a large compass inlaid in stone on the floor. The room is situated north. I wonder what the symbolisim behind it is, and whether it was the architect or the designer who planned it. Inside is a collonade of maple columns with metal beams. It creates a wonderful transition from the outside world. It is a peaceful space with comfortable chairs and a glass encased room for religious services. We went in and sat down, but we were not the only ones in the room. The tranquility of the setting was broken by a traveller in one corner, and a homeless man in another, both snoring away.





Time passed quickly and we made our way to the gate. The gates are a level lower than the concourse which is a nice seperation of space. You feel more protected and the space is much quiter than the usual airport waiting areas. The carpet is the same pattern as it is ay GSBS, with an arc of a contrasting solid cut through it. I think I'm doomed to notice details like this for the rest of my life. We are now scheduled to leave at 7:23 p.m. PST.