With Poop, Comes Luck - Weekend in Norwich and London

Last Thursday I left Exeter to go visit my friend who is studying two hours outside of London in Norwich.  But of course, because this is me we are talking about, the travel was not easy.  Theoretically it should have been though.  A two hour train ride to London, then a half hour on the underground to the Liverpool train station, and then a two hour train ride from Liverpool to Norwich.  But something that I did not know, and now have learned, is that when there is barely even half an inch of snow on the ground, all of England panics.  Right after my last class on Thursday, I sped-walked to the train station so that I could be nice and early for my train.  But once there, I got an e-mail from one of my friends that I had made this summer on the Today Show.  I was going to spend two nights in Norwich with my friend Maggie, and then go into London Saturday morning and spend the rest of the day with my other friend from the Today Show.  She is currently studying abroad in Madrid, one of my favorite Spanish cities, but she decided to come and visit London for the weekend.  It all seemed perfect: I would spend time in Norwich with Maggie and then walk around the streets of London with Molly who I hadn't seen since the summer in the NBC offices.  But then I got the e-mail.  Her flight from Madrid to London was cancelled due to "all of the snow".  Um, there was literally less than one forth of an inch of snow and by the time my train had gotten to London, it was all melted.  I was so mad.  I was so looking forward to my weekend with Maggie and Molly, but because of "severe weather conditions", she was unable to get to London.  At that very moment, I wished that Kenyon was able to see the way that London worked.  Why is it when we get two feet of snow in Ohio, classes are still on?  And why is it that when Kenyon sends us e-mails saying "Do not go outside for over 2 minutes.  For this could cause severe frostbite and skin mutation", are classes not cancelled??  Seriously!  But anyway, as I arrived in London Paddington Station bitter about Kenyon's inability to ever cancel class even when it is dangerous to be outside, I decided to change my train ticket on saturday to leave earlier in the day now that Molly wasn't coming.  So after an 8 pound ticket change (better than getting on an  on-train change and paying 65 pounds), I took the tube to Liverpool Station, only to find out that my train to Norwich had been CANCELLED.  Crap.  What to do now?  I went over to the tickets booth, nervous that I was going to have to take a train back to Exeter after I had already bought all these other tickets for.  And the lady behind the desk, well, she was absolutely no help at all.  "There might be a train in another two hours to Norwich, but also, there might not be" she told me.  What?  She was staring at a computer screen that gave her information to different train times and that is all she could tell me.  So, not knowing what to do, I picked up my cell phone and made the most expensive call I have made during my entire stay here in England...I called home.   But to my luck, no one was home to receive my nervous breakdown of a phone call.  So what did I do?...I left the most pathetic message I think I have ever left.  My Dad told me he freaked out when he heard the message, and almost boarded a flight to Heathrow in order to save me because I was practically crying in my message, but of course, there is nothing he can do from Los Angeles.  But, since no one was home to help me put my head back on my shoulders, my childish "I need my Mom" cry came across in the message.  Oh, and I forgot to mention.  It was about 25 degrees out the entire time.  Yes, I was wearing a scarf and mittens, but still, after standing out in the cold for over an hour and not knowing my next move, I was literally frozen solid.  I decided to get a gingerbread latte, because that would warm me up and it would make me happy (anything holiday themed puts a smile on my face).  But once I got the latte, they forgot to put the special ingredient in, but I sipped it and held it close to my frozen veins, even though it was lacking the gingerbread.
After finishing my latte and still being frozen, I decided to go back to the ticket booth again to see if they had anymore information.  I purposely chose a different counter lady and to my surprise, she told me that there was a train boarding to Norwich at that very second and that my ticket would be good for it.  Stunned that it was only a half hour after my cancelled train was supposed to leave (although I had been waiting for a long time in the cold because my connecting train got in early), I sprinted to platform 3 and boarded my train to Norwich.  Not wanting to use anymore of my minutes (I have a pay as you go phone plan), I decided to e-mail my Dad from my phone to let him know that everything was now alright, despite the message full of tears I had left him an hour before.  But because of the "severe weather", the train had to go a bit slower so instead of arriving within two hours, it was more like three.  But as long as I got there safe and sound I didn't mind.
Once I got to Norwich my friend was waiting for me in the train station with food.  We took a taxi back to her flat and then she showed me around her city.  The next day we walked around Norwich some more and she showed me all of the cute little boutiques.  We even ran upon a restaurant called Logan's cafe!

But out of everything we did, I have got to say that my favorite part of the trip had to have been the fish foot massage.  Yes, rather than a woman massaging our feet by hand, we went to the Norwich mall and came across a place called Dr. Spa Fish.  Before dipping our feet into the fish tanks to have the fish suck away our dead skin, we had to fill out a medical form.  One of the questions: "Do you have any open cuts on your feet?"  The night before I had stubbed my toe hard, but decided to ignore the fact that it drew a teensy bit of blood because this would probably be my one and only chance for a fish pedicure.  So after checking the box that said "No", I took off my boots, rolled up my pant legs, and surrendered my feet to the fish.  And wow, what a weird sensation it was!  10 pounds for 20 minutes was totally worth it.  My feet loved every second of it, and I know this sounds weird, but having the flesh pulled and eaten off of my feet had never felt so good.  The whole experience was reinvigorating, and now I can honestly say that fish have eaten my feet.  

On Saturday, I headed back to London (this was the day I was supposed to hang out with Molly).  Getting back to London took no time, although, of course, the tube line that I needed to take to get back to Paddington was shut down just for the day that I needed it.  The old me would have freaked out.  But now that I am 21 and full of wisdom, I stayed calm and figured out a new route to take without even asking anyone for help.  I was very impressed with myself because if you didn't know, I am the girl who has to drive home first before I go anywhere new because I only know where places are in relation to my house in Los Angeles.  Very sad, but true, and I am very happy to say that this abroad experience is really broadening my horizons and may just be the push that I needed to try and learn my way around Los Angeles.  But anyway, once I made it to Paddington Station, I had a two and a half hour layover for my next train to Exeter.  Seeing that there was another train leaving in just one hour, I asked the woman at the tickets line if I could trade my ticket in for free.  The answer: No.  So there I was again stuck in London in the freezing cold.  I strolled around outside for a bit, but two hours did not leave me enough time for what I truly wanted to do...go shopping at Harrods (I'll save that for next trip!)  Not having much luck shopping wise, I went back into the station.  Even though Paddington Station is technically "indoors", it is equivalent to standing outside due to the freezing cold and no central heating.  Why, London, why???  I don't understand why no one in England doesn't just invest money in a heater.  They all complain that it is so cold, but still, no central heating ANYWHERE.  So, because my body temperature was abnormally low and I had lost my mittens in Norwich, I decided to go to Starbucks to warm me up as I was waiting for my train.  As I was walking there, a pigeon pooped on my boot.  Yes, Paddington Station is indoors, and yes, I am probably the only person who has ever gotten pooped on by a bird while indoors, but instead of getting upset and throwing my arms up in the air, I decided that because the chances were so low to get pooped on like that as I did, I would be extra lucky for the rest of the day.  And you know what, my luck started to turn around for the better.  My order at Starbucks = hot chai latte.  What they served me = room temperature chai latte.  Usually I try not to complain, but because this was a three pound latte (equivalent to over $5), I decided that Starbucks was going to make it right.  I asked them to reheat my drink, but instead of reheating it, they made me a new one, upgraded my size, gave me a free drink coupon for the next time I order something, and would not stop apologizing.  I looked down at my pooped stained boot and smiled.  The luck was coming through.  My hands finally regained feeling from my hot drink, and I went back to the seating area and took my seat to wait another hour for my train.  But all of the sudden, the ticket lady came up to me and told me to take the earlier train, gave me the ticket, and told me not to worry about the price difference.  I smiled at my pooped stained boot.  

The train ride was great, a little less than two hours which is very rare.  (I think it was the bird poops doing.)  So even though my friend's flight didn't make it out to London, I got a free Starbucks and was able to get back to Exeter and relax a little earlier.  I had a great time in Norwich and a lucky time getting back from London.  Don't worry though, I washed the poop off my boot as soon as I got back to my flat.  

Next weekend I head off to Germany with Exeter's chocolate society to visit chocolate factories and Christmas markets!  All of Europe gets very geared up for Christmas so I am extra excited to see what Cologne, Germany has to offer.  I have been working out extra at the gym, and I am planning on packing my stretchy pants in preparation for this chocolate trip.  This is my second to last weekend in Europe before I go home for winter break so I am going to live it up.  Check back next week and until then grutenfrogen (it sounds like a German word to me).