Day 6, seven, Ate & 9

Well hello there world. I've finally arrived in England and it was a bit stressful of a journey. Let me regale the tales to you. It all started off Thursday night back in Canada. I went to sleep. When I awoke the next morning it was 6:30 am. As you may or may not know I usually sleep in until about 10 or 11 so this was really early. I was a bit excited about the trip and so I couldn't get back to sleep. I decided to get on with the day and get all the things done that I had to do. I had a short nap in the afternoon but all in all I didn't sleep much. By the time I was done all that needed doing it was after midnight and I have to be at the airport by 4 am, I decided to stay awake. I went over to Tim Horton's to have a coffee with some friends before I was off. I thought I would be able to sleep on the plane with such lack of sleep but alas, no. I got to Calgary at 7:30 am and got to visit with my dad. That was great. I didn't sleep the whole day (mainly because I wanted to be really tired for my next flight). So I get on my next flight and it was with Thomas Cook airlines (I've never flown with them before) and they had the worst seats I've ever sat in. I could not sleep so I was up for the majority of the flight. So I finally arrive in London Gatwick and it's 7am. No one here is awake yet and I had been having trouble with getting ahold of my friends to confirm they were going to meet me at the airport so no one was there. I tried calling everyone but to no avail. I finally just took a bus into London. That was about an hour and a half. It only went to Victoria station so now I'm still stranded just as a new location. I finally called another friend and finally they were able to come and pick me up. I needed to stop at the bank before going anywhere obviously to pay for whatever room I was to get. They dropped my off at the bank and gave me directions to this hostel I was to stay at. Of course as my luck would have it, they were wrong directions and what appeared to be a wrong address. I spent an hour and a half walking around with a 50 pound suitcase and a 20 pound backpack trying to find this place again, to no avail. I finally stopped and got directions which were in the exact opposite direction to the previous directions I was given. So I FINALLY get to the place and they say I must wait 2 more hours until check in time when a room is available. You must keep in mind here I am so bloody tried I could pass out at mid walk. ( It was Sunday now and I hadn't slept a whole lot since Thursday night). Anyways. I wait. and it was sheer torture. Finally I sleep for 6 measly hours and then I wake up and have supper at the place called garfunkle's. (it was the best meal I've had in ages) Come back to my room and sleep again til about 2 am. However the people in the hostel felt the need to be loud and obnoxious. (even to the point of playing soccer in the halls-full out) So I stay up and watch TV until something opens up for breakfast. Crazy. MIddle of bloody London and nothing is open at 6 am.Strangest thing ever. ha anyways. I go for breakfast and meet this American girl who happens to be in the same boat as me staying at the same hostel one floor up. we spent a few hours looking for an internet cafe as the hostel had no internet available. What was worse the brochure said they do and also that they have WiFi. We asked about it and they just tell you to piggy back other networks. YEAH RIGHT!!!! so finally we go back to the hostel and it's getting close to check out time ( as I didn't have a booking I had to check out and re-check in) BUT, and this is a big but, there were no more rooms available for me as I didn't have a booking. I had to leave so I was back at square one with no where to stay. I called some of my friends again and finally got ahold of one who said if I make to a certain place they would be able to pick me up from there but that they weren't driving into London. Now for the fun part. I have to get to Waterloo and then take a train to this place WITH ALL MY BAGS AGAIN> ha ha it was great (hint of sarcasm for good measure) so I do finally get the train but on the way the bottom of my bag breaks clean off and my bag no longer stands up on it's own. How great was that? So I finally get off the train when I reach my destination and what more than it starts pouring rain and I have yet to call my friend and tell him I've arrived so he can pick me up. I must have stood in the rain at least a half an hour. The worst part was the pay phone wasn't working well so I had to bang it like crazy just to get it to work. (the bonus was after the call for some reason it gave me all my money back-prasie God for that). So I finally get picked up and we aren't really sure what to do. So we heads over to another friend of ours. When we get there, there seems to be an awkwardness ( I basically feel as though I was intruding as we showed up unannounced). So we left went back to my friends place I got showered and changed and we ordered pizza and watched some movies. Seriously though that was my favorite part of the whole trip so far. I was so exstatic to be doing this seriously I was after all the events of the week so far. So now I am just haning out here and we are waiting to find me a new place to stay. I hung out with my good friend Laurie last night and that was also a bonus. I really hope this week gets better and I can't wait to get organized. alright?