Februrary 19, 2009 Thursday

I left the Barca airport London bound! I didn’t want to leave today! The sun was shining and it was the perfect weather! A long sleeve was even too hot! And the sky was hazy because of the heat and I just wanted to stay and sit on the beach!
I flew Alitalia air and the plane looked like a little sardine! There were 3 girls on the plane; I was the only blonde one with all business men! It was a very small and compact plane! I was surprised when the flight was so smooth! I also had a butter/mushroom/sardine sandwich. It was not good at all. I gave it a chance like baby eel, but I dislike both greatly! We took off from the Barcelona airport (which is on the Mediterranean Sea shore) and we had the best view of the cities. If you close your eyes and opened them you couldn’t tell whether you were looking at the sky or water. Both were an unbelievable blue. The only way you could decide if it was by the little white boats in the water and the occasional change of depth. When you looked out onto the Mediterranean you could see for miles! And when you looked back towards Barca you could see the snow capped giant Pyrenees in the background! They almost seemed to float because the warm air created a haze on land. We flew along the shore getting the best views of Costa Brava, and Saint Sebastian! The water looked so pretty against the sky. But the most phenomenal view was the Alps. They expanded for miles and you could see the rugged caps point up to the sky. They seem to float as well because of the clouds! The whole way we followed some sort of mountain range. We flew over Torino where the Olympics were and we landed in Italy just outside of the Mountains. There was snow everywhere 15 miles before we landed. But then we hit a brown, beige, crème quilt work of mountainous farms. Way smaller than the Alps, but it had historic old properties on them, with amazing courtyards!

Milan has the same sky color as Switzerland does. It really reminds me of Switaly! Haha. It has the colored houses like in the south, but the Swiss architecture of the square buildings. The airport is in the middle of the city so I had a great view of everything.

***NO sign of Beckham yet. GOD DAMN IT!
***It smells like spring and farms outside!
***the airport is in the center of town!

I am right now flying over the Italian Alps. At first the mountains looked like teeth with cavities. All of them are smooth on top with white around the edges and dark in the middle (just like a tooth!). There are so many rivers and lakes that are glistening blue y green north of Milan with little towns surrounding them. And between each Alp and a river basin a whole town follows the river. But now I look on both sides of the plane and there are HUGE snowcapped mountains. When I went to Switzerland I didn’t have a good view because of the snowstorms (go figure Switzerland!). But it is clear and sunny out and all I see is white mountains below me and blue skies above me. There isn’t a cloud in the sky. The sun makes the snow seem glazed at smooth. I can’t even explain the panoramic view I have right now from my window. The vast spread of mountains and little river basins with the hint of trees on the bottom is spectacular. Northern Italy is gorgeous and cozy. I can’t get over the fact how these huge mountains expand so far out! We are over Austria and I can’t wait to be in the Alps in the spring. The Alps can’t compare to the Appalachians (or Adirondacks Jazz ha ha get the snow machine!) or the Rockies. The concept that whole communities are shoved between the peaks and the continuity of white hills are gorgeous. There are natural hot springs we keep passing. The steam is rising from the mountains and it looks like mini volcanoes. I can’t wait to explore the small basin towns in May! I LOVE THE ALPS!!!! I need my camera. I know I’m rambling, but I don’t have enough adjectives to explain what it looks like to be up in the blue skies surrounded by the Alps And when we go over the clouds, just like Switzerland they blanketed across like bumpy mash potatoes with the peaks sticking out of it and in the distance mas montanas.

When I arrived to the airport I got quizzed by security for the most intense details. From where I was studying, to where my sister lives, and what she is studying. I said Notting Hill, I had no idea! But right when I was going to the Underground to meet Jazz I heard a “RACHEL JANZ. RACHEL!”. And there was Jake, Blake and Jordan. And all of their flights arrived a few hours before mine! What are the odds in one of the largest airports in the world, I would run into the boys! And Steve was missing from their group and he was held back in Madrid. Poor Steve!

Jazz was 15 minutes late, but those 15 minutes was enough for me to panic! I needed Natalie to duff her at that moment. I paid a crazy amount to go online and I ran around looking for her! Finally I ran into her. I tried asking people for help to see if there was another tube station, but this was the only one out of this terminal! But no one could understand me! They said I talked way to fast and their accents were too thick! But people here are VERY nice, they are always willing to help and are very genuine!

When I met up with Jazz we went to her apartment! I loved the district of town she lived in! I met her roommates, and I didn’t like most, but somewhere sweet! We ate Velveeta Mac and cheese and chicken and it tasted amazing, that and being with Jazz was already making my London experience!

After dinner we had to wait for Steve’s flight to arrive (he was having a Hell Trip in Madrid) so we went to the Westbury to get two for ones! The hottest bartenders on earth worked there and they made us a drink with real fruit that tasted great! I felt fancy drinking in such an old building with chandeliers! I should say Posh because most of London is posh! After good buzz we adventured to Piccadilly Circus! We walked through the Park just east of Buckingham until we ran into Westminster abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye. I can imagine what Peter Pan felt like when he flew around Big Ben in the London sky! It was gorgeous! It was a tinged yellow glow and the rest of the building reflected off of the Thames. Then the London Eye lit up the sky looking out of place, and the building next to it changed fiber optic lights numerous times. We heard Big Ben strike 11, and the streets were dead and it echoed through. It was so eerie, almost something you would read in Sherlock Holmes. I love the way London looks at night. Last time I was here, it didn’t impress me half as much. It is so romantic at night! Big Ben I think is London’s most amazing piece of architecture!

We picked up Steve and did he have stories. Even knowing Spanish he had to get a lawyer and a bunch of locals to help him get a flight here, but he made it. We came home, ate and chilled out! I can’t get the London night landscape out of my head!