May 21st pt 2

Massive amount of traveling today. Veronica and I landed in Iceland around midnight according to our bodies, but about 445am according to the clock. We got to sit together on our second flight which was nice; I slept most of it, which is to say, about an hour and a half. We landed in London around 1030 & didn't make it through border patrol until about 1245, so that was fun. But Bri warned us of that ahead of time. It was just a long time to be standing.

Fortunately, my cousin Aiden sent detailed instructions on how to get to him to we successfully navigated the tube (thanks Aiden!) on our way to him. Dropped our bags at aiden's and had a cup of coffee to power through the day, rather than nap. I tend to do well without sleep, but in either case, the hope is for us to acclimate our bodies to a different time zone. Aiden gave us a great tour of historic London, complete with history & local spots. Veronica's friend Maria joined us for lunch and beyond which was lovely. We started out in Barbican Centre & moseyed around to the Gerkin, the bridge, London Tower and a million winding alleyways.

It was exactly the right balance for a quick London tour which was nice. We didn't take too many pictures but enjoyed it all the same. Aiden has come over to the states a few times, so we compared a few stateside things to London's atmosphere. In London, the streets and sidewalks are wide and made for walking whereas in the US, the sidewalks are narrow, not easily shared, and lack the appeal of wanting to stay on them for very long. Plus the public transit here is pretty impressive & effective. Aiden doesn't even have a car, and hasn't for years because he doesn't need one. I wish wish wish that public transit in the states had this kind of accessibility. And it's just a beautiful city. There is a ridiculous amount of history here, and skyscrapers butt up against cobble stone churches in a way that seems less threatening than it does in the US, as if the church building is in charge & merely granting the massive skyscraper permission to be there. Also, before today's tour, I was pretty skeptical of Britain's power in the Brexit process, based largely on country size and international relationships (historically speaking) but I also realized it has a lot more clout than I previously realized. I'm still pretty Brexit-skeptical, but ya know, knowledge adding one more complicating factor and what have you.

We've just left Aiden in the city and we're heading out to Auntie Una's house for dinner & a bed (🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌) veronica is adorably asleep on the train & I'm keeping an eye on the stops. It's been a long day, but a reallyyyyyy good one. Seeing family doesn't happen often but when it does, it feels like a very natural catch in a groove & for that I'm pretty grateful.

Also, vastly unrelated, highly recommend the Sampha album & halfassedly recommend the new Paramore album (it's fine, just not as good as the classic angst that I love)

We're stopping through London again & heading off to Edinburgh tomorrow! 

Cheers & goodnight,

xx V&C