Airport Fun

It is Monday afternoon and I am finally settling in at my friend Caroline’s place where I will be staying for a few days before heading off to Roanne. I am really happy that I get to spend time with her and her sweet family :). The journey here has been an interesting one...

I had an overnight flight from Atlanta to London on Saturday night. I got to use the new Atlanta International Terminal for the first time tonight and it was super efficient! I got through security within minutes and soon found myself at the gate with over two hours left to spare. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with the time, but then I ended up using it to make last minute calls and texts to family and friends :). 

Fancy Chandelier at the International Terminal

                                                       

Beautiful Georgia Sunset

                                                             

After a while, I noticed that people were starting to line up at the gate so I lined up as well. I dressed comfortably for the flight in a red UGA t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Little did I know that this shirt would help me make my first airport friend haha. This guy in line wearing an Alabama shirt notices my UGA shirt and starts talking to me about the UGA football game. We then go on to have a conversation while in line about our Europe plans and he tells me that he quit his job so that he could go to Octoberfest! All he brought with him was a backpack for his month long time abroad. We continue to chat and as we board the plane we realize that we are in the same row of seats just one seat apart! What are the odds of that? On this same flight, I sat in the aisle seat and on my left sat a really nice older lady from South Africa. She was very talkative and told me that she was visiting her children and grandchildren who live in Atlanta. She talked to me throughout the entire flight and she was really cool. Sometimes her South African accent made it difficult for me to understand everything that she was telling me but anyways it was nice to not feel so alone while traveling :).

After I made it to London I was super tired, but I was excited because I got to meet up with a friend of mine (Ollie) who I met at UGA my sophomore year. It was great to catch up and to have a personal guide of the massive London airport. 

At Heathrow

Ollie, I, and the Reese's Puffs Cereal I brought for him from the US

After hanging with Ollie, I headed over to my next gate which would take me on a flight to Lyon. Unfortunately, this flight was delayed, but it’s alright because it was a safe and short flight. In this plane I got a window seat which allowed me to take some cool pictures!

View of Lyon

During this short flight, I sat next to a french couple who live in Lyon. I got to practice some french with them and they got to practice some english with me. I attempted to sleep on the flight and maybe got in a short 30-40 minute power nap. It has always been rather difficult for me to fall asleep while flying. It’s going to take a few days to reset myself to another time zone. 

Adjusting to French time,

Magdalena