I made it to England! Today seemed to be an incredibly long day I feel like I should go to bed but it's only 8 o'clock here. Crazy. But I left Miami last night and I thought I wasn't going to be able to sleep on the plane but was I wrong. I usually have anxiety while flying so I can never really get a good sleep but I ended up taking some sleeping pills and they worked like a charm. I took them just as I was getting on the plane and I was asleep before the plane even taxied to the runway. I don't remember taking off, don't remember the little flight attendant emergency spiel, nothing. I do however remember waking up to look out the window to see if we took off but I could only see the reflection of the girl sitting next to me writing in her notebook and dozed off. Then I remember waking up to being asked what I wanted for dinner, and I am pretty sure I answered the flight attendant cross eyed and probably drooling haha. But the next thing I remember is putting the food on my tray table then waking up to find it gone without eating a bite. And another thing that was strange was I asked for water, I took a sip, then woke up to find it empty in the seat pocket in front of me with the napkin in it. Either I was drinking in my sleep or the girl next to me got thirsty and tried to hide it. And I'm really hoping I drank it because that would just be weird. But those sleeping pills carry a big punch! That has never happened before.
But after landing in Heathrow I still wasn't close to relaxing. I had to take the Underground from the airport to Kings Cross which took about an hour and then wait for a couple hours in Kings Cross until my train to Newcastle came in. But for all you Harry Potter fans out there they have a Platform 9 3/4 sign and trolley lodged into the wall on Platform 9 where Harry and the Gang head of to Hogwarts. Kings Cross also makes a damn good sandwich. A fresh baguette with mozzarella, basil, and olive oil. Delicious! You can't get that at Subway! But after waiting around I finally got on my 3 hour train ride north to Newcastle. (Saw the very pretty English Countryside, with the rolling hills, green grass, and lots of sheep. All the buildings here are small and quaint looking. Almost all neighborhoods seem to have the row houses. If you've seen the movie Billy Elliot or one of my favorite Christmas time movies Love Actually those are exactly the houses (and I would hope so because the movies where filmed here heehee). House after house after house connected to one another along the small streets.) But once in Newcastle I boarded the Metro south to Sunderland. I got driven to the tournament site and I have to say either they have crazy drivers here or everyone is very confident in their driving abilities. I'm not sure whizzing passed buses/pedestrians and going around roundabouts at twice the speed limit is normal but who knows. But finally got to the site and it's really nice. Has an indoor pool, 8 indoor courts, outdoor courts, fitness center, and cafe. The indoor courts remind me of my college days with the 4 courts seperated by stands high above and another 4 courts on the other side of the stands. It's like playing Mississippi or Michigan all over again! But the courts are nice, fast but not too bad, so I'm excited to start playing. But doubles starts tomorrow, so now I'm going to head to bed. After such a long day I don't think sleep will be much of a problem.
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