Travel & Finally Back in Cambridge
Today started at 8:00 am when I woke up yesterday. I've now been awake more than 27 hours. I kind of don't feel like a person at this point, just a shell of my former self, but am forcing myself to stay awake until a reasonable time so that I don't wake up super early tomorrow. (Although seeing Cambridge in the early morning wouldn't be all that bad.)
At 12:30 pm on Sunday, Philip took me to Uptown Station to catch the Peoria Charter to O'Hare. The charter was a good idea; traffic is never great and there is a ton of construction right now. Right away the driver called someone and said that the "check engine" light was on. I could hear this conversation because I sat at the front of the bus. He pulled off at Pontiac to check some things, didn't seem pleased, kept talking to someone on the phone saying he was going to pull over again...but we made it to O'Hare without switching buses or whatever the plan might have been.
There was no drop-off at Terminal 1, so I had to do quite a bit of walking to get there. I had already checked into the flight on the United app, which I've never done before, so I wasn't sure how that would go, especially with it being an international flight requiring a passport. It was easy breezy! My boarding pass was on my phone. TSA was also easy with hardly any line. Garrett's Popcorn is in Terminal 2, so you know I had to make that pit stop. I waited for my flight a little less than 2 hours at the gate. A highlight was seeing a flight attendant walk through the concourse with a tall vanilla ice cream cone.
The flight itself went super fast. It was a little over 7 hours, but it felt like maybe 4 hours. United has a ton of movies and shows to choose from. I watched four episodes of Bill Hader's show on HBO called "Barry," which is about a hitman turned actor and it was pretty funny. Then I rewatched "The Greatest Showman," which is probably why the time flew. The rest of the time I tried to fall asleep, but I can never sleep on flights. The flight landed at 8:15 am London time, 2:15 am home time.
I was slightly worried about going through Customs because I had recently read a BBC article about the wait time to get through Border Patrol at Heathrow. As usual, the worry was unfounded, because this part was also easy breezy. I waited less than 5 minutes in line to get to an agent. They are always intimidating, yet extremely polite. You feel like you're being interrogated by just the nicest person. I was done with the Customs agent in 2 minutes and on my way to find the buses.
I got lost looking for the regional coaches, but a nice airport employee pointed me in the right direction. None of this looked familiar to me, so I think the layout changed since 2010. I went to the ticket counter and found out that the next coach to Cambridge was leaving in 2 minutes! The person helping me called the bus and told them to hold it, which was super nice. When I got to the stand, there was still a line of people boarding, so I wasn't late or holding anything up.
The bus to Cambridge also felt short, even though it was over 2 hours. It was a very full bus, which I wasn't expecting at all. I had to sit on the opposite side of where I wanted to, next to someone, and on the aisle, so I wasn't able to see as much scenery as I wanted to. The bus seats were very small and I was pretty uncomfortable the whole time. The little scenery I did see was rolling hills (some very high!) with cows grazing on these steep hills. When we rolled into Cambridge, I couldn't help but smile and get sort of teary. I know this place...I know where I'm going for the most part, and that's a fun feeling.
The coach dropped us off at Parker's Piece, which is a big green space in the middle of town.
At 12:30 pm on Sunday, Philip took me to Uptown Station to catch the Peoria Charter to O'Hare. The charter was a good idea; traffic is never great and there is a ton of construction right now. Right away the driver called someone and said that the "check engine" light was on. I could hear this conversation because I sat at the front of the bus. He pulled off at Pontiac to check some things, didn't seem pleased, kept talking to someone on the phone saying he was going to pull over again...but we made it to O'Hare without switching buses or whatever the plan might have been.
There was no drop-off at Terminal 1, so I had to do quite a bit of walking to get there. I had already checked into the flight on the United app, which I've never done before, so I wasn't sure how that would go, especially with it being an international flight requiring a passport. It was easy breezy! My boarding pass was on my phone. TSA was also easy with hardly any line. Garrett's Popcorn is in Terminal 2, so you know I had to make that pit stop. I waited for my flight a little less than 2 hours at the gate. A highlight was seeing a flight attendant walk through the concourse with a tall vanilla ice cream cone.
The flight itself went super fast. It was a little over 7 hours, but it felt like maybe 4 hours. United has a ton of movies and shows to choose from. I watched four episodes of Bill Hader's show on HBO called "Barry," which is about a hitman turned actor and it was pretty funny. Then I rewatched "The Greatest Showman," which is probably why the time flew. The rest of the time I tried to fall asleep, but I can never sleep on flights. The flight landed at 8:15 am London time, 2:15 am home time.
I was slightly worried about going through Customs because I had recently read a BBC article about the wait time to get through Border Patrol at Heathrow. As usual, the worry was unfounded, because this part was also easy breezy. I waited less than 5 minutes in line to get to an agent. They are always intimidating, yet extremely polite. You feel like you're being interrogated by just the nicest person. I was done with the Customs agent in 2 minutes and on my way to find the buses.
I got lost looking for the regional coaches, but a nice airport employee pointed me in the right direction. None of this looked familiar to me, so I think the layout changed since 2010. I went to the ticket counter and found out that the next coach to Cambridge was leaving in 2 minutes! The person helping me called the bus and told them to hold it, which was super nice. When I got to the stand, there was still a line of people boarding, so I wasn't late or holding anything up.
The bus to Cambridge also felt short, even though it was over 2 hours. It was a very full bus, which I wasn't expecting at all. I had to sit on the opposite side of where I wanted to, next to someone, and on the aisle, so I wasn't able to see as much scenery as I wanted to. The bus seats were very small and I was pretty uncomfortable the whole time. The little scenery I did see was rolling hills (some very high!) with cows grazing on these steep hills. When we rolled into Cambridge, I couldn't help but smile and get sort of teary. I know this place...I know where I'm going for the most part, and that's a fun feeling.
The coach dropped us off at Parker's Piece, which is a big green space in the middle of town.
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| Parker's Piece |
After getting my jacket out of my bag (it was pretty windy and significantly cooler), I immediately started walking to my AirBnB because I wanted to get rid of my luggage. (I should take a pic and tell you about my luggage--maybe in a different post.) It was about a 15 minute walk and I found it pretty easily. The hosts weren't home, so they gave me directions on opening the safe box with the key. It was weird entering a stranger's house without them here, but also nice. I dropped off my bag, lightened what was in my purse, and headed back out in search of food. (It was now noon Cambridge time, 4:00 am home time.)
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| The door of my AirBnB - 53 Catharine Street, Cambridge |
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| Me in my AirBnB room after 26 hours awake--looking rough, but happy |
Searching for food turned into seeing the majority of the world-known Cambridge sights. I wanted to see King's College Chapel right away, so I immediately went there...then through the market, to the river, through another park I'd never visited (Christ's Pieces--weird names for parks, right?), and then back to the AirBnB, but not before stopping a block away for a cheese toasty and a coffee at a place called Urban Larder. The coffee was fab and hit the spot. I walked for a couple of hours and have blisters now, of course.
When I came back to the AirBnB, the host, Dan, was here. He seems nice, but will leave me alone, which I appreciate. Apparently they are moving out of this house on Thursday, which is also the day I check out.
Cambridge was so busy today with tourists and what I'm assuming are locals. It's a bank holiday, so it's like their Labor Day. Hoping for quieter streets tomorrow so that I can go back and see everything I did today.
Right now I'm feeling like I'm still on the plane. I thought I was feeling woozy because I hadn't eaten anything in many hours, but I still feel weird. I'm watching the water on this table and I swear there's some Jurassic Park footsteps happening. Maybe this entire island is swaying.
I'm going to try to be brave and go into a pub for a drink...maybe. I have a few hours before I want to fall asleep and don't really want to stay in my room the whole time.
Until tomorrow...adventure on!
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| Punters on the River Cam |
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| King's College Chapel from "The Backs" - the backs of the colleges along the river |
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| This is The Eagle, where Watson and Crick came up with their proposal for "the secret of life"--DNA |
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| I just liked this bike with Christ's Pieces in the background |
When I came back to the AirBnB, the host, Dan, was here. He seems nice, but will leave me alone, which I appreciate. Apparently they are moving out of this house on Thursday, which is also the day I check out.
Cambridge was so busy today with tourists and what I'm assuming are locals. It's a bank holiday, so it's like their Labor Day. Hoping for quieter streets tomorrow so that I can go back and see everything I did today.
Right now I'm feeling like I'm still on the plane. I thought I was feeling woozy because I hadn't eaten anything in many hours, but I still feel weird. I'm watching the water on this table and I swear there's some Jurassic Park footsteps happening. Maybe this entire island is swaying.
I'm going to try to be brave and go into a pub for a drink...maybe. I have a few hours before I want to fall asleep and don't really want to stay in my room the whole time.
Until tomorrow...adventure on!