Today we went to Hampton Court (Minus Tessa, Rachel, and Jay).
This ended up being my worst day on the trip. I woke up and ran this morning and then didn't have time to eat any breakfast before boarding the bus for Hampton Court.
Bad idea. The bus driver on the way there drove like a goddamned, overcautious, grandma idiot and the ride took over an hour and a half to get us to just the western suburbs of London. Soon, I started to get a bad headache from not eating and from being trapped on a bus that long.
We did have what I considered to be a really good tour guide, so I felt bad for mostly ignoring her, but my headache was getting worse. All I could think of was getting food, but we had to stay on the tour. The guide taught us about Hampton Court's history and about Henry VIII. We saw all the rooms of the palace and the tapestries that were hung about the castle. We even saw Henry VIII's original velvet covered toilet!
Finally, we were cut loose to explore the palace on our own. We learned there was a hedge maze outside and we all were very eager to try it. Ernie and I stopped by the gift shop and the royal kitchens. I wanted to stop and eat, but Ernie wouldn't let me because he was too busy trying to catch up with the girls. We started racing around trying to find the them. I figured they'd be in the maze,
so I start beelining it towards the maze and Ernie was wondering why I was hurrying.
"I'm fucking hungry and I need to eat," I snarled at him.
I felt like he didn't consider my needs, though I told him I was hungry. I got really internally upset at him and began thinking that no one on the trip really cared about me or gave a shit about me. So I walked to the bus, leaving Hampton Court behind me, in silence.
Everyone knew I was hungry and upset.
Ernie was an even further jerk about waiting for me and for me being late…which is something I always struggle with. A few people on the ride home even offered me their ice cream, to which I declined. I just laid my head down on the empty seat next to me and put my ipod earbuds in my ears. I fell asleep listening to music and drowning out the day I had had.
When we got back to the hotel, I just wanted to be by myself. On my way to our room, I overheard Andrew asking Miranda if she felt like going out for dinner; to which Miranda replied that she wanted to go to a pub by herself. I waited till everyone had left and sat in my room by myself.
"I like Miranda. She's my age and she's the one person I could probably handle going to dinner with tonight--" I thought.
I picked up the phone and called her room and asked if she'd like to go to dinner: just the two of us. She said yes. Turns out, she just didn't want to be around the group either. We ended up having a great time eating dinner in Camdentown and window shopping.
I was very grateful to have hung out with her because she is fun, low key, laid back, and my age- so the dinner was drama free.
Kinda made me wished I hadn't sweat the small stuff.
