primark, holland and stuff

i think primark is my new favorite store. i wish we had them in the u.s.

visiting the london store was pretty insane tho. well actually, oxford street in general was. it was very reminiscent of new york, except for the fact that all the cars drive on the wrong side of the road and don’t stop for pedestrians. i guess that keeps the population from growing too quickly.

on sunday, richard and i began our journey to holland. i must say that heathrow terminal 5 is just plain wonky. for some reason, there are three layers of gates that you must walk through to get to the arrivals, none of which have an opening large enough to allow luggage through. i guess you’re not supposed to bring luggage to the airport?

after we figured out where to meet, we got on the road. a reaching the border, we took the eurotunnel to france. first stop, shopping center to pick up some wine. we got a case of 6 bottles, in fact.

in Belgium we made a quick restroom stop, and i took over the wheel. ACK! i’d never driven a right-hand drive vehicle before, especially on the right side of the road.. not exactly the easiest combination to learn on, but at least it wasn’t the roads in england.

no more than half an hour later, downpour began. not just light rain, but serious torrential downpour. i saw my life flash before my eyes as i tried to focus on the diminishing visibility ahead of me.

finally it stopped. and eventually we made it to the conference center, having just missed dinner. drat.