Stuffed

My backpack is almost bursting at the seams. It is so full that I will have to put my pj's in my carry on tomorrow. It took me almost 30 minutes to pack it and a solid 10 to zip it shut. Good thing all I have to do is ditch it once I get to the airport tomorrow and not deal with it until I land in Vancouver, and when I do land in Vancouver I am totally grabbing one of those luggage carts. That is not lazy... my backpack has gained copeous amounts of weight in the past few weeks and it has actaully bruised my hip bones. I am done wearing the pack.
Right now I am sitting at the computer in Bloomsbury with curlers in my hair which is slightly embarassing because i can feel the old woman who is sitting me bore her eyes into the back of my head. Well, I am not ashamed really. Family, please take the time to notice how good I look when you see me tomorrow. I am sleep deprived, will be jet lagged, but none the less did spend aproximately 2 hours trying to decide what to wear for my arrival. I settled on a dress...everything else i own smells like it hasn't been washed in months.
Today Nicole and I ate at the Pret for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I wrote the manager a comment card that begged him to try and bring Pret a Manger to Vancouver. I would eat there every day.
I miss Andrea. Saying goodbye to her was so much harder then I imagined. I had no idea that we would click the way we did but she has become one of my best friends in the whole world. I wonder what she is doingn right now. I know what I would be doing if I were her... I would be watching the sound of music! We are planning a reunion this summer, after she gets back from Eastern Europe. In the meantime, we are writing long letters back and forth with our new quill pens and our fancy wax seals.
I think I am still having a hard time believing that this journey is over. I honestly felt like it would never end. I never thought that the three of us would become as close as we did, and I never thought that saying goodbye was going to be as hard as it was. I think this trip has made lifelong friendships for the three of us. We know eachother inside and out. We've laughted a lot and talked a lot (we are extremely intellectual girls!) and cried some but we always worked through everything together and now I'm stuck with some of the best memories of my life.
I think there is a need for a brief recap of the trip...some of my favorite memories (although there are far to many to even begin to write).
London: Nicole and I crying on the streetcorner and feeling like we had just made the biggest mistake of our lives, us mastering the london underground, me getting stuck in a dress at topshop, nicole flashing the clerk at topshop when he asked for her id, discovering the pret, spending 4 hours in the food department at harrods
Paris: The groaning man at hotel eldorado, bread and la vache qui rie for dinner every single night, freezing our butts of in pretty little dresses in 3 degree weather under the eiffle tower
Nice: burning the backs of our hands (what the), eating copeous amounts of strawberries on the beach, visiting the market, and of course stuffing our faces at nissa socca
Venice: going to a restraunt that served food from a box that was warmed in the microwave and then served on a plate, bringing Anny 5 scoops of gelato on her birthdays eve, trying on millions of carnivale masks
Florence: lemonchello, and very friendly men, the old fashioned lift at our hotel, intellectual conversations begin, singing your so vein at the top of our lungs
Piraous: Grumpy lady who didn't want to sell us bread, baklava runs
Paros: sitting under the tree at our favorite cafe, sunbathing topless on our own private beach, me driving standard down the twistiest roads in the world, sleeping in long johns and wool socks and zip up sweaters, eating loads of greek honey
Sulzburg: watching the sound of music 24/7, going on the sound of music tour, singing the sound of music, eating the best meal we've had since leaving home

I could honestly go on forever but i will stop because once again i am almost out of time. A drunk woman just came up to me and comented on my curlers. Now i am ashamed of them.

Tomorrow I will be home and I wonder if all of this will feel like a dream.