Day 1: London

Some things I have learned:

1. No matter how big a plane is on the outside, economy is still economy.








2. A hundred US dollars is only equal to 50 Pounds.

3. Some people are just excited about everything.

4. England is Muggy!

5. English words don’t mean the same thing over here

rubbish = garbage
loo = restroom
chip = french fry
crisp = chip
tube = subway
mate = friend

6. Always remember to look left- as that is where the cars are coming from.

7. There is a red/yellow light that prepares people for the green light.

8. There is an 8 hour time difference between here and home. (As I am typing it is 9:30 at night but at home it is barely 1:30 in the afternoon.)

9. A babies cry makes me terribly homesick.

10. It stays light outside a lot longer than at home. (It is quarter to 10:00 at night in this picture taken from my hotel room!)

11. I still don’t like to eat fish.

12. The hotel wants to charge you 5 pounds an hour to use the internet (that's equivalent to $10 dollars) but you can get it for free at McDonalds!

13. They will do like ot serve things Tepid here- even the items that have supposedly been chilled are barely cool to the touch let alone very refreshing going down.!

Overall, the trip has been really good so far. We are all exhausted from a 9 hour flight where they hardly let you sleep! (It felt like every time I dozed off they were wanting to give me something else to eat. From the snack, then the dinner, then the beverage cart, and then the breakfast we hardly had time to snooze. Or so it seemed. perhaps it was because I was sitting on the aisle and knew every time they went by as they never failed to bump a part of me in passing.) Luckily there was enough onboard entertainment to keep everyone occupied. Each chair had its own personal screen set into the back of the seat in front of it. You could play games, watch a variety of movies (at least 20 that looped the entire flight), or watch how the flight was progressing.
That is officially the longest flight I have ever been on that I personally remember. And I am seriously dreading the return flight next Friday. If the width of my behind was a little smaller, it might not be such an ordeal. But it isn’t so I attempt to get comfortable without ever actually attaining that goal. Oh well, maybe by next year!
After arriving in London, we made out way through what we thought was the customs area. Which took at least 45 minutes and looked something like a line at Disneyland on a busy day but without any type of big reward at the end. At least not when we realized we hadn’t finished going through customs but had only made it through the passport verification part of it! Luckily the rest of it didn’t take very long as we had nothing to declare as we had just then arrived in the country. On the way back it might be a little more grueling as people will no doubt be returning with souvenirs!
Once we finally made it through the maze of the terminal we met up with our two Tour Directors-Alex and Sityra. We have about 50 people total in our group that are all in Europe for 12 days. They sent us one bus for all the people and the luggage. Let’s just say that it was a feat that we actually got all that luggage minus one stowed in the undercarriage. It also took a little longer than expected as we had top pack and repack the storage area at least 3 different times! But thankfully it was finally all stowed and we were on our way.
We made our way through the “green zone” otherwise known as “London’s Lungs”. It is an area of the country set aside for trees to be grown. The idea is that with the increase in foliage there will be a decrease in the smog problems that face London.
After a short bus trip we arrived at our Hotel, The Jurys Inn. But no check-ins were allowed until 2:00 pm so we just dropped off our bags into a secure area and headed out on our first walking tour of London. But to get to where we were going to be doing the “walking: we first had to use the Overground train and the Tube to get us into the heart of London. (as a side not let me just say that the picture most people have of London of these quaint little brick buildingsreveling in their rich history, is undoubtedly correct! I have never truly sat down and drawn out a mental map of what London would look like, but if I had this would be it. You can feel of its history just by walking down the streets.
We saw quite a few things today including Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and the eye of London (from a Distance), the oldest church in London, and Covent Gardens. We ate lunch in a park- I had a very tasty baguette sandwich and apple soda with crisps-or chips as we like to call them- all for 3 pounds. Which I thought was quite a bargain when you look at the cost of a Big Mac at McDonalds out here- its over 4 pounds just for the burger. After the tour we continued the walking tour, seeing one of the oldest streets in all of London. We then had some time to peruse the many different store fronts in Covent Gardens. I didn’t buy any souvenirs today as I did not find anything that caught my eye, but I am sure it wont take long.
After watching some street performers, we made our way to dinner at the Old Cock Tavern- the oldest pub in London. And we had a traditional English meal of Fish & Chips. And although I could have opted out of this meal and gone for the vegetarian plate instead-i restrained myself and decided I needed to experience this cultural phenomena.
And I did. I ate fish! I can’t say that I particularly liked it very much, but I ate it nonetheless! (Okay, I didn’t eat the whole thing and it was covered in a batter and deep fried with a little ketchup to mask the taste! but I did take some bites. So we are at least getting somewhere!)
Thankfully after dinner we made out way back to our Hotel. Everyone is exhausted and we haven’t really truly stopped since yesterday when we got on the plane. I think I will sleep very well tonight.
And I think I should feel rigth at home here as my roommate snores! It will remind my of Justin! Too bad I can’t just reach over and tell her to roll over in the hopes that it will squelch the noise -at least temporairly! I am also freezing as the air is on full blast and as low as it can go- that will be changing before I call it a night!!