A New Perspective

Well, I'm here! I'm with Natalie in our hostel room in London, and it's still a little surreal. The jet lag probably isn't helping. But it's very nice to be here.

My flight was uneventful. A little late, due to a malfunction in the entertainment system, but we made up some time on the way. I had one of the cool planes (which Natalie unfortunately did not have) where I had my own TV screen and could choose from a whole bunch of TV shows and movies. That, plus a couple hours of sleep, made the 7 1/2 hours go by pretty quickly.

Once I landed, I discovered that Heathrow is a very convenient airport. Everything is clearly marked, so I easily found my way to baggage claim and then over to the tube. The tube is as easy as Natalie said it is, which makes me feel a little dumb for getting on the wrong one at first. I took the westbound instead of the eastbound, but I realized it right away so only backtracked one stop. And then got off and got right on the correct one. No big deal.

The tube ride to central London took a little over an hour. From there, it was a very short 5 minute walk to the hostel, where Natalie was waiting for me. It was very exciting to see her and actually be in London with her. The hostel is also nicer than I was really expecting. We're sharing with 2 other girls, who are from Germany. They didn't seem to understand a word we were saying to them. But oh well.

After checking in, we did some London exploring. First, we went to Covent Garden and looked at all of the merchant ware. It was surprisingly busy for a Friday afternoon. People everywhere. From there, we went on to Harrod's and explored. It's a huge department store, full of pretty things way out of our price range. They have a champagne bar inside where you could have a flute of champagne for 15 pound. Way more than we were willing to spend.

Hyde Park was a highlight to me. I got lucky and had a very lovely first day weather-wise, so wandering around Hyde Park was awesome. Lots of trees and flowers and people laying in the grass, reading. Plus many dogs. One of the first differences I've noticed here is how few dogs are on leashes. But they really don't need to be, because they're so obedient! I was impressed. We also saw the Princess Diana Memorial, which is a fountain shaped like a necklace. Pretty cool, but didn't come out that way in pictures. (I've taken a lot of pictures today, but I'll probably upload them tomorrow or Monday. Limited internet time.)

We walked from Hyde Park over to Buckingham Palace, which was cool, but one of those things that you look at for a couple minutes and then move on. No guards in black furry hats. Natalie tells me those are found at one of the prince's residents. We might swing by there tomorrow.

Green Park is right across from Buckingham Palace, so we ended up sitting on the grass there for a while. Well, first we tried to sit in some chairs out there, but then we were told it cost 1.50 pound to sit in the chairs. Bizarre. So we sat on the grass and rested our feet. Lots of walking today, and my feet were not pleased. They're going to have to get used to it, though.

We headed back to our hostel area to find a place for dinner, and we came across the London Pub. The creativity of the name really won us over. But really, it was just what we were looking for. A traditional pub where we could get fish and chips and have a beer. The fish and chips were delicious. (Natalie introduced me to malt vinegar for the fries, which was great.) And the beer was refreshing after a long day of travel/walking.

For now, we're pretty tired. My second wind is fading, but I'm certainly not going to bed yet. For my first night in Europe, we're going to head out on the town and see what people do around here. So far, I can confirm that there are many foreigners, most girls do wear leggings, and British accents are lovely, but sometimes difficult to understand.

Tomorrow, more London exploration. I still want to see Big Ben and the Parliament before we move on to another city. I really can't wait to see more!