Interesting first day. Made the flight from Albany to Dulles with no problems whatsoever, then proceeded to amuse myself for five or so hours until Marc arrived. Then we killed the remaining time, and boarded the plane for London- with no Michael. Anxiously hoping until the last minute that he'd arrive, Marc called Mr. Goldberg moments before we had to turn off cell phones to find out that he was stuck in traffic on the DC Beltway and may not make it. He didn't. We've since learned that he'll be arriving at around noon tomorrow. So it goes. I wound up sitting next to an adorable old lady whom I believe to be Russian the entire trip, and didn't get much sleep. Hence the fact that I am exhausted before 8 at night. The flight was long and boring, though it's hard to believe that we crossed the entire ocean overnight- a journey that used to take days.
Upon arrival, we made it through customs and found our way to an Underground station, where we headed into the city to find the hostel. This we also accomplished without any great pains. It's interesting to see the British subway- everything is spotless, people are all quiet minding their own business, and all the advertisements are in English only- no Spanish like in the USA.
After getting to the Journey's London Eye hostel, we had a look around. Very cramped quarters, but certainly livable. We cleaned up a bit, dropped off our backpacks, and headed back downtown. We covered a lot, including Trafalgar Square, St. James park, Buckingham Palace, Parliament/Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. Following, we dragged our miserable, sweaty selves to the hostel for a shower and tried to decide on dinner. Chinese food.
Money's a pain, since I'm not used to thinking in GBP, and how the exchange rate is very much in favor of England. Seeing a soda for 2.50 pounds isn't bad until you realize that equates to nearly $5. It'll be an interesting task to budget wisely.
We're wondering how we'll schedule things when Michael wants to do what we've already covered. And what else to do! Suggestions?
Photos! Click them to enlarge.
Hey Alex:
ReplyDeleteTrip sounds awesome so far. As for things to do in London, the Tower of London should definately be considered. There is a lot to do there and you could probably keep busy for a whole day. There is a fee to get in (17 GBP) & the nearest tube station is Tower Hill. I believe that the british museum has free admision and has a ton of cool stuff. If you are still looking for places to go I would recommend those.
Have Fun and I will keep following the trip!
It's always amazing to see how spotless and well kept other countries are compared to the US. It was like that in Japan too. It's quite a culture shock when you come back and see how crappy things are here.
ReplyDeleteGood job getting Chinese food when you're in London ;)
Have fun!!
PS JEALOUS!