Landing in London

After a bumpy ride from Reno to San Francisco with Mom and Dad, we switched from our mini bumblebee plane to this Virgin Atlantic monster! Mom kept saying she wanted to go upstairs to first class, and I don't blame her! It was about a 9 hour flight, and when we landed in Heathrow we were definitely ready to get off. It was perhaps the longest night of my life. Sitting right next to the noisy wing and with zero leg room, we slept about 12 minutes each! Needless to say we were ready to hop off the plane and brave the UK border. After an hour and a half wait in lines with people from all around the world and colorful passports that were just as exotic, we stepped up to a booth. Mom and I got our first stamp in our new passports--mine for a whole 6 months! Since I'm studying here the customs officer gave me a fancy stamp, which I'm rather proud of. After customs came the baggage claim, where I found a comfy bench to sleep on for about 5 minutes, bringing my total up sleep for the night up to a whooping 17 minutes. It was about then that I was feeling like a zombie, running on autopilot.

In Heathrow we grabbed the tube, taking Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith station, then switching to the District Line. If I was a zombie before, I was completely dead on my feet by this time. It was maybe 4 in the afternoon, but that meant very little to me and my jet lag. When we got off the train in Victoria station, smack dab in the middle of London, we were faced with the last obstacle on our journey thus far: a huge flight of cement stairs. I can still hear Mom's indignant, "But isn't there an elevator?!" The answer was, of course, "No." Up the stairs we climbed, each totting our one checked bag and two carry-ons. Our first real view of the city was in an exhausted stupor, but it was grand nonetheless.

A few blocks down the road we arrived at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel. The beautiful lobby was lost on me, but when we got upstairs I was greeting with the beautiful, beautiful fold-out couch that will be mine for the rest of the week. I stumbled into bed, and 16 hours later the phone rang in the hotel room. My Mom was greeted with, "Good afternoon," by the hotel clerk, who asked if we wanted our room cleaned. After hanging up she looked at me, still in bed, and asked, "It isn't really afternoon, is it? Maybe that's just something they say here." We had slept until 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a slow start to the morning, with breakfast--or was it lunch?--at a place called Giraffe across the street from the hotel.

After asking around, we decided to spend the rest of the day at Harrods. It was difficult at first to navigate the bus system, but after the mantra, "We need bus C1!" and craning our necks to view bus numbers, we found the bus stop on the side of Victoria Station. Public transportation is really the way to go in London, especially since they drive the "wrong" side of the street! It's not scary so much as it is startling. Turning is when it really gets you, because you realize how ironic the "no right turn on red" would be here in London.

Here is one of the many advisories for tourists here in London. One of the things I noticed is how foreigner-friendly the city is! You hear people speaking all different languages, with all different accents. The hotel maid didn't speak English--she spoke French! Watching my Mom pantomime "conditioner" was one of the highlights of the day.

To say that Harrods is magical is an understatement. I could literally live in that store and I would never need anything from the outside, ever. You walk into a different room, and it's like you've stepped into another world. All four floors have rooms for everything your heart could desire. I saw brands from all over the world; there were handbags, cosmetics, clothes, toys, foods, even a butcher to buy meat and fish! We ate dinner at a cafe on the third floor. Every meal it's fun to count out change and throw our money together to figure out how much all our coins are worth. There are no one pound notes, only five and up, so you find coins being a lot more valuable! I didn't buy anything for myself--although I did try on a rather cool orange polka dotted watch--I just bought some souvenirs for my nieces! It was a gorgeous store, and I can't wait to go back soon.

It's about 11:30 in the evening now, so I need to get on London time and go to bed! I'll update again soon. Here's some family pictures of our lunch at Giraffe! You'll hear from me again soon, I hope everyone is well in the States!

Best wishes from London,
Kelly