Welcome to London

Thursday, August 21, 2008

We landed at Heathrow this morning at around 10AM. I was exhausted, having not slept on the plane, and my bags weighed a ton. I must say, though, that Virgin Atlantic has the best in-flight entertainment I’ve ever seen. Took a coach from the airport to the Arran House. As I usually do when change location, especially to England, I was struck by how small the place was, how cramped. But I know that it’s just an adjustment period, and by tomorrow it will all seem perfectly normal and manageable. In America, the bigger the better, but here they conserve space, and rightly so. The room especially looked cramped, with a double bed, a twin, and a spare twin all shoved together. I hear we have one of the bigger rooms, but, today at least, it’s looking a bit snug. Like I’ve said, I know it’ll be better by tomorrow.
After lunch at the Arran House and a meeting, at which we were given all of our guides, papers, money, and our Oyster Card, we were split up and told to go research a Tube station. So, Leah, Lauren, and I went off to Hyde Park Corner and walked around Hyde Park, which is even more beautiful than I remember it. It’s just a great place to come and relax, walk around, rent a paddle boat. It seemed to me, also, that most of the people there were locals. At least, not many people stuck out as tourists. I don’t consider this a terribly busy or overbearing city, but I’m sure that many Londoners come to Hyde Park just to relax after a busy day. It was gorgeous out, too, so I’m sure many people were trying to take advantage of the fine weather.
After finishing at Hyde Park, we went to Tottenham Court Road so that Leah and Lauren could by mobiles. It seemed like every American in the city had come The CarPhones Warehouse to get a phone, and it took forever for Leah and Lauren to get theirs. Lucky for me I already had mine. Thank you, Laura Baker! After they had successfully gotten a phone, the three of us went to Sainsbury’s and bought some packaged sandwiches for dinner. I know I’m going to have to work on cooking in a group in order to save money. I’m looking forward to showing off the mad stir-fry skills that I developed this summer.
We got lost on the way back to the Arran House and sort of walked around in circles until we finally came to Gower Street. I can’t wait until I stop looking like a senseless American tourist.
I remember one of the reasons I adore London so much. It’s so easy to get around. The Oyster Card is certainly my best friend. And it’s easy to see landmarks here, since the buildings aren’t so tall. And the streets are clearly labeled. People generally seemed willing to help with directions, too.

I promise more interesting and thought filled entries to follow. Now, I’m exhausted and I have to get up tomorrow to go to Greenwich.