We made it!
First view of London
Our descent into Heathrow was full of thick fog - so thick you couldn't see the wing of the plane at times! Finally, we broke through the fog and there was LONDON! It was so green and the cars were driving the opposite direction. :) When we got to the immigration line, we noticed another thing about Brits - they are so quiet. The six of us that flew in together all felt like whispering in this huge line of people trying to enter the UK.
Luckily, our wonderful professors arranged a shuttle for us to get from the airport to the London Centre, so after a fairly rough bus ride, we were home! We weren't full of quite that much excitement, as we were (and still are) all completely exhausted. We checked in and moved in our bags - lucky me, I'm on the third floor, so I get to climb approximately 45 stairs to get to my room - and the first trip was carrying my 50-pound bag.
Just about as soon as we had got our stuff moved in, we headed out on our first tour of the area. We walked around our new neighborhood and got our tube passes (our oyster cards) and learned the general lay of the land. During our walk, it was raining, and I experienced my first London downpour - one second I was in the process of putting my umbrella away, and the next I was frantically pulling it out again as it started pouring! Lesson learned: never leave without your umbrella.
For the rest of the afternoon, a group of us headed to Primark for some wellies! We are definitely planning on going back to Primark. It's a huge department store full of cheap clothes and shoes!
Tonight, we overtook the nearby gelato shop. About 25 of us invaded after dinner and celebrated our first day in London! I'm sure we'll be going back there regularly. :)
Well, day one is done and we are completely exhausted. Jet lag is hard - all day I've been dizzy and slightly sick to my stomach, but I'm sure it'll get better in time.
I still can't believe we are actually here! Double-Decker buses are EVERYWHERE and the rain is wonderful!
On our walk this afternoon
Glad you made it! :)
ReplyDeleteAhhh so excited and so jealous of you :) but im so excited to hear about everything you do:)
ReplyDeleteYou will have quads of steel due to those stairs! And you can always be grateful that you don't always have 50 pounds of suitcase to get up them.
ReplyDeletePS. Did you find any jaffa cakes yet? I had a dream that they were as big as a pie!