London Adventures: Arrival and Day 1

I am pinching myself as I write this. Josh, Janie and I are together in LONDON! Josh and I arrived yesterday after our flight on Virgin Atlantic was delayed two and a half hours. This turned out to be a blessing because the flight didn't leave until 7:00 p.m. and so by the time we had our dinner and watched the movie it was our normal bedtime and we actually slept some on the plane. (Thanks in part to Ambien and an empty seat next to us!) We arrived in London around 12:30 p.m. and were met by a driver who then went to Jane Anne's apartment, picked her and her luggage up and then took us to the flat we are renting for a week.

Our flat is wonderful! It is in Knightsbridge, just a short walk from the tube, a grocery store just around the corner, and 2 minutes walk from the bus stop. It is close to Hyde Park and Herrod's---a nice part of town! We have two bedrooms, just one big bath, a nice living/dining room and a full (although tiny) kitchen with a washer and dryer. In short, a home away from home!

The afternoon we arrived, we felt good enough to go for a walk and to the grocery store. We went to the "WaitRose" market and stocked up. They have great homemade soups for sale and prepared entrees. Their produce is beautiful! After a short lunch, we went to the Science Museum for just a short time before it closed. Everything (including stores, close at 6:00 in London) and then we went to a creperie that Jane loved. We had the most delicious crepes---one made of a whole grain flour with applesauce, blueberries, strawberries, bananas and cinnamon! Yum!! The other crepe was milk chocloate with bananas---good, too! Then we came back to the flat and just started talking. Before I knew it, Josh had disappeared and I found him conked in his bed with all his clothes on, including his coat---I think he took off his shoes before he dived in. I managed to stay up until about 8:00p.m. and then slept for 12 hours and time adjusting is history!

The first thing we did today was to buy our "Oyster" card---our tube and bus pass that lets us travel for an entire week as much as we want on the tube and any nof the buses. Then we went to the British Museum and looked at the mummies and artifacts. After we went to Camden Market---a big flea market where you can barter. Janie bought the cutest purse and I got some earrings. We had lunch at a Subway---I know we should be eating at an authentic British cafe---but all around the market was Indian, Chinese and other ehtic foods being cooked in big pots and we just weren't sure we wanted to risk food poisoning. A turkey sandwich at Subway seemed comfortingly safe and satisfying. Afterwards we rode the tube and a double decker bus to get home. We cooked our own chicken dinner and had a feast. We are now just chilling in the flat enjoying reading books, talking and relaxing. It was a fun first day!