Finally Abroad!

Almost 24 hours after first getting to XNA, I am now sitting in the Royal National Hotel in Bloomsbury, Central London. The trip to get here was fairly uneventful but still was not without its hardships. Our first flight from XNA to DFW went by surprisingly quick, with it barely feeling like the plane left the ground. But it was after we landed and got to grab a quick bite to eat at the airport that I realized just how bad this next flight was going to be. An hour is like a nice lunch break, but 9 hours is a full day’s work. 

Fortunately I had an aisle seat, giving me just a bit more legroom to last the entire journey, and after taking off the first hour went by relatively quickly, with dinner being served and a movie playing on the entertainment system, but that still left 8 to go. After another hour I started to try and sleep through the rest of the flight, and eventually I was successful, but only for around 4 hours, leaving me with 3 more to sit through. Thankfully these last three were much easier to get through since I had now carved out a semi comfortable spot for myself, and before long we had finally arrived at Heathrow!

Navigating Heathrow was far easier than I expected, and to my surprise customs consisted of no more than scanning your passport and face at a personless kiosk. We then picked up our luggage and got on the coach to the Royal National! Once here we all went up to our rooms to unpack and briefly rest, before each going our separate ways to figure out something to eat. A few of us decided to get a taste for London by traveling all the way to the hotel lobby where the Blooms Pizza Cafe was located. Sometimes simplicity is the best option.

Finally, to end the day we all took our first trip on the London Underground, visiting Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square! From just our brief outing into the city I can already tell that this will be one of my favorite cities that I have gotten to see, likely because of its unique seeming combination of historic and modern architecture and aesthetic. I can’t wait to see what the rest has in store!