Two flights, one screaming baby, four noisy neighbors, two very bland meals, one fully-booked flight, two facial scans, and three bags later, and I have officially arrived in London. I have officially set my feet on foreign soil and breathed in the fresh air that smells nothing like home. I will say, even now, I don’t think it has hit me that I am in London, let alone going to be here for a month. I am so excited to see everything London has to offer, especially after today.

Even though it feels like I just fit 48 hours into one day, we all still had somehow enough energy to go explore London a little more. After getting into our rooms, we went to Russel Station to get on the tube headed for Piccadilly Circus. I’ve been on the New York City subway and the metro in Washington, D.C., but I’ve never experienced anything like the tube. There are unspoken rules that are followed by everyone traveling, and somehow obvious? You wait for everyone to get off and then get on as quickly as possible. Then on the escalator, to stand, stay on the right, while the left is reserved for walking. Everything is so fast-paced, and everyone seems like they have somewhere they need to be. A man fully body-checked me today and didn’t even turn around to hear my apology :(.

Living in London is already very different than how I normally function in the United States. I have to remind myself to focus on looking the opposite way when crossing the street. I audibly gasped when we got onto our bus from the airport on the left side. There is no air conditioning in the hotel. The sink and bathtub have two spiky knobs, not one handle. But, humidity doesn’t exist. The “warm” day of 68ºF (20ºC) had a very chilly wind that made a cardigan and jeans a favorable outfit choice. I know it’ll take a lot of getting used to, but the initial “culture shock” is a really interesting experience. I have been out of the country once before, but even then, the only real culture shock I could remember was the language barrier of my brief Duolingo Italian skills. But the weirdest thing about this trip is that all the culture shock is from behavior, rather than language. It’s a weird experience that I know I’ll have to adjust to.

For lunch, a group of us had “Authentic California-Style Tacos” – whatever that means – and ate it in Russel Square. While the tacos were less than memorable, the experience will stay with me forever. We sat in the grass – that feels different than American grass, but I don’t know if that makes sense – and shared stories about our travels. Later, when we had the night to ourselves, our group decided to explore Chinatown, and we devoured very tasty (and cheap!) Taiyaki fish waffles with vanilla ice cream. Then instead of taking the tube home, we decided to take the 25 minutes to walk back to the hotel to see the city a little more. We came across 2,435 cafes and red telephone booths (give or take a few), at least two hair salons – including one that was very Sweeney-esque-, one “dental surgeon”, two hundred very big-boned pigeons, and eleven crosswalks including four zebra crossings. In total, since 12 PM today, I have walked 13,321 steps and have a feeling I’ll be walking a lot more than that in the days to come. I feel like I’ve lived more days than I can count, but I can’t wait for what the rest of our trip brings.

My first impressions of London were great! I embarked on a journey of traveling for more than 24 hours but it was so worth it. Traveling separately from the group was interesting and a bit lonely, but I got to read and sleep a lot so it wasn’t so bad. I had the best butter chicken I’ve ever eaten on my flight, which was definitely unexpected but welcomed.

What we’ve seen so far has been beautiful, even if jetlag has made everything feel like a fever dream. Once we got to the hotel and settled in, a bunch of us grabbed food and had a picnic at Russell Square Gardens. The park was covered in beautiful flowers and the weather was perfect. One thing I really enjoy about London is that the air feels super clean. I was expecting it to be similar to NYC air and be smelly, but it was actually very fresh. I’m excited to spend time exploring outside. A few of us went to Chinatown, got taiyaki, and walked around and there was so. much. food. I’m excited to try it all with all of the friends I’m making and getting closer to.

Leaving, there was a carriage playing ABBA, and a block away from that we listened to an older man sing Dancing Queen. I love ABBA and saw that as a good sign of things to come. Afterward, we walked back to the hotel rather than taking the tube and explored all the parts of London that caught our eye. There was a colorful alleyway with storefronts, parks with cute dogs, a closed storefront with medieval armor in the window, and so much more.

After all of that, I should be exhausted, but I’m so excited for it to be tomorrow that it’s hard to sleep. I’m off to try now, goodnight all!

It’s our first day in London! Even with constant waves of exhaustion and zero sense of direction, I made it off the plane. I survived my very first international flight, and I can’t wait to venture out into the unknown. Today, as soon as we got to our hotel and settle, we decided to explore our neighborhood and hit the station. With our brand-new oyster cards, we went to Russell Station and made our way to the train on the Piccadilly line. The ceilings were low, and the tile was colorful with a hint of tasteful filth. I can’t help but say everything looks like Harry Potter or every other British movie/show ever made.

After a few short stops, we made our way to Piccadilly Circus, London’s more clean Times Square that reeks of passion and marijuana. With a mix of Georgian architecture and hundred-foot-tall jumbotrons, Piccadilly Circus may be the happiest place on earth. As a professional window shopper, I was overwhelmed with opportunity once I noticed a four-story burger king and hundreds of different shops and restaurants around any and every corner. We walked around Leicester Square and saw the Bard himself, but more importantly, Paddington Bear! We traveled to the TKTS booth where we learned how to get theatre tickets at a good price.

Afterward, a small group and I decided to stay in the square and venture on our own. There was just too much to look at, we couldn’t end the night there. We traveled to the most elegant establishments like the huge M&M store and Lego store where I was amazed by all the colors and options. Then, some of us diverged into Chinatown where we got lost in the extremely abundant amount of food options for roads on end. After finally deciding where to get some quick Taiyaki ice cream, we decided to walk back to our hotel and see more of the city and our neighborhood as the sun set on our first night in the United Kingdom.

At last! We are finally here in the beautiful and historical city of London! This was my first time traveling to another country and surprisingly, my flight experience was better than I had anticipated. I slept most of the way from Dallas to London. I now have a crick in my neck despite my best efforts to bring a neck pillow.

After our flight, we took a coach to the Royal National Hotel, where we will be staying for the next few of weeks. The rooms are quite nice with a pleasant view of the city streets. I decided to freshen up and rest a bit before our first excursion out into the city.

At 6:00, our group met in the hotel lobby so that we could all go together to learn the Tube System. We are provided with something known as Oyster cards that allow us access to this type of transit all throughout London. We took the Tube to the Piccadilly Circus where we roamed around looking at all the unique shops and restaurants. Some are not quite as unique as one may expect, for Americans are sure to find the familiar chain restaurants and stores that they know and love from back home. I found myself quite shocked to see that London had a Slim Chickens and Pizza Hut. What I found most interesting was how all of these modern restaurants and storefronts are in old historic buildings that have been around for centuries. One can feel the heavy history of London in their soul as they stroll the cobblestone streets. As I walked along with the group, I enjoyed looking at all the flowery windows of shops and flats. The architecture is so detailed in a way that truly gives the atmosphere deep character.

One of my favorite places that we visited was China Town which is right next to Picadilly Circus. I loved looking up and seeing all the beautiful red lanterns hanging over me as I walked. There were more Chinese restaurants than there were people in the streets. Our group had a difficult time deciding where to eat because of this and also because our dinner schedule was a bit thrown off track due to the drastic time change. Many of us weren’t heavily hungry so we decided to go inside a China Town Bakery and try Green Tea Ice Cream and Pork Pastries. The Green Tea Ice Cream was so tasty. The texture was very smooth and the flavor had a matcha, earthy taste to it that I loved. The ice cream came in a cute waffle cone shaped like a fish. I can’t wait to try more foods as we continue this trip.

After having explored all of Piccadilly Circus, we decided to walk back to our hotel. It was so enthralling to walk back and see all of the beautiful buildings. I am so excited to see all that is in store for us during the next couple of weeks. So far, we are off to an amazing start! I cannot wait for what tomorrow’s adventure brings!

London Through The Lens

Today, we landed at London Heathrow airport at around 12:30 pm after a nine-hour flight and we wasted little time before we began exploring the historic city. Driving into the city, we were treated to quintessential English architecture including an interesting multi-story brick McDonald’s.

Our stops for our first day were the tourist geared Piccadilly Circus and Leichter Square which bleed into each other. To get there, we took the tube (don’t worry I made sure to “Mind the Gap”). Though it has been over a decade since I was last in New York City, between my own scattered memories, television, and stories, I can say with certainty: the Tube is easier to navigate than the subway. At every stop, a voice clearly articulated the stop’s name and if there were any lines you could transfer to at that stop. It definitely helped that for our introduction to the Tube we did not have to change lines. Russell Square and Piccadilly Circus are both on the Piccadilly line with only three stops in between them. A unique aspect to the Russell Square station is that you get on an elevator to go underground. Getting on the elevator was a bit like being herded cattle and every bit the hurray to get on the actual Tube.

After I got off the Tube, I felt as if my body was still being pulled to the side, the ground moving beneath my feet. Thankfully, the escalator out of the Piccadilly Circus station was nowhere near as steep as the nearly vertical one I took out of the subway in Washington DC.

Piccadilly Circus is only to London as Times Square is to New York City in the sense that it caters to the masses of tourists that visit the city. The buildings do not tower into the skyline and there are not digital screens plastered everywhere you look. There is however, plenty of American fast food staples to enjoy, including a pizza hut with a by the slice option, another nontraditional McDonald’s, and a M&M world to explore. While some of the group checked out the M&M store, a major city tourist staple, I went with a group to try coffee from the juggernaut chain Pret a Manger whose proximity to their own stores can give Starbucks a run for their money. Every store front seemed to be either a restaurant or a souvenir shop with a theatres and even a casino sprinkled in for good measure.

In Leichter Square, there is a small park outlined with statues of classic characters from Bugs Bunny to Mary Poppins, who I got my picture with. In the middle of the grassy clearing, stands tall a statue of the bard himself, William Shakespeare; somehow, someone had placed a fresh flower in his stone hand despite a moat surrounding him on his at least six-foot pedestal.

For dinner, a group of us wandered around China Town which is right next to Piccadilly Circus. Lanterns hang between all the buildings and there are couple intricate gates that mark the small food district. One person in our group remarked that there were more restaurants than people in the area. We ended up grabbing food from a small bakery. I had a flakey pastry filled with pork that pleasantly surprised me. Bonus: it was only £2.50!

Instead of taking the Tube back to the hotel, a group of us walked the twenty-five minute walk back to our hotel. It was fun to navigate the slightly twisting roads of London on foot. We stumbled upon an alleyway of shops and walked slightly aimlessly despite the GPS guiding us. It was nice to stretch my legs after being stuck in the small plane seat just hours earlier. To finish off my first day, I went on my first Tesco’s trip to buy water.

I cannot wait to explore more of London both on foot and by way of the Tube.

A lot of firsts have happened already for me upon arriving in London:

1. I have completed my first overnight flight. 
2. I have successfully traveled out of the country. 
3. I did not set off the x-ray machine at DFW.
4. I have only peed since I have been in the states. 
5. A random person on the street told me they loved me. 
6. I couldn’t find Powerade or Gatorade anywhere. 
7. I ate a subpar sandwich with amazing crisps. 
8. Multiple strangers tried to sell me various items. 
9. I learned that Ryan Baker is more terrified of birds than my mother. 
10. I can comfortably hold both Grace Killingbeck and Alyssa Martinez’s hands while I sleep in the middle of our three beds. 

Nine hours in the air is no small feat and neither is the jet lag that I am feeling, as I am typing this blog post at a mere 10pm but it feels like 1am. The flight was one that was filled with restlessness, Netflix, and counting down the seconds until the flight was over. But as soon as we landed and London’s cool breeze and faint smell of cigarette smoke hit me, I knew the discomfort would be all worth it. 

All of that being said, if you have come off a nine hour flight and are desperate for a Gatorade/Powerade and google told you that you would be able to find them at Tesco, they lied. The closest I could find was a sports drink called, Lucozade. It wasn’t terrible and definitely did refuel my electrolytes and put the pep back in my step, but the bottle is American proof. At first I thought you had to untwist to be able to suck out of the top of the cap. But turns out you just have to drink from it really hard to open it up, so after a few trial and errors of attempting to open it the correct way I finally figured it out. This drink was a part of the Tesco meal deal, which is where I had my subpar sandwich and amazing crisps. These Brits aren’t playing with their crisp game, but the sandwiches are lacking the flavor that their crisps have. 

The Brit’s birds aren’t playing either and they love to get in your personal space, along with all of the fellow commuters. Your space is shared with anyone in your vicinity. The same goes with lodgings, Grace, Alyssa, and I will make sure to hold hands tonight to commemorate our first sleep in London. Everyone had a sense of closeness whether that be proximity or not, that brought out a gentler nature, that I would only assume makes the Brits and London so well loved and adored. I can’t wait to experience more and more.