I am happy to report that I am finally in London after thirty hours of various forms of transportation: car, airplane, train, and taxi.  Because of thunderstorms, we sat on the runway at Washington Dulles for about an hour before taking off for Charlotte. Needless to say, I missed my flight to London by ten minutes, despite sprinting through the airport like a crazy person with my large carry-on bag in tow. Luckily, they rebooked me on an 8:00 pm flight to Atlanta and, finally, a 10:45 pm flight to London that landed at 12:15 pm today (7:15 am our time). I was originally a bit distraught over missing my flight, but ended up distracting myself by talking to anyone and everyone in the airport. My favorite group was a trio of women in their seventies who have been friends since high school. They remained friends all these years and they're currently touring England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales together.

The flight itself wasn't too bad, except by the time we were airborne, I had completely lost track of time. I ate meals at 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 9:45 pm, and then they served us dinner at midnight on the flight. I wasn't hungry, but I don't turn down food so I ate again anyway. After that, I fell asleep for five hours and the next thing I know, they're serving us breakfast (at 5:00 am our time). I honestly thought I would be ravenous on the flight because we all know I could probably eat the meals allotted to a quarter of the passengers by myself, but I was completely fine - even full at times (shocking, I know).

The minute I got off the plane in London, I immediately loved it. It's everything I envisioned and then some. Listening to all of the eloquent British accents made me realize how uncouth my boring American accent is. Maybe I should work on adopting a British accent while I'm here. I'm already noting some of the different phrases (not restrooms, but toilets; not "on vacation," but "on holiday;" not elevator, but lift). I even love the currency. I was thinking we should integrate a little color into our U.S. bills.

Queen Elizabeth, Charles Darwin, and someone I don't recognize

The first part of London I saw was Paddington Station (where my train arrived after my flight). I then took a taxi to my hotel. Much to my chagrin, I was not able to get into the taxi covered with pictures from the Harry Potter movies.

Paddington Station - Where is platform nine and three quarters?

Since the British Museum is right around the corner from my hotel, I decided to venture in for a couple of hours. It is absolutely colossal, with artifacts from all different cultures. My favorite exhibits? The Egyptian mummies, Pablo Picasso's sketches, and the Roman and Greek gods.

The British Museum (outside)

The British Museum (inside)

Zeus, ya look great. 

After my excursions in the British Museum, I went to buy my week-long membership to a YMCA near my hotel. Like the museum, the YMCA was huge. It had at least three floors, complete with indoor badminton, racquetball, and basketball courts, exercise machines, a cafeteria, a study area, and a 25-meter pool. The pool was nicer than I expected, but the people swim clockwise as opposed to counterclockwise. I feel like the YMCA should make me sign a waiver or something because I'm definitely in danger of forgetting which way I am supposed to swim down the lane. I'm hoping for a collision-free week. It is for this exact same reason I would never operate a vehicle here. 

As I was getting out of the pool today, I noticed the lifeguards and other YMCA staff congregating by the lane next to me, talking in hushed voices and looking worriedly toward the bottom of the pool. For those of you who have been around pools enough, this can only mean two things: one of the kids in the pool either pooped or threw up. I eventually found out it was the latter (which I think might be better?), despite one of the employees insisting nothing happened and we only had to get out so they could do a "surprise cleaning." She looked so distraught about it, I wanted to reassure her that this happens in pools in the U.S. all the time. 

After swimming, I walked around near my hotel for the rest of the night, exploring the area and secretly hoping I bump into someone from the royal family or from the cast of Harry Potter. Mostly, though, I was admiring and soaking in the atmosphere of this city. 

Anyway, off to bed soon. It's working out well that I'm so overtired, because I will easily be able to fall asleep on London time tonight. 

Cheers!