Hopping the Pond

At the end of Day 1 in London, the only way to describe it is brilliant. Leanne and I flew British Airways from Philadelphia to Heathrow, and our flight was incredible. It amazed me how BA spoiled us, even as a passenger in coach. The flight ran as close to on time as is to be expected when flying to Heathrow, and the staff on the flight was very kind and very helpful in dealing with Leanne's allergies (BA does not serve nuts on any of their flights). We were given a variety of goodies including complimentary blinders, socks to keep your feet warm, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. The food was delicious as well. I ate chicken and rice, with a salad, a roll, chocolates, a slice of chocolate cheesecake, tea, and complimentary wine. Leanne got drunk from the complimentary alcohol, which was entertaining until she fell asleep.

At first on board, I tried to learn some french for our upcoming excursion, but eventually gave in to the on board entertainment system. On the flight, you could choose what to watch or listen to from a very up to date, and well selected library. Although I did not venture into the music section, the movies and television sections were great. You could choose from new movies such as Valkyrie or Gran Torino, British movies, or classic movies such as Ferris Bueller's Day off and Good Will Hunting. I chose to watch Gran Torino after dinner, and a sports news segment about the Rugby Sevens tournament, after a short nap in order to prepare myself for the British culture.

After landing and going through border patrol, Leanne and I were free to find our way to our new residence in Kensington, and thankfully I had spent some time on the plane figuring out trains from the airport to the flat. We were able to get from Heathrow to our flat via two trains and a short taxi ride. It turns out that there was a stop closer to our flat than the one we got off on, but I still can't find it on my underground maps.

After arrival and checking in, I unpacked and then went out around Kensington to run errands. This took a while, and as I was trying to adapt to the new area, I was not incredibly productive (I still don't have any towels). It could have also been attributed to being distracted by the absurdly expensive cars here (I believe I counted 8 Bentleys, one of which was an old one, all of the others new, 2 Maseratis, 3 Aston Martins, and could not count the number of Porsches, BMWs, and Land Rovers). Needless to say, I am living in a decent part of town. We did take a tour later in the afternoon and I feel that I will be able to complete my errands tomorrow. After our walking tour with our RAs where we met "Bertha the Bouledogue", a local character, Leanne, Cameron and I went out to out at a pizza place called Da Mario, which Princess Diana used to frequent (it is at the end of our block). The food was delicious and the Italian waitress had the hots for Cameron, the gorgeous American. After dinner, we walked to Hyde Park which was full of people playing soccer, cricket, doing yoga, running around a lake, and other such things. We relaxed there for a few a short period of time until it started to get cold and then we returned to our flat.

I spent the rest of the day resting, touring Metrogate (our residence), watching BBC News, and trying to determine what things Leanne and I will be doing around London in place of our weekend in Rome. So far I have selected Polo in the Park, which is part of the Polo World Series and features teams from London, Buenos Aires, New York, and Moscow; a Kanye West concert in Hyde Park, and possible the Wembley Cup, if I can find tickets.

I am looking forward to my weekend in Paris, and my weekend in Dublin, as well as our programs trips to Bath, Oxford, and Stonehenge. Mostly right now though, I am excited to get to know this city more through the bus tour on Saturday, and through the cultural experiences that I will have in the weeks to come.