25.1.2009

Hey Guys! We're here - safe and sound in London!

I was surprised by how fast we were able to get through both O'Hare and Heathrow Airports. Security and Customs were both a breeze and we got through without any hastle. The flight was ahead of schedule and we must have had a tailwind 'cause we got to Heathrow ahead of schedule and were still able to get a gate right away! The underground was alright, mostly above ground, but neat and something new for both of us.

There were a few things that instantly caught me by surprise. First of all, the flight wasn't that bad. Seven hours, but not bad whatsoever. Once in a while I'd catch a glimpse of the wing and think to myself, "that is the only thing holding us up in the air", and then I felt a little uneasy, but it all worked out okay. We got a sweet picture of Toronto from above, but it got cloudy really soon after. I did have one traumatic experience after the flight was over, though. The cleaning solution at the Heathrow airport smelled exactly like grape chewable tylonol. I didn't charf, so it was okay.

We did take a few pictures, but we haven't put them up yet. Not all of yous have facespace, so we're going to put our pictures on Flickr. We'll post it later.

Once we had made it off the plane, it finally started to click that "Hey... we're in London!" The Earl's Court tube stop was kind of a jumble of figuring out which way we had to go and how to get through the good-sized crowd that was there. We finally figured out where to go and once we got into the flat found it to be pretty nice. Got to play with an English pay-phone when nobody was there to let us in at first.

Dinner was really nice, most of the group went to "Prince of Teck" for dinner and we enjoyed things like fish and chips, and bangers and mash! So much fun! We're pretty sure the waitress knew we were American, if not by the accents, but when a couple of the group asked for katsup and she gave us ice in our soda. I was okay with getting ice, but that's just me.

Other than shopping today, we're kinda just chillin', and we had some tea and crumpets, along with toast and marmelade. Tonight we have our first program dinner, so wish us luck! Oh yeah, the gorcery was crazy busy with people everywhere! Got a lot of food for lot of money, which was nice -Gotta love Tesco!

More Later, Cheers!
Jess and Andy