London - Day 1

Well, folks. We have officially tackled London. Here's what's
happened thus far:

After getting to bed after 1:30 London Time, despite being completely
exhausted, I could not sleep. I have what seems to be a cold and
could not breath out of my nose. I woke up every 15-30 minutes
gasping for air. The provided pillow was a little flat so I had to
prop myself up with my neck pillow and bed roll to keep from drowning.
All of this had to be done very quietly so as not to wake my
"roommates."

The hostel is quite nice and safe. You have to have a key card to
enter the stairwell to the hostel, and also into the rooms. It has a
little pub downstairs that also serves as the lounge for the hostel.
That is where I am sitting right now. I'm surrounded by some people
who are very intently watching a "football" game (soccer). It's very
relaxed and there is no smoking, which makes it even nicer.

This morning, we awoke about 8:30-9 and showered and headed on our
way. My entire body felt fatigued and I wasn't sure how far I would
make it...Until I walked out the door around 10:30 am. We were in
LONDON! We meandered along the streets and tried to soak it all in.
Wendy said it right when she said we were experiencing "sensory
overload." We walked through Hyde Park and picked a perfect piece of
grass to sit and eat our breakfast of crackers and peanut butter. We
dipped our feet in the water monument for Princes Diana, walked around
Oxford Street, and listed to "propaganda" on speakers corner. Around
2 we hopped on a double decker tour and saw pretty much everything
else London has to offer: Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Tower
Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big
Ben, Picadilly Circus (adequately named...it was a circus of people!),
and much more. We also took our ride in the Eye of London.

It is very hard to get used to the cars driving on the wrong side of
the road. Apparently, I'm not the only one who gets confused. If you
are about to cross an intersection, you can look down and there is an
arrow with either "look left" or "look right." Quite helpful!

I got a picture with one of the guards by Westminster Abbey...He
looked at the camera and with his Brittish accent and absolutely no
expression said "cheese." I laughed for 10 minutes.

I hope all of you are doing well. Hopefully you will hear from me tomorrow.