First Day in London

Today happened. Not really sure where to start. I woke up and got ready and all that jazz. I went down for breakfast thinking I would just grab some fruit and maybe some cereal. Wrong! They cooked me a full English breakfast with toast, eggs, ham, sausage, hashbrown, and get this: baked beans. Weird, right? Then I set out to a giant fiasco that almost caused me a panic attack. I went to find the closest bus station. Not too bad, it’s relatively close. I wait forever (maybe 20 minutes) for the bus to come. I get on and attempt to pay and the driver tells me I can only pay with exact change. Good thing all I got out the ATM was 20s. So I walk back to the hotel and ask the guy working for change. He gives me a 5 and tells me to buy a bus pass with it, don’t worry about the change. It kind of weirds me out a little bit when a stranger just gives me money. I’m not comprehending the instructions that he’s giving me about getting a pass so he sends one of the guys working here with me to this little convenience store near the stop. Turns out you can only buy legit passes there, not day passes. So I bought a week pass figuring I’ll probably get my money’s worth out of it. Then I sit at the bus stop for another 20 minutes before the next bus comes around.

I get to the bus station (mostly because it’s the last stop on the route) and wander around until I find something that says it might be going towards Richmond Underground Station. Finally I find a little bus hut that has a line that goes right to the station. I got on that bus when it came around and literally probably held my breath the whole way that it was the correct bus. Eventually we got there and I found Kate. An hour after I was supposed to. I hate being late. Hate it. Then we hopped back on the tube (after I purchased a week pass for that as well) and went to Westminster.

We walked around and briefly saw the big things. Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, etc etc. Ate lunch at Pret A Manger. Delicious. Then we went back to Kate’s flat to figure out our itinerary for the rest of the week. I’d say we’re pretty set with solid plans. If I can just figure out the buses and the tube, we’ll be golden. And if it would just be a little warmer and not rain so sporadically throughout the day, that’d be nice too. Well for some reason I’m exhausted, probably all the stressing out I’ve done all day about getting places. It’s been a learning experience and definitely a day that just tested my character and confirmed my faith. Tomorrow it’s back to Westminster to explore some more and hopefully catch the changing of the guards and then when Kate’s done with class I’m meeting her to go to Chinatown and Soho. Then back to Westminster at night to ride the London Eye. Should be a good day!