London - My first taste of Europe

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I arrived in London exhausted and excited with trepidation for the task I had at hand: see all of London in one day. My flight landed at 7am and my first overseas experience was of course making it through immigration. Standing in the "non-UK resident" line (or que as they call it in London) it dawned on me that people; regardless of race, gender, age, etc. are simply a citizen of a foreign country if you are traveling internationally. It doesn't matter if you were born on the wrong side of the tracks or which ethnicity box you checked off on your employment application. I had been compacted down to a few simple facts: my name is Heather Hampton, I am a US born citizen, and that's my picture to prove it.

I took the subway, or tube as they call it, into London from Heathrow Airport with all of the other travelers. It was a relatively simple process with a direct route that would stop only a block away from my hotel in Russel Square. I took the time to collect my thoughts, listen to my IPOD, and people watch as the tube became increasingly more crowded with people commuting into London for work. Travel advice I had been given from just about every source warned me to watch out for thieves/pick pocketers on the London tube. I had this image of an eloquent gangster that looked like Hugh Grant but with dirty/dishelved hair approaching me and saying "Pardon me madam, I must relieve you of your wallet". It seems far-fetched for someone with a thick British accent to be anything other than well-spoken and educated.

I spent most of the day taking in the sights of London via a red double decker bus tour that would allow me to hop on and off at my leisure. Afterwards, I walked through Covent Garden, a major shopping and restaurant area, and enjoyed a bacon and deviled egg sandwich on a toasted baguette. I thought I would hate British food but, hey, if they are going to put bacon on just about anything then I'm going to love it.

I went to bed early my first night in London to recover from not sleeping on the 10 hour flight. My travel group was required to meet in front of the Royal National Hotel at 7am the following morning to weigh our luggage (20 kg or 44lb maximum) and get checked in with the Contiki tour people. Thankfully my exhaustion won over my excitement and anxiousness and I was able to have a good night sleep.

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