Odd currency and horrible airports... 26 hours in London

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Leaving your family is always hard. I've done it several times before in my life but it is never easy. As eager as you are to leave at first, once you do leave all the reasons disappear and all the good memories overshadow the bad ones. I've been preparing for my trip/move for months. I initially was suppose to leave in September but financial manners got in the way. But alas... My time has come and I will not hesitate.

I bid farewell to my friends and family and boarded American Airlines flight 100 to London, my first stop. The 7 hour flight went faster than imagined. I took a couple of naps and entertained myself with the personal tvs with movies, games and tv shows to watch. A very pleasant Peruvian lady with a British accent sat next to me and endured the smelly farts from that loud and crazy Asian kid sitting in front of us.

From the air London was cloudy... unusualy clowdy... Well, foggy. The arrival was smooth and fast. Customs was a breeze but not as easy and as quick as Madrid ( I will explain in my Madrid blog).

I took the metro to Liverpool street where I stored my bags and had my first meal in Europe. The sandwich sounded good enough; Organic mozzarella, spices, and tomatoes, but the taste begged to differ. It didn't taste like anything I've ever had before... But it was definitely bland and it was positively slimy... Good thing I also ordered a smoothy to wash it down.

I attempted to use the restrooms but I had to pay. That wasn't much of a problem compared to trying to figure out the change. 50 pennies is smaller than 5 pennies... 2 pound coins are smaller than 1 pound coins. Thanks to the custodian dude for sorting out my change for me. 😉

I got my 1-day metro card and took the wrong bus that said London bridge to the last stop on the opposite direction. The architecture is nice, the accents are cute but I think I saw more tourists than anything else. The more time I spent in London, the more it reminded me of New York only with really old buildings. I made it to London Bridge and took pictures, bought some gloves and ate a jalapeno wrap at a place that reminds me of a subway/starbucks hybrid and ofcourse they are on every other corner... They advertise free wifi but you have to pay. I proceeded to take a tour bus for 22 Pounds that takes you around every site in London within 3 hours while you plug in headphones into slots in the wall with the options of 5 languages. London was devistatingly cold, specially if you were sitting on the second level of those roofless buses. I got lost several times but got to see most of London. I decided to go to the airport earlier in the evening... I was pooped. I took the train ride to the airport and waited 15 hours for my flight to Madrid.

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Comments

[julie]

hahahaha
Can't wait to find you've even gotta pay to breathe clean-ish air. And I thought we were getting ripped off in the states. Geez

[Jolene]

can't wait
This was great to read. Can't wait for the next part.

[NJABU MASSAQUOI]

WOW...AMAZEMENT
WOW, YOU INSPIRE ME, THANK YOU FOR DOCUMENTING YOUR TRAVELS..I'M SO ENVIOUS OF YOU RIGHT NOW, THE FREEDOM TO GO AND DO WHAT YOU WANT AND SEE THE WORLD, I'M VERY PROUD OF YOU AND KEEP US ALL POSTED ON THE WONDERFUL WORLD THAT YOU EXIST IN....LOVE YOU:)