Arrival in London: It's Hot!

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Greetings from London! It's 10:15 pm London time, 12:15 am Istanbul time. I miss Istanbul already. I also miss the hotel routine; after several weeks travelling you get into a routine, and now it's quite different being in someone's home. But we are incredibly fortunate to be able to stay with Susan's cousin Carol Ann here in London, and it will be really nice to meet more of Susan's family, and for Susan to see members of her family she hasn't seen in many years.

Susan's cousin Gregory kindly picked us up at Heathrow and drove us to Carol Ann's house. Carol Ann is Gregory's sister. Carol Ann and her family have this big rambling house in Ealing that used to be a home for retired nuns. We have a big room, which has a sink in the corner. The toilet is in its own room down the hall. I haven't figured out where everything is in this house yet, there are several floors and we haven't been up to the next level where the kids bedrooms are. Carol Ann and Jop have three kids: twins Lavinia and Harry, and Jacob.

We must be on Heathrow's flight path because I can occasionally hear planes passing overhead. It was an astonishing 28 degrees when we landed in London. Very unusual for the very end of September. The forecast is for the same tomorrow. This morning is was drizzling in Istanbul and it was forecast to be a high of 24, so it was hotter today in London than in Istanbul!

We have planned out our five days in London. Tomorrow at 11 am Gregory is picking us up and we're going to Windsor Castle and then we'll have a pub lunch. We'll be going into London for dinner I think. Sunday is a family get together. We'll check online tomorrow for a day tour that includes at least the London Eye, a boat ride on the Thames, and the Tower of London. We'll do that Monday, hopefully. Tuesday is our day trip to Bath and Stonehenge. Wednesday we will do the British Museum and whatever else we can fit in. We'll have dinner on Wednesday at Susan's uncle's local (I think it's called the Red Lion). I'm really tired now so will finish. So excited to be in London, and I'm really looking forward to our time here 😊

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Photos

Susan and cousin Lavinia
Lavinia is wearing the Olympic t-shirt we brought her from Vancouver.