Welcome to Londontown

I arrived in London yesterday around 3:30 after a somewhat shaky flight over (never, ever take Alitalia, ever) and met Becky in the airport. From here we attempted to take a taxi back to her apartment, but found that it would cost 60 pounds (about 100 US Dollars, if not more) to get there, so we opted for the much more affordable Tube.

The Tube:

Since I've been here, I've had a very good experience with London's well known subway system. The system is pretty comprehensive, clean and overall user friendly. It helps that everything is in English, which has really been a pleasant change from Italy and all of the other places I've visited so far.

Speaking English Again:

I still haven't gotten used to this yet. Even at dinner tonight, when I was given my food I said Grazie and si. It seems to be all of the knee-jerk reaction sayings that still come out in Italian. It messes with my head to go somewhere and be able to ask someone anything I want without having to think about it. Actually, I still do have to think about it because I have to tell myself that I don't have to try and speak a foreign language to ask the question, so I have to think about not thinking about how to ask the question I want to ask. Confusing? It sure is for me.

So on Wednesday after we dropped my luggage (all of it that needs to make it home to the states that is, so 2 carry ons and 2 checked bags) Becky and I went to get some dinner. We walked around looking for a restaurant we wanted to eat at and chose a place called "Bountiful Cow". I realized at that point how much I missed steak. I don't mean to say I didn't have beef in Italy, because I had it on a few occasions and it was very good, but I mean I missed having a real steak. I ordered a 14 ounce T-Bone steak, and ate very last ounce of it (So...yeah all 14, minus the bone, which makes me wonder, is the bone included in the weight of the steak? Because that wouldn't be very fair now would it if they counted the bone towards the weight). It was incredible. Not to mention the first real french fries (or chips as they call it here) I've had besides McDonalds if that counts.

Today involved checking off a couple must-sees on our list for London. First on my list, Krispy Kreme. I love donuts for breakfast, and when I saw a Krispy Kreme yesterday I put it at the top of my list. I wasn't disappointed.

Coffee though, left much to be desired. I'm not used to having such a large cup of liquid when I order a coffee. I ordered a Cappuccino and was confused that I had to specify what size. I had two coffee's today and I already miss the Italian coffee, but I guess I'd have to get used to that at home regardless.

We went to the London Tower after breakfast. The "Tower" is actually basically a park with a bunch of different towers that made up a fortress back in medieval times. Seeing all the different exhibits in the towers was a lot of fun, and it was beautiful weather out.

My favorite exhibit was the weapons and armor exhibit. As a kid, I always loved swords, and this exhibit had tons and tons of swords from different eras and styles. I feel like Becky was getting tired of me stopping to read and look at all the different weapons and armor, but I couldn't help feel my inner-child coming through while looking at the exhibit.

From here we went to the London Eye, where it began to rain, in true London fashion. What would be touring london without a little rain? The eye was really cool, I got some great pictures from the top (to be posted when I can transfer pictures) and it kept us out of the rain for a little bit.

We then made a stop at the Aquarium. It was fun to walk through the different exhibits, and of course to avoid the rain yet again.

We walked over to Big Ben and checked out the area around it, but the rain got harder and it forced us to go underground into the tube to head back to Becky's apartment.

We went for Chinese tonight with Becky's roommates and her roommate Stacey's parents. I've always heard that the best food in london is the different ethnic foods, so I was excited to have Chinese, and this place, called "Noodle Oodle" didn't disappoint. It's always a good sign when you go to a restaurant and see locals eating there. I had some great spring rolls and LaMein (guess the british translation is different).

Overall I've had a great time in London so far. Tomorrow afternoon we head to the airport again to go to Amsterdam and then Brussels, so I'll try and post as soon as I can depending on my internet availability.