First Impressions

I have internet!! I have internet!!!!! More on that later-- here's the post I wrote on the first day. Just pretend it's last year again >.>;;;;;

Wireless internet access at my hotel is £15/day… FIFTEEN POUNDS!!! Thus, my posts will be scarce these next several days until hopefully I can find somewhere more accessible with internet.

The trip over was not too bad; British Airways was alright, but I think too many people talked it up so much that it couldn’t possibly have met my expectations. I did like the little travel kit however, complete with socks, eyemask, headphones, toothbrush and toothpaste

The airport was quite colorful, with a nice mesmerizing circular pattern on the ceiling.

If I had to choose three words to describe my first impression of London, they would be clean, compact, and circular (as in having lots of circles :P). There’s very few pieces of trash on the streets (the streets I went to, anyway), which was quite surprising for such a large city. I almost couldn’t believe there was a Chinatown somewhere without stagnant bags of garbage on the streets! I saw a sign with a fine for publicly disposing of rubbish, so that might be why. Food portions are definitely smaller—I can’t decide whether this is a good thing (to keep people eating healthily sized portions) or a bad thing (overpriced food). My family and I have been able to finish almost all of our meals so far, which is fairly unusual because we usually have to take several dishes home. The subway trains are also smaller (both in width and height). My dad, who’s only about 6 feet tall, was just several inches shy of touching the ceiling! And as for the circular bit, as odd as this might sound, objects just seem more circular here. One of the things that surprised me was how many Subway restaurants they have around here! I didn’t know they had gone international. In ~4 hours of walking around, I counted 6 Subways (and only 5 Starbucks)!

After arrival, we took a taxi back to the hotel—it was one of the nicest taxis I’ve ever taken. It smelled nice (unlike most of the taxis in Boston) and had a television screen in the back for you to watch as you ride. There was a glass screen separating us and the driver, and a speaker/microphone system allowed for communication back and forth. None of the taxis have phone numbers on the outside, which makes me wonder how one gets a taxi if you’re not waiting in designated taxi queue. And now for the pictures! As touristy as it is, one of my first meals in England was the classic fish and chips.

Then we took the Tube to a place called Covent Garden, which reminds me a lot of Quincy Market (in Boston). There are two rectangular buildings with long rows of shops and eateries inside and some street shows outside performing for tips. Some performers were more successful at attracting attention than others…

I feel bad for the poor alien—not even the children noticed him!! The escalator down to the subway were really steep; I was afraid I was going to trip and send everyone else tumbling down the stairs with me!

I hope that’s enough pictures for those of you who don't actually read and just skim for the pictures! Until next time!