Yes Mom, I am in fact alive!

Several planes, trains, and maps later I can finally say I've successfully arrived in London in one piece! It was a bit of a challenge trying to navigate after flying into Gatwick this morning (after getting close to no sleep on the plane). But somehow we were able to survive the train stations and adventurous 45 minute hike to our hostel in Astor Hyde Park (backpacks and all!).

It's so beautiful here, we had to have a little picnic of bread and cheese at the park across from our hostel. It gave us a chance to read/recover for a bit before we could actually check in. We found some fun things like a modern art museum and a Princess Diana memorial fountain. We went out for a Spanish dinner and then walked through a different part of the park at night. The park was filled with people riding bikes, feeding swans, and just taking everything in like us.



Crossing the streets here is always a challenge. Cars seem to honk at our group every time we cross the street for no apparent reason. I think I've seen more Ferrari's and BMW's here than I've seen in my entire life. There are ZERO used cars here. They are all tiny, brand new, and extremely expensive. We've run into countless statues and landmarks that we haven't a clue what they are. Another thing, chimneys are a BIG deal here. Marry Poppins songs were going through my head the entire train ride. We've got a big day of sight seeing to do tomorrow, can't wait to ride a double-decker bus!

 

Missing you all back home! London is amazing, I hope I'm able to see everything I want to before we leave on Monday for Paris!