Thursday, February 16, 2012

London Calling

After a long day of travel, I think it's about time to kick off a blog for my new adventure - Europe! My journey began at four in the morning after two hours sleep. I drove the rental car I had picked up the night before to the airport and headed through security. My first flight was a short hop from Philadelphia to Newark on a tiny 36-seater turboprop plane. It went quickly, as I was asleep for the majority.

The second flight of the day was more of a doozy. Oddly enough, it was a fairly small plane for an international trip, a Boeing 757, but it had a nice OnDemand entertainment system. I didn't sleep much, instead opting to watch several episodes of Parks & Recreation and Curb Your Enthusiasm. We landed a little before 2100 GMT, but customs and immigration took an additional hour beyond that. After exiting the terminal finally, I only had to wait five minutes at the coffee shop before Dana showed up! She was a sight for sore eyes, most definitely.

Dana led me down to the famous tube, the London Underground. From there, we undertook the medium-length train ride to her flat. It was quite a nice little place, and Dana's roommate Megan was very friendly and excited to hear about my trip to Japan. I handed out a few gifts and we were off again, this time to head to the hotel and get checked in. We stopped by a KFC for a quick snack before undertaking the thirty-minute walking journey to the Olympia Hilton Hotel. Our room is pretty nice, though nothing wonderful, I suppose. Only staying here for one night this time, though!

Anyway, tomorrow: Paris! We're taking the Eurostar down to the City of Lights to spend the weekend. It's going to be amazing. Stay tuned!

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