Ibis Hotel London Stratford

... am sure we are all aware can take a ridiculously long time and a lot of waiting around - why?! I fear we will be a queue from our plane seat - back to our plane seat 2 hours later! - btw if you travel through the USA remember to fill in an ESTA form (http://www.esta.us/esta.html) 72 hours prior. - Although if we didn't do this the threat of being put back on our plane is terrifying!

We have ...

... display of memorabilia and a very moving section on the holocaust. We then went back to Westminster and boarded a double decker bus for a tour of London. It was a lovely sunny afternoon so we sat on the top and enjoyed a great ride around the city viewing all the famous landmarks. This also gave the girls plenty of time to chat and catch up! We finished the day with a cruise on the Thames and dinner before saying adieu!

... all who were at that moment the people of London.

My first trip on the Underground enthralled me, as it signaled that I was far from home, on foreign soil, yet soil that would not long be foreign to my heart. We arrived near the Tower of London, and followed a female beefeater as she told the tales of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. We gazed at the glass sculpture erected in the memory of those ...

... earlier was down as arriving at around 8.45. If the Sunday service followed the same route/stops, I still had a chance of making my 9.02 train from Paddington. As I came up the stairs from the underground into the hall at Paddington, it was approaching 9.15. Firstly, I looked for the next train to depart - it could ...

... Strong bow at the local store for 1 pound each and drank that, then went to the pub. Haha. It was a very good match and fun to hang out at the pub. There were a lot of people and it was very crowded, but it all added to the atmosphere, so I enjoyed it. Afterwards, I met a couple interesting characters. An Australian man, his French friend, a Canadian and his dad. It was a strange group, but they had some good stories. 

... all, who could deny the fact that her band was very good? And for the very end of the night and encore, we had another opportunity to see all acts again. First Nanci Griffith and "The Del McCoury Band", and then for the finale itself they were joined by the girls and lads from the very beginning, those Su Yeon and I had never quite got to see. All in all, it was the pleasant first evening in London. Actually, for someone like me an evening in London should end with a concert, shouldn't it?

After a really good evening with Angela in Hong Kong, which went much too quickly, we got back to the airport at 11pm, ready for our 12:50am flight (niiice) to London. Last year a new terminal opened in Hong Kong, called Sky Plaza (or rather jazzily "Terminal 2"...whoa, funky), where there is an extremely attractive Tumi/Rolling Luggage store. Whoever opened this stunning festival of retail should be commended, it really is quite superb ;) Ok ...

... to the park Lynn took me to see Buckingham Palace and man was it huge. I expected it to be big but no where near as big as it actually was. Apparently a few months a year you can pay to go in and see the inside and closes next week so I may go back next Saturday just so I can say I've been in there. Outside the palace is a monument to Queen Victoria which stands proud set in a beautiful and extremely colourful garden. The ...

... Circus for more photo opportunities. A beautiful half-hour walk through the streets of London, then the guys did the London Eye and Jenny and I toured Westminster Abbey, managed to get a little lost, but still finished the same time as the boys. A sad time, as we then had to leave, which we did via the under-ground. This rounded off all transport we wanted to experience in London. Our drive over to Dover was highlighted by a ...

... fun and adorable girl from Vegas) and Chantay (sweet and spicy girl from Maryland) live in the other room. Monique (quite odd girl from Atlanta who rambles on and on about nothing) lives in my room.

From Saturday evening at 5pm, to Sunday, we went through quite a few "orientations" & "walking tours". Schedule went something like this:

5:00pm - walking tour around flat neighborhood
6:30pm - went to my first pub - to get an official "pub orientation"
London, United Kingdom lenabena