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Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Day 1 in LONDON

We have arrived!!!!!

 The flight for me was uneventful and surprisingly comfortable. I slept, watched "Wild", read my book, ate dinner and I had the whole row of three seats to myself! We got into London Heathrow around 11am and our host company met us and had us delivered to our home away from home via the funniest bus driver ever. Our apartment is gorgeous; it is 100 years old and was originally built as a stately family home for a large rich family with servants. Despite it's age, it is nicely updated and features a small outfitted kitchen, 3 bathrooms, a large living rooms and 4 bedrooms for us girls. It was a beautiful sunny (though windy) day in London. We settled into the flat before taking a short tour around our neighborhood. There is a Starbucks on the bottom floor of our building (bad news bears) and the grocery and pharmacy is just around the corner. We got some groceries, recovered from the flight and then set out on our first adventure: finding Primark on Oxford Street.
Home sweet home
Tiny but functional kitchen

Our room
Living Room

Due to our lack of cellular data, we screenshot the directions on my phone and set off into the city. We only got lost once or twice before arriving at the famed Primark. That store is dangerous- so many cute things and so cheap! I managed to only walk out with a new makeup brush (mine died when I used it on the flight here), heel liners for my one pair of shoes and tinted chapstick for a grant total of 5 British pounds. On our way home from Primark, we only got lost once and arrived back at Hampden House just in time for showers and a late snack.
Found this beauty while wandering in our neighborhood and just had to stop and take a picture. 

So far I absolutely LOVE London. Every time I turn around I see something that makes me smile and want to take a picture... and the accents still make me giggle. Tomorrow we have orientation and a bus tour of the city so I am excited to see more of London. The forecast is 57 degrees Fahrenheit and rain showers tomorrow so I have my trench coat and umbrella laid out. Back tomorrow with more stories!