A great first day. Actually, a lovely first day. (Americans should really start using the word lovely more often...so much more sincere. Or at least appears to feel sincere when the Brits here say it.)
I landed at 8am London time, made it through customs in about 10 minutes, and took the tube to my hotel. It was kind of cool getting to ride the morning commute with a bunch of Londoners. I can't get over the amount of diversity here. It's really unlike anything I've ever seen and I love it.
I had to wait for a few hours for my hotel room to be ready, so I headed to an adorable little coffee shop and joined many others for a morning coffee and breakfast. The email I sent to my friends/family:
"The flight was great (a shocking statement, I know, given that I flew first class). And, yes, money absolutely can still buy happiness. :)
I'm sitting at a coffee shop in London waiting for my hotel room to be ready, but I'm loving life already...so many different languages and cultures, and Kensington is definitely a cool and very "in the middle of everything" place to stay!
A few of the highlights so far:
2.) A bird pooped on my bag (my new Marc Jacobs bag, no less). Yep, it happened.
3.) Toast here can mean either a croissant or actual toast. And you don't know which one you'll get when you order it. (Unless the barista at this coffee shop is just messing with me, which is entirely possible...)
4.) I feel so fortunate to have this experience and am truly soaking up/enjoying every minute. Thanks for all of your love and encouragement.
Love you all!!"
I wandered up to Harrod's and so enjoyed my stroll there. I definitely felt like I could be in the movie Knotting Hill and half expected to casually bump into Hugh Grant along the way. There's something about London that feels so much fancier than the States; maybe it's the accents. But it seems to bring a certain appreciation and intentionality to everything people do here. Or at least that's my take on it so far.
Harrod's was beautiful, but at the end of the day, it was a department store. Truthfully, I don't see what all of the big fuss is about, but I'm glad I can say I visited. On my walk home, I stopped in (briefly) to the Albert Museum, where they have a bunch of different artifacts from various parts of the world. I might've been too tired from traveling to really appreciate it, so I only browsed for a little while and then left.
After my afternoon out, I watched a Lifetime-esque movie in my hotel room (my hotel is perfect, by the way...highly recommend it to those traveling to London) before heading out to dinner.
Dinner was so fantastic for a few reasons: one, the food was amazing. I went to an Indian restaurant right near my hotel and it was some of the best food (Tandoori and naan) I've ever eaten. Two, there was something pretty awesome about having a delicious meal by myself. It forced me to be much more appreciative and in tune with what I was eating, and I didn't feel rushed or pressured to make conversation, etc. I just sat there and enjoyed my meal, occasionally chatted with the waiters, and read my book on my iPad. A totally perfect end to my first day here.
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