London Town

I finally made it to England! How it was coming over here, staying the night in London, and getting some rest before I head off to Bath. 

You know how the worry leading up to something is usually worse than the event itself? That basically sums up my travel out here. I was not looking forward to flying out of LAX. There was a reason why I’ve avoided it literally my entire life. However, the odds were in my favor and it ended up working out. I was able to get my luggage right away (it was seriously the first luggage that came out). The terminal I flew into from Phoenix happened to be right next to the International terminal, so I ended up just walking over there. Security took a little bit, but no more than 30 minutes or so. For LAX, I’d call that a win.

The flight wasn’t too bad. I slept on and off, but not as hard as I did flying to India. My seat wouldn’t go back that far for some reason and my leg rest got stuck halfway out, but it was still comfortable. We hit some turbulence around Greenland, but other than that it was fine. Air New Zealand serves A LOT of food–basically everything was a two course meal, which I was not expecting. I do wish I had brought snacks with me though. I somehow forgot to take any and got a little peckish. 

Movie and tv show selection was good! They had a pleasant mix of old and new. I ended up watching Singing in the Rain, The Goonies, The Lion King, and slept through parts of the live action Beauty and the Beast and random episodes of Friends. 

Once we landed, I had to navigate through Heathrow, and if you’ve ever been there it feels like you have to walk the entire length just to get to the trains. Security and customs surprisingly didn’t take too long, especially since a couple I was speaking with in LAX said they heard it was taking upwards of 2 to 3 hours. Time was definitely on my side. 

I made my way to Paddington and then to my hostel. I picked one that was super close to Paddington station, so I could sleep in some and not worry. The hostel is above a nice little pub, which made it convenient for getting food. 

When I got up to my room, I took a decent nap and then went down for dinner. I was still tired, so I basically went back up, got ready for bed and then promptly passed out. I don’t feel like I missed anything, simply because I had never really planned on doing anything this first night. However, this single night stay at the Pride of Paddington was pleasant and a good way to recharge and prepare for the rest of my journey. 

Today, I’m taking a train down to Bath and the trip should only be about an hour and a half. I’m so excited to see the countryside and just have a nice, relaxing evening in 2017’s friendliest city in the U.K. Tomorrow, I will be going on a Stonehenge guided tour through Mad Max tours, so I will be sure to check in then!