This is your Captain speaking...

It was Tuesday, August 4th, 2009.

I hardly slept that night - I kept telling myself I catch some sleep on the plane. We left the house around 4am. My dad, and two of my brothers, were kind enough to make that early trip to the San Francisco International Airport. Because it was an international flight I had to be there at least 2 hours before the flight which was set to take off at 8am. When we left it was pitch black outside. We stopped on the way at a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. A couple of glazed donuts and a cup of coffee later we were on our way!

I have to admit it was a bit surreal. When you wait for something that long when it actually happens it takes a while to sink in. After saying goodbye and going through security I headed to the gate to wait. There I met two of my fellow travelers, Sarah & Mike, a couple from San Francisco. It was their first trip overseas as well. Since they couldn't find a ride that early they actually spent the night at the airport! They were funny and easy going - I liked them right away. EF College Break was kind enough to set us up with seats together on the plane. I have to admit it was nice flying with someone, even if I just met them :) we had quite a few good conversations on the 16 hour flight to Heathrow Airport, London!

Flying in coach for that long is not a pleasant experience. The longest flight I ever had before this trip was a 4 hour flight to Chicago to visit family. Piece of cake. This on the other hand was grueling. I had an aisle seat which means I had nothing on my left and Mike was sitting on my right. Couldn't exactly lean on anything to sleep now could I? So much for my plan to get some zzz's! You can't get comfortable no matter which way you turn or lean. The only thing you can do is try to keep your mind off of it. 

Finished the book. Listen to the iPod. Watched the on-board movie. Still another 6 hours to go. Snacks. Did I mention plane food is horrible?! This time I'll come prepared. Make sure you drink lots of water. The high altitude makes you dehydrated worse then playing volleyball in Palm Springs.

Finally, the Captain announced that we have begun our decent into London! If I could only visit one place in my life it would have been London so you can imagine my excitement. The little I could see from the windows across the aisle was beautiful. It was so green! Growing up in California the only time its green is in the Winter and even then you can't enjoy it because of the cold, wet weather.  

I tend to think in terms of maps so it was kind of hard to grasp that I was no longer in California but on some small island thousands of miles away. We landed and then had to clear customs. My first stamp in my brand new passport! Proof that I was really here!

After clearing customs the three of us headed out to the lobby. A young college age woman was holding a sign with our names. That was easy! She led us to an area where we waited for about another dozen students to arrive. There we met our tour director. For the life of me I cannot remember her name! Oh well. At least I can describe her. She was in her late 30's. Tall, a bit chubby and boy did she have a personality. She was so funny and witty. A walking kiosk of information! The woman did this for a living! She lived in London but would take groups all over Europe and while they explored the city on our own - so did she. Lovely!

A coach bus waited outside to take us to the hotel. Here is where the luggage thing becomes an issue. I had one of the largest suitcases. Trust me - travel light! I think I packed for all possible weather scenarios. I didn't wear half the stuff I brought along! 

Driving in England is something else. You feel like you're constantly heading into a head on collision with upcoming traffic. It makes you kind of dizzy and a little bit queasy. And the turnarounds! Those crazy turnarounds!  Basically, all these cars enter a giant circle that goes round and round and round until you hit "find" exit. No stop lights or stop signs. Did I mention there are several lanes? Its some intricate dance that only the British understand.

Finally we get to the hotel. Its not far from Baker St. (we we're right next to the Baker St. Underground station). Baker St. was the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes and on that street you can find a giant statue of him and also his "house".  At the hotel we were assigned room mates. One of the things about traveling with a group is you don't stay in hostels but in actual hotels but, to save on costs, you would share a room with 2-3 people. Every city I had a new set of girls to room with ,and while it might be a bit awkward at first, it was nice to meet new people this way. However, if you are traveling as a couple, or with friends, you can actually request to have your own room the entire trip. Everyone wins :)

In the early afternoon we all gathered in the pub for a welcome drink. The hotel we stayed at had a night pub in the basement but in the morning that's where we had our breakfast. I believe there was a total of 32 students on this trip. We had recent high school graduates to people who were in Masters programs. We went around sharing a bit about ourselves. We were quite the assortment of people! Most of use we're from the United State. We had twin sisters from Canada. Lastly, we had this weird Spanish guy - he was literally from Spain - on the trip. He didn't speak a word of English. Actually, the only thing he did say was "Party! Party!". I'm not making this stuff up. The guy lived in Barcelona so he could grab a train and travel anywhere on his own. Why he chose to travel with us Americans I have no idea. I still remember his name - Pablo. He kind of reminded me of Fez from "That 70's Show".

Then the real fun began. To each of us was given a map of London, particularly the subway system (or the "Tube" as they call it - that's Tube with a "ch" sound) and a one day unlimited subway pass. After which our tour director told us not to come back to the hotel until at least 9pm. The reason for this was so our "clocks" get re-adjusted to Europe time. By this point it's been at least 24 hours since I've slept. I was exhausted! I actually just wanted to crawl into my bed.

Instead, I went exploring...