Today my traveling companion John and I arrived in London’s Heathrow Airport after a LONG 9 hour flight around 6:30 am London time. We were greeted an hour or so later by a family friend of John’s, who took us to our lodgings for our 4 day stay in London. Heathrow is a monster of an airport, and it composed most of the scenery on the left side of the road for quite awhile.
John’s friend drove us into Paddington, where he had arranged a flat for us to stay in. The flat belongs to a family that has been out of the country for several months and were happy to let some poor American college students stay for a few nights. The flat itself is adorable and nestled in a dominantly Arab section of Paddington. I hear that it is the month of Ramadan, the Muslim holy days during which they only eat when the sun is down, so it has been pretty quiet during the days. The flat is small and eclectically furnished, but it has a kitchen and comfy couches which we have definitely taken advantage of!
After we got settled a bit John’s friend took us on a short walk around the area to point out the subway station, supermarket, and other points of interest. After a quick breakfast we headed back to the flat for a power nap. Originally we had planned to muscle through the day on a guided tour or something, but we realized shortly after landing that we would need to sleep sometime since neither of us had been able to sleep very much on the plane.
Five hours later we were wide-awake and ready to explore our corner of London some more. We put on some warmer clothes (It is only about 55 degrees Fahrenheit here!) and pulled out the umbrella (Because it was, you guessed it! Raining.) and took off on a walk. We had passed an old bookstore earlier in the day on the way to the flat and so we walked back. For an English major like me and a book lover like John, it was a slice of heaven. The store was tiny, about the size of someone’s living room with an itty-bitty basement, but every surface of every wall was covered in books. There were stacks of books up to the ceiling in some places. There was very little semblance of rhyme or reason to the organization of the books, but they were amazing to browse through. I ended up buying a tiny red book of Songs and Solos from the early 20th Century, full of old hymns organized by theme and message. Then we ventured in the other direction to find groceries.
It was a fabulous first day in London, even though we didn’t do very many tourist-y things, and I look forward to what tomorrow will bring.
No comments:
Post a Comment