London: A tired start

Day 1

The landing was horrendous after a twenty minute circling of London to wait our turn in the landing “queue.” It felt like a rough wooden roller coaster, and after not sleeping or moving for 7 hours, I nearly joined some of my nauseous flying mates in trying out those little paper bags they give out before taking off.

After getting cleared through customs and immigration, I headed toward the group meeting point. Not much happened worth mentioning. We arrived at our hotel, about 15 of us at the Thistle Kensington Gardens at noon. We had one meeting scheduled at 4pm. Finding room 219 through the narrow twisting and meandering English corridors was a treat, but after several turns and doors, I opened the door to find a pleasant room with two beds. Of course, they were about ¾ of an inch apart, but that is beside the point. Brandon, my roommate, was already there and immediately seemed very nice. And indeed he is. He goes to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, where he is an English major and a cross-country runner. He too is going to Swansea.

Our meeting leader, some woman from Holland, kept it brief and simple. We were given 3 day Tube passes and a £5 calling card. We ate a couple of the wee little sandwiches provided and were free for an evening in London.

I managed to contact Sophia and I walked about 6 blocks to the Tube station. She was naturally extremely talkative and the words of excitement flowed like the live cask ale out of the tap I ordered when we went to dinner at the Black Lion Pub on Bayswater. We exchanged our schedules and planned our next interlude. We took a lovely walk and I saw her off at around 10:30.