Mind The Gap

Greetings from London! The flight 'across the pond' was by far the smoothest and most enjoyable Renee and I have ever been on, and the sheer number of people also crammed into the massive Boeing-777 was also quite impressive. During the majority of the flight, neither of us could really tell we were actually flying, which is generally a good thing in my book. Additionally, the two meals offered on the plane were significantly better than I had anticipated, which was an added bonus. Our flight touched down about 10:45am local time, with a further 1-1.5 hours spent passing through customs. I must say, the attitude and overall demeanor of the customs gentleman, a very pleasant Indian man was quite a stark contrast to what is usually observed from most airport security folks back home. Entry to the United Kingdom requires one to fill out a small informational 'landing card', with one of the items requested on the form being 'occupation'. The customs gentlemen noted that Renee and I were both employed in the same field, and seemed to be quite amused by this, preceding to ask us if we were in Europe to conduct weather research. Next up was a trip to the London Underground ticket office to pick up two oyster cards for our travels around London on the "Tube" as the locals call it. The Tube ride was pleasant, sort of like a smoother/faster version of the Washington DC Metro that I used to frequent when living in that area. One of the more curious occurrences whilst on the Tube was the presence of a family, American mother, American father, and two young boys with fledgling English accents, quite amusing. Approximately 40 minutes and two trains later, we arrived at the Ravenscourt Park Tube station, only a few blocks from our hotel. The rather short proximity of the station to the hotel was certainly a good thing, as our exit of the Tube Station was met with a few loud claps of thunder and a subsequent moderate to heavy downpour (all at about 45-50 degrees). Thankfully our noveau rainjackets also proved practical, and kept us from getting entirely drenched. Anyhow, we're currently just relaxing at the hotel, will soon freshen up, and plan to probably have some local Indian food here in the Hammersmith neighborhood of West London. All in all a fine beginning to the trip, and so far, I must say, the British have been quite friendly.

Mind The Gap.