Quills & Crinolines: UK Trip Day 1: On My Way to Adventure!

UPDATE: Well, my plans for blogging actually during my trip didn't exactly pan out while I was there, thanks to the odd thirty minutes of free internet provided at the majority of the hotels we stayed in (yes, Travelodge, I mean you!), so all of my UK trip posts have been written (with the exception of this post, which has only been updated) after the fact.

May 12, 2016

Hello everybody!! I am writing this post from London, England tonight, in a little hotel near King's Cross, and I have to say, it has been one whirlwind of a long, exhausting and exciting day! We left Salt Lake City yesterday at 8 pm on a direct flight to London, which was an incredible ten hours long–the longest flight of my life EVER, and overnight across a few timezones to boot. Thankfully, Delta knows how to take care of their guests. :) They provided us with complementary pillows and blankets, and by the time we arrived in London at around 1 pm today London-time (Friday, May 13th), we were completely stuffed from the diner, 2nd dinner, breakfast, second breakfast, cookies, pretzels, peanuts, drinks, and midnight and midmorning snacks they gave us (I swear, every time I turned around, they were offering us more food–it was good though :) ). We also were able to entertain ourselves with free movies along the way, so I watched most of The Sound of Music before deciding I probably ought to sleep so I wouldn't be dead the next day.
Despite the fact that my attempt at sleep was somewhat of a vain endeavor (nothing like loud jet engines and tiny cramped seats for a good night's sleep!), I was just about bursting with energy when we got in. Must be the fuel I've saved up all those days daydreaming about this trip. :) I will admit I had a rather difficult time trying to wipe the silly grin off my face at how very British everything is over here. Maybe it's just me being silly, but I swear the air even feels different over here– and I love all of it! I still haven't quite adjusted to the fact that everyone has an accent though, and now I'm the anomaly, but I completely love it.

Pulling out of the London Heathrow Airport in our "people mover"
– their fancy name for a van. :)

The other thing that might take a smidge of getting used to here is the teeny, teeny, tiny little... well, everything! The parking garages, the buildings, the streets, the hotel rooms, the toilets, and even the cars (excepting, of course, the famous red double-decker buses that literally dominate the streets here). They always say that "everything is bigger in Texas", but everything is definitely smaller in the UK!
Anyhow, I'll try to come down from cloud nine now and get to the real details of today's adventures. :) We decided to pop over to Windsor Castle as our stop today, and as you might guess, we were super excited to get over there– only to discover that it was closed for tours today because of an event. That's right, we started out our trip just like that. So we got to see Windsor Castle, at least, which still just makes my life. Every building over here is so beautiful! It makes American buildings seem like dull boxes in comparison when you're surrounded by gorgeous, ornate grey stone buildings in practically every direction as far as the eye can see. So the architecture so far has definitely met my high expectations, just as I knew it would!

Some shots of the outside of Windsor Castle :)

Anyway, after our little Windsor disappointment, we wandered down a few little back streets and just soaked up the atmosphere. The streets are basically all cobbled in the Windsor area, and I may or may not have almost gone sprawling a few times when I wasn't paying attention. :) On the particular street we went down, there were pennant banners strung across the length of the street, and all the shop windows were brightly decorated for the Queen's 90th birthday celebration, with "Happy Birthday, Ma'am!" painted on most of the windows (although I learned after that the Queen's birthday is, in fact, not actually in May–that's just when tradition states it be celebrated). We even found a cut out of the Queen, and of course, my aunt wanted a picture. :) We also found a little chocolate shop, and as is now our goal in every country we visit, bought some divine dark chocolate to try. It was also on this street that we exchanged our money for the first time, and I got to bid my $100 goodbye and say hello to some £60 or £70.

A horse and carriage for hire across the street from Windsor

A typical side-street in the Windsor area

After that whole escapade, we finally went and checked into our hotel here in King's Cross (the King's Cross Station is only about a block or two away from us as is), and decided to round up a bite to eat. We ended up at a little genuine Italian joint right across the street from our hotel, and I actually tried my first whole little fried fish– super yummy! :)