Landed in London

My adventure has officially begun. I landed in London around 6:30am, after an overnight flight where I got no sleep whatsoever. I tried to sleep. I wanted to sleep. I couldn’t sleep. That was the first time I have ever been on a long flight that was too warm for my comfort. That said, the flight wasn’t bad. I was just annoyed with my own inability to sleep.

Luckily, unlike the last time I was in London, my hotel room was magically available when I arrived shortly after 9am. I was able to get a much-needed nap, check my email, and send a few messages to people back home in the States. I desperately needed to get those things taken care of before heading out to do a bit of exploration.

I’m staying a short walk from the Earls Court Underground station, which is very convenient. I like this area. There are some cool little hole-in-the-wall shops for getting snacks and sundries, which is nice, since I always forget to bring little things like razors and such. There’s also a variety of coffee shops, bakeries, and restaurants (including a Thai place and an Indian place that I might need to check out while I am here).

As for what I did once I woke up from my nap – well, I kept it simple today. I took the tube to the Victoria & Albert Museum and looked at a couple of specific exhibits to get inspiration for a research paper I am working on for one of my classes. I didn’t get to this museum last time I was in London, so it was nice to wander around a bit, though I did focus on the Modern section and Furniture collection.

Something that I love about going to the museums here is that if you take the tube to the South Kensington station, there is an underground walkway that you can take if the weather is a bit nasty, like today. In the case of the V&A, there is even an entrance right from the tunnel, which made me very happy, since it was raining when I got there.

I actually took this photo as I was leaving the V&A. Maybe I’ll go to the science museum later this week. Maybe I’ll go to the Natural History museum instead. Who knows?

After I finished up at the museum, I hopped on the tube back to Earls Court, picked up some dinner (and dessert), and came back to my hotel to write this post, do homework, and sleep. I’ve accomplished the first of those items, started the second, and am excited for the third.