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Day 1: Crossing the Pond

The day started off somewhat frantically packing and cleaning. We needed to leave by 2:30. It was 2:04 and our friend, Mike, still hadn't responded to our 257 phone calls. He was supposed to drive us to the airport. Just a small heart attack. No big deal. (THANKS FOR DRIVING US TO THE AIRPORT MIKE!)

The flight was relatively uneventful. We had a 2 hour layover in Toronto. They had really good hamburgers. Our flight to London wasn't too bad. 7 hours with a baby sitting across the isle. The baby was actually incredibly well behaved, but her parents were super obnoxious. You know it's going to be a nice flight when the people sitting next to you announce "We're the annoying couple with the baby on the plane!"

After standing in line for customs, we were trying to rearrange our packs to get ready for the 1 hour train ride to our hostel. Kaylea was trying to cinch up her backpack when the end of the drawstring snapped off and almost hit someone sitting on a bench. Then, as she was trying to buckle chest strap, it just snapped off. One backpack break is annoying, but two was hilarious!

We finally made it through customs, got our Oyster Cards (convenient metro cards), and on to the underground tube for an hour ride to King's Cross. After some directional confusion, we found our way to our hostel, Clink78. It was about a half mile walk from the station. Talk about a party place. Our tiny private room is right next to the hostel's bar. This could be awesome or unfortunate, depending on our sobriety. It has yet to be seen.

Also, the communal showers are Co-Ed. They're small, awkward, and smelly. Weird.

After a short nap, we decided to go see Big Ben! Parliament and Big Ben are a little overwhelming as you walk up the stairs coming out of Westminster station. It's always hard to balance the need to take in the surroundings with the need to take a photo. There's a lot of stuff right there. After snapping a few selfies with the clock in the backdrop, we decided to go check out the London eye (the giant Ferris wheel). Turns out you can ride it for pretty cheap! Takes something like half an hour to get all the way around. Too many photo ops! We were in there with a group of women who wouldn't share the view, but we got some. We decided to walk more around Parliament and found the Westminster Abby. It was gloriously Gothic architecture. By the time we finished it was getting a little late, and we were getting hungry.








There's a pub right across the street from from Parliament called St. Stephen's Tavern. It was originally built in 1873. Fish, Chips, and Curry were had. As he sat on the toilet, Aaron contemplated whether or not anyone important had also sat on the toilet in the past hundred years or so. Good times.

Before we got back home, Kaylea had to find platform 9 and three quarters. It's a reference to this super obscure book. You probably haven't heard of it.


And now we're here writing this post. We're super tired. Perhaps we'll have a drink.

See you guys soon!

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