Made it to London alright. Flight was on time and relatively comfortable - I lucked out and got the first row of economy class, so plenty of leg room. I slept most of the flight.
Unfortunately, the airline lost my bag (along with an entire cargo crate full of other bags) and I will not get it until sometime tomorrow. Luckily, all my valuables were in my carry-on and my checked bag only contained clothes - still quite a hassle and not a good start to the trip.
We took the subway ('tube') from Heathrow to Hammersmith, the area of London where we are staying (Brian's attorney-friend's boyfriend's apartment - with Brian's attorney-friend arriving tomorrow from the U.S. as well). After walking around aimlessly for a while in the confusing, curving roads of London, we finally found the place, dropped our stuff off and headed back to the tube to go downtown.
Once downtown, we grabbed a tour bus and saw all the highlights: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, London Tower, Thames River, Tower Bridge, The Globe Theater, Westminster Abbey, etc. It was a good way to see everything quickly and get a feel for the layout of the city. London is massive and sprawled out for an enormous amount of land. It is very busy and heavily populated, but relatively clean. The subway system is extensive and efficient, much like NYC. Everything here is expensive - prices feel about right, but they are in pounds, so it is actually twice as much.
All in all a good start to the trip - I just hope my bag arrives safely tomorrow. Here is a map with the location of the apartment we are staying pinpointed:
View Larger MapLondon
Westminster Abbey
