Day 1 London!

So I arrived at the Heathrow Airport at 7:50AM London time and spent the next 1 1/2 hours trying to navigate through customs and UK border control. It was soooo super obnoxious -- waiting in line for that long just to have them look at your passport, ask you why you're there.... look at you funny and then send you on through. Was quite annoyed about that - but it helped to kill some time.....

Check-in at the hostel isn't til 2pm... (but I didn't know that). Somehow I managed to lose the very detailed directions I had laid out for myself about how to get from the airport to the hostel I'm staying in for the first three days between Indy and London.

I figure out the tube (London Underground - subway) map pretty well and found my way to the correct station to get out but then couldn't find the street... You see in London, they sometimes post street names on poles like in the U.S., but more often than not they post them just anywhere that seems appropriate at the time : on building walls, on fences - just anywhere!















I managed to stop someone on the street to ask them for the number to "directory inquiries" because i had already put this number in my UK cell phone - a number given to me by IU Study Abroad, but it of course was old and didn't work. Thanks to my awesome friend Sarah, I arrived in London with a pre-paid UK cell phone with the equivalent of US $50 loaded on it already. So that really helped.


I got a hold of the hostel and they directed
me in the right direction: Here's a picture of it with their cute little Green Door.









So I arrive at 11:15 and find out that check-in isnt' until 2pm so I have to kill 3 hours. So I jump back on the tube and go exploring. I explored the Waterloo station which is like a massive version of Union Stations in the US. It's where Subway, elevated trains and passenger trains all converge in a massive station. The funniest part of Waterloo station is that I found the signs for the "Men's Toilet" - yes they don't say bathroom, restroom or lieu - they just say toilets. Very simple and to the point I guess... but it was a pay toilet! It cost $.50 US equivalent just to enter the bathroom!!!

So after paying for that I took some pictures of the Waterloo station - massive!















So I eventually made it back to the hostel but not after first visiting London Bridge. I didn't stay long, b/c I wanted to get back and shower but I took lots of pics of that and will post them tonight. It's off for a nap for me now! I've been up for about 21 of the last 25 hours and I'm beat. It's 4pm now here. We are five hours ahead of Eastern Time.... so say hey and look for another blog tonight!