Our First Day

Our stop close to the hostel
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Well, we've made it to London!  After a delay in the flight from L.A. to S.F., we made it on time to London in the morning.  We decided to save some money and take the tube into London, rather than spending money for a fancy train.  WE took the Picadilly Line right to Russel Square and walked a bit to our hostel.  It was rather easy to find (our hostel is located in Fitzroy Square by the Warren Street Tube station).  To our surprise, it was quite a warm day.  Sun shinin and all.  We checked into our hostel and were pleased to find clean bedrooms that were pretty spacious.  We both cleaned up (12 hours travelling can lead to serious body funk) and then headed off into the city for our first outing.

Our hostel room
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We took the tube and went straight to Westminster Abbey.  We were lucky that eventhough we didn't get there REALLY early, we didn't have to wait in any lines.  We paid a student discounted price to enter (yay, international student id cards!).  It was well worth the admission price.

Our very first day...

TJ says: I didn't know how to act when I first entered because of the graves were on the actual floor of the abbey.  I didn't know whether to walk over them or around them.  It was cool to see the intricate details of the tombs and the stories that were printed on the headstones.

Outside Westminster Abbey (sorry if it's not rotated!)
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Melissa says: Too bad we couldn't take our cameras inside =(  It was gorgeous inside... freakin' nice!

After exploring Westminster Abbey, we crossed the Westminster Bridge and took lots of photos of Big Ben (which we found out, the clock itself isn't called Big Ben.  BIg Ben actually refers to the bell inside of it).  Attached to it, of course, was the House of Parliament.  This area is incredibly crowded, but rightfully so with all the gorgeous views along the Thames River.  We then rode the London Eye (the British Airways HUGE ferris wheel).  It's right across the river from Big Ben and gave us great views of the city in all directions.  It's slow (because it's so big) - - only one revolution per half hour!  And wouldn't you know it, to TJ's surprise, there was a Star Wars gallery/convention going on right downstairs!  Before the London Eye, we ate CHINESE food (!) at Chopstix while we waited for the London Eye.  Sure, we could've ate "English" food.. but who can resist an incredibly cheap Chinese buffet when we just spent a gajillion dollars on everything else?!  After the London Eye, we hopped on the Big Bus Tour of London (a hop-on/hop-off tour).  We didn't hop off, but rode the whole bus tour in a whole circle for 2 hours to take in the sights of the city (and figure out what we would like to visit in the coming days).

Big Ben and a bit of the House of Parliament
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After a long and tiring day, we went back to the hostel to get some sweaters since it got chilly.  We then headed to Covent Garden area for some dinner.  We ate at Porter's English Restaurant.  We ordered two dishes to share: Fish and Chips and some chicken pie (seasoned with chilli and garlic) with a side of new potatoes.  Both dishes were pretty delicious.  We then turned in pretty early since neither of us got great sleep on the plane.  More to come.... (By the way - - it was still completely light outside at 9:30 p.m.!)