Here we come, London!

After a 2.5 hour ride, we arrived in London!! It’s local time, 9:35am. My math doesn’t sound right to you? London is an hour behind Paris, therefore, we gained one extra hour in London. ☺

Being in Paris for 4 weeks really made our visit to London a great joy. As soon as we arrived at the King’s Cross, St, Pancras international train station, we once again could understand and communicate with others in English. Putting the British accent aside, it was a great relief and I felt like I was home again.

I thought we would be totally on our own when we arrived in London. A day before we left for London, I met with a friend’s daughter, Patricia, in Paris who is studying abroad in London this semester. She came to Paris with her school excursion trip on Thursday, and I asked her to bring me the London local and tube maps (subway system in London is called the Tube) for references. Patricia was kind to give me not only the maps but also great routes and ideas to explore London in just one day.

A local London guide met us outside of the train platform, and he took us to take a the hop-on hop-off tour bus. As soon as we stepped out of the station, we instantly felt that Paris was cold, but London was insanely colder. The wind blew right through our coats and penetrated through the bones. We got on the hop-on hop-off bus and ready to go to our first destination, Buckingham Palace. Rain started coming down, now we were both wet AND cold.