London, Day 1

What a trip! But we're finally here. We left Austin yesterday after a 20 minute delay and got to Dallas at around 11:45am. Our layover in Dallas was pretty long and the plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 5:20pm. We ate at Reata Grill in the airport and settled in to pass the time.

Finally it was time to get on board and head to London. As people were finding their seats the captain announced on the p/a that there was an electrical problem but not to worry--the maintenance crew was working on it and we should be leaving soon.

An hour and a half later, the captain comes back on to say we would be switching planes. So all the passengers had to get off the plane while crews unloaded luggage, food, and everything else. Then the old plane had to back up and the new plane came in to get fuel. Our 5:20 flight didn't leave Dallas until 9:30pm.

The rest of the flight was uneventful until we got to London. The Heathrow airport was down to one runway so we had to circle around for half an hour before we could land.

After landing, everything else was a breeze. Customs and Immigration went smoothly, all our bags made it, and we got a taxi to take us to our hotel. The room is actually quite nice. We got an executive room that's a little larger than the regular rooms. The hotel (London Kensington Hotel Marriott) is in walking distance to the tube, the grocery store, and several restaurants.

We walked over to Hyde Park this afternoon, and then stopped by ASK for dinner (I'd say it's like an Olive Garden or a Johnny Carino's). I was amazed at how quiet the park was. It's huge and hilly with gorgeously manicured lawns. There were a lot of people, but it didn't feel crowded at all because of the park's size. I could easily imagine I was miles away from any city and not in the middle of downtown London.

Now we're back in our room trying to stay awake a little longer before we give in and go to bed. Tomorrow we're heading over to the British Museum for the day. The weather is supposed to be rainy for the next couple of days, and there are several museums we want to see. The British Museum also has a couple of restaurants in it so we won't have to rush through it to get to lunch or dinner. I can easily see us spending most of the day there.