Day One

Well, I'm finally getting around to blogging about my first few days in London. To say it's been a little hectic would be a understatement, but I think I'm over the jet lag enough now to get it all down.

Brooke and I met at the Air Transat area in Terminal 3 at Pearson on Wednesday evening, and were immediately very happy that we'd checked in online, because it meant we could skip the massive line of people and go into a much shorter one. The man at the desk was very nice and ignored our overweight luggage and my slightly oversized carry on, a pleasant surprise.
After some relaxation time with our families, we headed to security, which seemed a little lax. No full body scans needed!

Even after boarding the plane (last) and sitting in our tiny little seats, it didn't hit me that we were really going. I guess that came from waiting for 6 months for it to finally be the day! The flight over was as to be expected from a budget airline... pretty squishy with slightly icky food. I had "chicken" and rice with a little cucumber and tomato salad, roll, 2 Bite Brownies and 100mL of white wine. Despite the wine I didn't sleep at all, and mostly just looked out the window or tried to rest my eyes.
I got to see the Northern Lights however, while we were somewhere above Northern Quebec/Labrador.
We were served breakfast at 3:30 AM Eastern Time, with the sun already up and shining in the windows of the plane. I don't think I've ever been so excited for orange juice and tea in my entire life.

Shortly after breakfast we hit the Irish coast, and I spent the rest of the flight looking out the window enjoying the view. Approaching Gatwick was really nice, because it was sunny and we could see everything really clearly, although it seemed like the plane was going to land in a field of sheep because I couldn't see any of the airport from my side.

Getting through and out of the airport was interesting to say the least. I was questioned at immigration and had to show my documentation to a slightly intimidating officer, and then we had an anxious moment when it looked like Brooke's luggage wasn't going to come up the belt. We eventually got everything tho, and struggled with our luggage through the terminal to the Gatwick Express train to Victoria Station. The half hour train ride was when Brooke and I got to see our first close up look at England, but I don't think it really hit us, even when we crossed the Thames and saw the London Eye coming into Victoria.
We took a Black Cab to our residence, which was very exciting, and surprisingly inexpensive!

We checked in at the main desk of the ISH, and found out that in fact, our room was located in Mary Trevelyan Hall, another 10 minute walk away, dragging 60 lbs of luggage each. Despite this building being slightly older and more rundown than the main one, our room is larger than I expected with 3 beds, desks, wardrobes, mini fridges and a washstand. The best part is the massive window that looks out onto Regent's Park.

After unpacking a little, and determined to stay awake until an acceptable bed time, we went exploring and ended up on Baker Street. We went to Boots for toiletries, and then a Tesco Express (small grocery store for essentials) for a few snacks. My day was made a little when I found "McDougall Brand" Flour... ha ha, and bought myself a pot of custard. We also walked along Marylebone High Street, which has some really cute little shops. On the way back to our room, we stopped into the main building for dinner in the dining hall, where I had some very welcome mashed potatoes with gravy.

Upon arriving back in the room and deciding that a shower was in order, I made the unfortunate discovery that despite what I thought, linen service is not included in our accommodation. Brooke was lovely enough to let me use a very small microfibre towel that she had... so that was what I dried off with after my shower. Interesting.

I made it to 10:30 pm (5:30 Eastern) after having been awake for about 32 hours, and then promptly passed out.
And so the first day ended.