London at Last

So, I am finally in London! It is evening on my second day here currently. I wanted to post yesterday, but after my three flights, two trains, and two heavy bags walk to the Hughes Parry Hall (30 hours of travel) I was too tired. Best part of the trip was when we were getting onto the tube at Paddington station. Laura had two big black rolling suitcases (which nice men where continually helping her carry up and down stairs) and had just started getting the first of her bags on, when the doors started to close. So she has one bag jamming the door open and the other still sitting on the platform. I had to reach through the doors, grab her other bag, and pull it through the doors up over her other bag and into the car. She then was able to pull her other one in all the way before the train actually started moving. It was ludicrous. As was our system for getting up stairs whenever there wasn't a nice man around. Laura would go up the stairs with her first bag with Emma. I would wait at the bottom of the stairs with her other bag. When she had made it to the top, she would come down and get her second bag and I would go up with her. We were such hopeless tourists. We did manage to find a local supermarket called Sainsbury later in the day where I picked up some neccessities including a fresh loaf of french bread and green tea.

I ended up passing out around 7pm, but resolved to get up by noon today (which I did- exactly noon in fact). I took a shower and then Laura, Emma, and I went to go get phones. We'd tried with everyone else to get them the day before, but the store had been closed. Today we walked further to Soho to find an open one. On the way we all got our Oyster cards (the equivalent of a metro card for the tube here) and I got some cash at a Barclays. We made it without any misshaps to the Orange moblie store on Oxford Street and got our phones. Mine is a very simply Samsung E1120. Laura and Emma both got flip phones (Laura's is pink of course). The way back was a little more complicated. We stopped at Sainsbury again so Emma could grab something and forgot to change directions when we got out and ended up in Holborn. I finally realized we'd missed our turn and started heading in what I thought was the right direction. During our meanderings we ran into some Italian parade. Eight blisters (I foolishly wore brand new shoes on our expedition) and several guesses on where to turn later we made it back in one piece.

We are now waiting for Emma to get back from church so we can go eat.