DAY 1: LONDON

Wednesday, July 26^th, 2006

After we walked out of the gate, to our surprise, we saw a 6-foot, bald-headed Australian holding a sign that says “CONTIKI”. After I hear him speak and joke, he came across as a comical-yet-expressionless kind of guy. I found it quite amusing. This guy turned out to be our Tour Manager, Pete. The Tour Manager basically takes care of everyone’s special needs or concerns, introduces the cities, gives some special tours, and makes sure everyone is happy.

He gave us directions on how to get to the “Tube” (like the Metro) and 45 minutes later we had all arrived at the Imperial Hotel in central London. We had the whole day free to do whatever we wanted in London! We walked up to the hotel at about 10am and checked-in. They gave us our keys, which consisted of a long and thin piece of metal attached to a key ring. I wondered how I would fit the “key” in my purse and soon learned that it is routine to give the key to the porter’s desk on my way out of the hotel so it doesn’t get lost. Amazing concept!

I unlocked my door and found a single room. After a quick shower, I met some of the SoCal’ers in the lobby and headed out to one of the local bars (at 12pm?). This seemed weird since me and my innocent self have never been to a real bar! It was nice not having to worry about my age in Europe because the drinking age is 18. Mostly everyone ordered a beer, but I don’t like beer so I got a lemon soda.

I had to use London pounds so I was thoroughly confused. I spread out the change on the counter and the woman took what she needed. She probably thought, “Dumb American doesn’t know what the difference between a pound and pence!” Well, she thought right.

After chatting it up at the bar, a smaller group of us decided to find food and we ended up at a small Indian restaurant that said “air conditioned” and “fully licensed” on the front. Oh, well that’s good! I was surprised they didn’t even have soy sauce for my rice.

I learned London is a place where everything is more expensive. I found out one pound equals about two dollars. For future travels: Learn how to convert the currency into dollars before you use them! You can definitely think you are spending less than you really are.

It was really hot and humid in London so when I got back, my room was scorching hot, my hair was practically sticking to my neck, and there was no A/C because I don’t think it is usually that hot in London. So then I find out the toilet in my room doesn’t work, of course, after I went to the bathroom (#1 don’t worry!). I am glad the hotel gives me a new room so by that time the welcome meeting is about to start in the lobby. The meeting formally introduced all the Contiki staff, including our Tour Manager, Pete and our Tour Driver, Aaron.

I headed out with a fairly big group to the Tube (the Piccadilly line, isn’t that a funny word?? It sounds like the name of a flower). After finding a bar, the whole group ordered drinks. I got a glass of red wine, but after taking a few sips I realized I didn’t enjoy it warm. It wasn’t even room temperature…just very warm. Ugh, not for me. If you need to know one thing about me at this point, it’s that I don’t really drink…at all. Yes that may be hard to believe for some of you, but it’s true. I seriously didn’t drink more than 1 cup of wine during my whole first year at UCSB (#2 party school in the U.S. according to Playboy). Anyway, it was very fun socializing with everyone at the bar and just having a good time hanging out.

After walking for awhile, we ended up at the London Eye, which is mainly a ferris wheel that overlooks the whole city and it takes 45 minutes to go one time around! After the police officer specifically told him it was not allowed, Aaron opened a bottle of white wine on the Millenium Bridge. We hung out in a grassy area and talked while we enjoyed the beautiful London city lights, Big Ben, and the London Eye. By this time, everyone was pretty comfortable with each other. Travel really brings people together. It's a really great way to make 50 strangers become 50 new friends!

To a great day in London...cheers!