So I realize I won’t be able to write as often as I thought because I don’t have too much down time.. especially when I’m in Italy already. I arrived in London yesterday   afternoon (Tuesday, 3/22). The flight was only 9 1/2 hours but I only slept for like 2.. which was weird because I was so exhausted that day. Maybe I was too excited or something. Anyway, the flight was great. Virgin Atlantic is amazing. Their meals were actually really good. Never thought I’d ever say this, but mmm…. love me some airplane food. They also had an amazing entertainment system and you can choose from hundreds of movies, TV shows, songs, games, and lots of other stuff. Plus, I was surrounded by British accents left and right on the plane so of course I was a happy camper. My aunt and uncle picked me up from the airport. They live about 30 minutes away from the Heathrow airport. I haven’t seen them in 10 years so it was a great reunion :) It’s a little hard to get used to seeing people drive from the right side of the car and on the opposite side of the road. Other than that, I didn’t do much yesterday because of jetlag and I was tired from the flight and all. We just hung out and talked for hours. My aunt works at this Portuguese bakery called Lisboa and she made me taste some pastries. Omg, sooo delish! I also tried this Brazilian fruit soda that was also good. Yay for trying new things :) Today, we plan on exploring some parts of the city. I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures!

Update:

So this morning I took a walk around Kensington and Chelsea, which is the area where my aunt and uncle live. I went to the Portobello markets with my uncle. He’s so funny. He’s Spanish, so kept singing Spanish songs and greeting everyone he knew on the street.. haha what a jolly man. He’s been married to my aunt for 20 years now, I think. They’re so cute, they call each other “dahhhling”.

After the market, we explored some of the West End. In particular, we walked through Oxford St. and Regent St. I was so tempted to go shopping, but my suitcases are so full I won’t be able to bring it to Italy. But I’ll def wanna go to Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Zara, and Primark when I come back in June. I saw some of Hyde Park, Leicester Square, Marble Arch, and Piccadilly Circus. I saw Eros too and there were so many people there. We also went to the Chinatown in Soho. It was a great day.. British accents and red double decker buses galore. Ooh! And I rode on one :) I even got myself one of those Oyster cards. Oh snap. You have to buy your tickets at the bus stop before you can get on the bus. You can’t just walk in and pay the driver.

Walking around the city today, I noticed a couple of things that are different from the states: 

1. Everyone here sounds so fancy because of their accents- even the bums. 

2. All public restrooms, or shall I say “toilet”- whether in the airport, malls, or wherever- are dirty and gross. 

3. Mostly all girls smoke. 

4. Gas, or “petrol” is hellla expensive. To fill up their Land Rover, it costs £70.. that’s $115! 

5. Cabs are black, not yellow.

6. “Rubbish” not trash.

7. They have lots of KFC, Subway, Ben & Jerry, BK, Domino’s, Thai food, Falafel, Shawarma..etc etc etc :)))) 

Lovely, lovely. And tomorrow’s another day!