Hello from London!
Arrived here the morning of Tuesday the 22nd, and have been having a blast ever since. The first day became very rough as the jet lag kicked in big time during the early afternoon, but as the days have gone by its getting better.
I'm staying with the my mom's friend Ann Caird and her family in Islington, in the northern half of London. They live in a wonderful area, though most of London seems wonderful anyway. I spent the first day hanging out with her son Ben and we lounged around here in Islington and then went to a gorgeous park in the afternoon near the London zoo. Its nice having someone near my age around to show me what I might not see, or think to go to if I was by myself.
Yesterday I went to the Westminster area, checked out Parliament (thought didn't go inside) which was massive/gorgeous/etc. and then Westminster Abbey which was absolutely beautiful.
Today, I went over to the Tower of London, then worked my way through the Tower Bridge - both were simply amazing and I'll post pictures soon.
After that I walked along the south side of the River Thames, saw city hall, the Globe Theater, Tate Modern, and also just spent sometime sitting around enjoying the space. Eventually I met up with my brother Dave and his now-fiance Ana for dinner and a drink afterwards. I haven't seen either of them since Thanksgiving, so it was great to see them, and I believe we're meeting up againt tomorrow.
That's all I've got for now, I'll post another entry sometime in the next week. Until then...
-Matt
