London: Day 1

I'm sitting here in our itsy bitsy flat we've rented for 2 weeks here in the lovely city of London. And I promise--this apartment is the smallest thing you've ever seen. I feel like it's something you would find in Hobbitville in Salt Lake. The fridge is tiny, the beds are like half the size of a twin, and the washer and dryer look like something Barbie and Ken would use. Don't get me wrong, it's not at all uncomfortable.

In fact, I'm a big fan of the place. There are 4 apartments in our building and we are on the first floor. Aside from the fact that we can hear everyone coming in and out of the building and every step they take above us, we lucked out on our location. We have access out to a little garden out back, don't have to climb extra stairs to our flat, and we can spy on people walking by outside. Yay us.

Upon our arrival, we discovered that we are literally 20 steps away from Portabello's Market (as made famous by Bedknobs and Broomsticks). For those of you who aren't "in the know," it's basically an ENORMOUS outdoor market set up on the streets on the weekends. They have everything from vintage pocket watches to crepes and fruit. Mallory, Abigail, and I wandered around for about an hour or so, but our stomachs were growling too loudly for us to handle. The moment Abigail started giving me looks of death for stopping to admire the delicious baked goods at one of the stalls I knew it was time to go back and scrounge up some crumbs in the cupboard.

The running joke for our trip is that we are not only on the trip of a lifetime, but also on diet camp. It's no secret that the exchange rate here is HORRIBLE, so my mom has made it a point to let us know that we won't be spending tons of money on food. We packed an entire suitcase full of food, but for some reason I feel like we might go through that much food in the next couple days. After that, the fasting begins I guess.

Anyway, London is great. Well, what I've seen of it--which isn't much. I've been soooo exhausted due to a complete lack of sleep on the plane (I don't think I've ever had such a horrible flight in my life!) and the time change (it's seven hours later here than Salt Lake time) that I've been lounging around and sleeping most the day.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next 12 days here in London and getting to know city. It's extremely different than life in American suburbia, but that's why I love it. More to come tomorrow!