Once we got out of customs and baggage we hopped on the tube (don't worry Pop Pop, we minded the gap!!!!) for Paddington Station. Yes the very same as Paddington bear. Though I cannot see why he got lost at this station. It's pretty bare.
(Exhausted but still happy.)
(At our transfer)
(Miniature door, maybe 3 foot [should I say a meter???] tall)
Then boom we popped out deep in the heart of tex-- I mean London. Almost barreled over by a double decker, our first London experience!!!
We still found time for a photo op!
Just not a good one. Le ugh. Please do remember I have now been awake for a consecutive 22 hours and the world around me thinks it's 5 hours later than I want it to be.
We hunted down our hotel and they stowed our luggage for a nominal £2.50 per bag. We (of course) had not yet exchanged currency, so we found a Barclay's ATM (in the global ATM alliance with Bank of America) and withdrew GBP.
Then we walked a few blocks to THE HYDE PARK.
As someone who reads every Trashy Romance Novel she can get her hands on, Hyde park is a big deal. Ohhhhh How I recognized landmarks!!! Rotten row! The Italian gardens! The serpentine! The Peter Pan statue!!!
We saw so many astonishingly well mannered dogs (well duh, they're British!) that just trotted at their own pace somewhere in the general vincinity of their owners. Pepper would annoy these dogs so much!!
One gentleman was walking his English bulldog (of course, right?) and stopped for a chat. Turns out his sister used to work at the Jefferson hospital outside cVille. He still has friends in Alexandria!!! He was very in the know about the crazy weather we've had. He agreed that we were lucky to come to mild and reliably wet England during the polar something something. Such a nice fellow!!!
At some point I became thoroughly exhausted from walking and being awake in general and we sat on a bench and watched dogs and people interact. It was lovely.
Then we took a roundabout way back through a very posh neighborhood. We stopped in this small but stunner of a garden (they're everywhere!)
And had another photo op
Then we crashed at a mcDonalds until we could check in early for £20. This was very nice of them because we were supposed to wait til noon, but I was miserable at this point. I felt like a homeless person because I had not slept, bathed, changed my clothes, or brushed my hair in such a long time and we were walking around the city out of doors for at least 2 hours... It eventually gets cold!
We were doubly lucky because when we paid for our early check-in, she waived our luggage fee. So sweet! We must have looked so desperate!
We made our way up to the room and I immediately took a shower. The hottest shower I have EVER had, and I usually ENJOY a scorcher!!! For the life of me, I could not figure out the shower system. Seriously. 
The knobs have buttons on them... For what I do not know. If you turn it too far in one direction the button pops back up. So I just kept pushing it back down. Both knobs have an image of gradually getting more of SOMETHING, but only the one on the right says anything.... 38• C, which is like 90•F?? Give or take? So is that the hot side? I have no idea. No. Freaking. Clue. I basically spent 20 min turning each knob in different directions hiding from the stream of water until I realized it was only getting worse so I commenced showering as quickly as possible but in a shower that small, it actually takes longer to get stuff done. Anyway. Needless to say I was glad to be done with it. What a stressful shower!
Last order of business before we head to a proper 'football' game. The toilets here have 2 buttons. I know this is to save water, one is for quick flushes, the other is for (um) heavier loads. But if you are say, a woman, and use toilet paper, is that a larger flush? Also WHICH BUTTON IS WHICH???
Ughhhhh!!
I lied, there's one more thing (besides how small the room is and how little comes with it for a whopping £60 a night!), the key actually is used to power the electricity so that you cannot waste any when you are not in the room. Awesome right!!!!
Yeah? I think so. J is used to his family leaving a TV on when they leave the room so that people will think they're there... I think his dad had something stolen one time. But I've always had a problem with how wasteful that was, so it's nice that England has taken the opportunity out of our hands.
Anyway!!! Now we're both clean, fresh and still really tired! So we'll go to the game, grab some proper pub grub then come back to bed. I'm hoping to go for a run tomorrow morning around Hyde park Before we head out to Cardiff.
Cheers and Love,
Brooke
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