London

I'm here. I'm still a little confused, to tell the truth, but have managed to find my way around so far. I got in yesterday morning, got a taxi to my flat, and then found out I wouldn't be able to get in until 2 that afternoon. I looked at my handy dandy map, and realized I was only a few blocks from the Natural History Museum, so I went there for the rest of the morning. Lots of dinosaur skeletons, and some other pretty interesting stuff as well. I probably would have and could have spent plenty more time there, but I was really getting tired by that point, so I stopped and grabbed a bite to eat at Pret-a-Manger. I wandered around and got lost in Chelsea - which, if you have to get lost in London, is one of the few areas that I think it is probably okay to do it in. After referring back to the map, I made it back to the flats, and waited the hour until I could check in. I think I may have actually dozed off for a minute or two while I was waiting.

After checking in and unpacking, I went down the street a little way to the Sainsbury's - a local grocery store. I also wandered down to the O2 store and bought a cell phone and some air time, so I now can call and be called internationally. By this point, it was close to 5, so I went back to the flat. I wanted to try to talk to Mich using Google Talk last night, but I didn't have a microphone. So I could hear her, but she couldn't hear me. That was at 12:30 here last night.

I crashed pretty hard. I probably could have slept for a few more hours, but opted to get up instead. My goals for today were to find my office and find a microphone so I could talk to Michelle. I got up and had some coffee (I'm stuck drinking instant coffee since I don't have a coffee maker right now) and then made my way to the Tube. Since I had already figured out where I wanted to go, and how I needed to get there, it wasn't too bad. I think that's the key. Find the place where you need to go, and then work backwards and figure out which lines to take, etc. Still, I opted not to switch lines at the Monument station, which prompted me to lose myself again on the other side of the bridge. Next time, I'll just change lines. By the way, Monument station is so named because of the Monument which is next to it, commemorating the Great Fire of 1666.

After finding the office, I ate at "eat." (The quotations are there because that's not a typo, although I did wonder how to punctuate it - eat..?, "eat.".?) This is basically a prepackaged sandwich shop, and I got out for 3.40 or so, which equates to $6.80. I then headed back to South Kensington station, and walked up the street to do my shopping. My little guidebook told me that Harrod's was just up the way, so I went in. I took some pictures of the food halls, as they were unbelievable, but they didn't come out. I did buy the much needed microphone there, so I have now bought something at Harrod's. Having accomplished my tasks for the day, I sat down and looked at the guidebook for what to do next.

As an extreme booklover, I found the listing for the bookstore, and headed to Piccadilly Circus to find it. There are two stores in the immediate vicinity, and both are quite impressive. Waterstone's is seven stories of books, while Hatchards' is five or so. Either one is a book lover's paradise. You can wander around in there for days. After wandering in there for a bit, I headed out and saw the Virgin Music Superstore. I went in, mainly to see if I could find anything for Mich. No such luck - at least I don't think so. I'll have to ask about her U2 DVD collection. I also wandered down to the Burlington Arcade, which is an extremely hoity toity shopping area. I think there were several shops offering Rolexes - the one I peered at was roughly $23,000. (I'm doing the currency conversion for you.) I also walked by the Royal Academy of the Arts. After that, it was getting close to 5. Since I wasn't sure when Sainsbury's closed, and I needed some more groceries, I headed back to the flat. Tomorrow is the house search....