first day in london

yesterday we arrived in london. we went on the train from heatrow to paddington station, which ws a special airport express. so from the first moments here, i realized how expensive this town is. from jfk to anywhere in new york on public transportation is about $7. from heathrow to this one station was 14 pounds, which is about 28 dollars. then after a short walk (made longer because we were lugging our luggage), we got to our hotel. the room could not fit two beds, it was so small. i suppose that is the way things are in europe. well, with paola's panache, she got us a much bigger and better room (though we still had to stay in the first one last nite). when we got there, i took a nap, and paola called her parents. i slept for about two hours, but she did not; in fact, she didnt even sleep on the plane, so by the end of the day, she was going on about 24 hours with little to no sleep.

in any case, that didnt stop us from exploring. after i got up, we decided to go for a walk and explore what we could on foot. we went into soho, leicester square, and walked along oxford blvd. it was cool, lots of shops, a neat park, and the like (we also walked a bit through hyde park (which is like central park in new york, but in london)). we then saw the outside of the national gallery (it was closed) and some other square, with a big obelisk to napoleon. we walked down from there and saw some neat building with a neat fountain in front, but dont know what it was called. from there we walked to westminster abbey and parliment, and saw big ben, which didnt seem so big. the london eye is also there, which is a big ferris wheel designed by a favorite architect of mine, norman foster. we decided not to get on, though. from there we could also see another norman foster building that i want to go to (but seems far away from what i can see) that is shaped like a fabrege egg.

i already had a run-in with the locals when a cheap store owner wouldnt give me my money back for some shit i bought. it totally ruined the mood for me for the whole of london. (he won, and i didnt get my money back, but the way.) but this morning we got our new room, and we are starting fresh, so i feel a good vibe about. we plan to see london tower, and all some more stuff. i still want to see the millenium bridge (another norman foster), and perhaps a play ('death of a salesman' by arthur miller is my pick, but we'll see what's available, plus cheap).

also, the hotel lied and we dont get internet in our room, so i cant post pictures from yesterday. when we get to italy, i will modify these postings with pictures of london and us (i am at an internet cafe right now, feeding the interests of my fans).