Have your seat backs in the upright position.

Passing clouds, glimpsing small sections of fields and towns, the first chords of 1901 by Phoenix resounding in my ears, when we see it: the Thames. 

This is when it finally began to dawn on me that we were, in fact, landing in London.

The flight was not bad--dinner was pfm-level, I got the flight high score in solitaire, and I was able to watch Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Like the last time I flew to England, sleep was restless. I was relying on coffee to keep my eyelids from falling, which wasn't a terrible plan.

Once we were off the plane, we met our tour guide (or, "organizer," as he prefers to be called, since that seemingly requires less knowledge of random various facts about everything), picked up our sandwiches in a box, and headed off to our hotel. Quaint, but (luckily) with wifi!

Once off the bus, we took the tube into the city, visiting Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Fun fact: in Trafalgar Square, there is a statue of George Washington. But! Since Washington always swore that he would never set foot on British soil, the statue itself is set on soil brought from the States. Also, Piccadilly Circus is, according to Andy, "our bad attempt at a Times Square." Surprisingly enough, that's not a bad description.

From there, we wandered through Chinatown toward dinner. Something about chicken with cheese and potatoes, or maybe something about a mushroom sauce, I'm not sure, but this is what it looked like (yep, I took a picture of it. Judge me not.)

And now, I am sitting in a hotel, typing this. Look forward to a less poorly written account of tomorrow's antics!