Some early observations….

(Written May 9th, posted May 10th due to lazziness and an unwillingness to go down four flights of stairs to the lobby for an internet connection. Read on, and you'll understand why...)

Sigh. I feel like utter crap. I don’t know if it’s just nerves (which is a likely candidate), or exhaustion, or crappy airliner food being the only thing I’ve put in my body, or what, but I’m nauseous and tired and not really digging being here right now. Three weeks seems like a long time at this point… Needless to say, I haven’t gotten to my touristy agenda for the day and I doubt I will; planning such big events was naïve and flawed. Lesson learnt.

The flight was alright. It was almost exactly 6 hours from tarmac to tarmac and I was through security and on the tube before 7:30. (And that was after getting lost momentarily and buying my oyster pass – which cost me 30 pounds for what the agent estimated would be one week. That’s almost $60, which is a bus pass for a month in Ottawa. Yikes.)

So, what kind of impression do I have so far (even getting past the feeling like crap bit)? Heathrow was quick; big, but quick. I don’t know if it was because I was one of the last to get off the plane, or one of the first to check my bags, but just as I got to the baggage carrousel my bag was coming off. Customs was quick, but it seemed like the agent had a hard time understanding my non-accent accent. When he asked what I was doing there, I told him I was researching for my masters, he asked what I was studying and when I said the Empire, one eyebrow went up and I got a very dry “Well, you’ve come to the right place then, haven’t you?” Should I mention he was black? Yes, I think I should….

It was a pain in the ass dragging all my stuff all the way through Heathrow to the tube and then making a transfer at Earl’s Court. The Brits don’t seem to be too insistent on making anything handy-capped accessible, so I had to cart my three massive bags up a flight of stairs to get my connection. It took two trips. I finally got the Paddington and decided that I definitely had to take a cab to my hotel – I was developing blisters on the palms of my hands and my arms were like jelly. When my cabby figured out I was only 4 or 5 blocks away from my hotel he suggested that I should have walked as it would have been faster (there’s construction at both ends of the street which meant he had to go around the block to get to it). So the ride cost me 7 pounds, but it was worth it.

I got to the hotel then, feeling like crap. I dropped my bags at the lobby then asked if there was a washroom to freshen up in. By the time I got to it, I felt so sick that I felt the need to just sit and calm down. I ended up flipping through the Daily Mirror – holy crap, they still treat their politicians like it’s the 17th century; they call them Mrs/Ms/Mr, but there is such an undertone of disrespect that it’s a funny read. But, the nausea was so bad I took another gravol which resulted in napping on and off in the lobby for about 3 hours until my room was ready. I finally got into my room (pictures will be online shortly) and it’s better than I thought it would be; I was convinced I would be in an old servant’s room or something, but it’s pretty spacious with lots of conveniences. I should be able to work and cook here, so it’s all good. The hotel’s a bit old school though – I’m supposed to leave them my key at the desk when I go out, and have to present a card with my check-in/check-out information on it to get it back. I’m on the third floor and the elevator is a rickety old thing. I think I’m going to seek out a stair case so that I can walk down those – you know, cutting down my odds on dying in that thing.

Three points about London I’ve observed so far.
1) London seems to be sponsored by IKEA. There are ads everywhere, my oyster pass came in an IKEA pocket, and all my kitchen accessories are from, wait for it…. IKEA!
2) When I heard ‘mind the gap’ on the tube, I figured it would just be a little worse than Toronto – a horizontal gap that might trip you up if you’re wearing heals or if you had a rolling suitcase with you. Oh, no no, the ‘gap’ is VERTICAL. There’s anywhere between 4-6 inches (up or down) between the train and the platform. It’s a pain in the ass with heavy luggage.
3) Prices will catch me up here, I’m sure. I saw some flowers in Paddington station and it was a smallish bouquet with one gerber daisy in it for 25 pounds. Do the math – that’s like $50. Nuts. It seems reasonable, but really it’s not.

So, now I’m settled into my room. Unpacked, and already flipped through the TV. 5 whole channels! All of the BBC related. Nice. Oddly enough, while unpacking, I was listening to a reality show about oil drillers in Texas narrated by a British guy. It was a little surreal. Once that was over, I found an episode of Columbo that I couldn’t watch because Columbo had his dog and it made me miss my cat. So I ended up watching a British version of survivor/temptation island (I think? I couldn’t follow it…) and I’m now watching Scrubs.

I’m still undecided if I want to go out and do anything. There’s a Marks and Spencers and another grocery store at Paddinton (which is only a 10 minute walk from me) that I will probably utilize, but I’m not sure I want to venture forth today.

Update:
5 channels all showing some variation of either rugby, horse racing or western movies. Boredom will drive me from the room.

Update 2:
Made a grocery run. Marks and Spencers doesn’t have the slat and vinegar tubes or the shrimp flavored chips I remember – trés disappointing. But I picked up some breakfast fixings, so it’s a start. But it cost me like $20 for a loaf of bred, some cheese, jam, milk and juice. (Oh, and tea and cookies.) Yikes!