5356 miles later we landed in Heathrow Airport England. We picked up our bags, exchanged some dollars for pounds and went looking for a way to get to our hotel. We were told by STA (our travel agency) during our booking that going by underground is the cheapest way to travel. I wasn’t too sure what the underground was, afterall, we’re Americans and from California, our only mode of transportation is the car. But, we’re smart cookies, it’s most likely a subway or train.

We wandered around the airport, following signs that pointed towards the exit till we found a sign leading to the Underground, it turned out to be a train. We got our tickets for £3.50 and hopped on the Piccadilly line. About 20 stops later we got off at Russell Square and headed off to our hotel, the Royal National. I was feeling very excited but a bit scared at the same time, I didn’t know what to expect of the coming weeks ahead of us. Would we like it or hate it? Are the people friendly? Will I be wishing to go home by the end of the week?

Our tiny room

We exited the station and started to look for our hotel, problem is we didn’t know where it was, we had a map but having no idea which way we were facing and having trouble finding the signs for street names it was no help. We dragged our luggage around the block a few times, my arms threatening to fall off from the weight of the bag, we finally located the hotel and checked in.

After check-in, we went to the Contiki office that was located around the building and in the basement. We brought our luggage along with us because we knew our luggage had to be weighed before departure. We lugged our suitcases down a narrow flight of stairs and checked in with Contiki. They told us that the pre-tour meeting was going to be at 6 that evening and that our luggage is to be weighed the next day. Having almost 2 hours to kill, we went back to our room.

The Hot or Cold but not warm sink

The key they gave us for the room was connected to this huge metal rod, I suppose it’s to keep people from stealing the key. But it’s rather annoying carrying it around because it doesn’t fit in pockets. And even if it did, if you happen to fall, it will probably stick you somewhere.

The room itself was very small. Two twin beds, a dresser, table, tv on the dresser and the restroom. It was smaller than my dorm room back at the university. We bearly had room to put our lugage down. I was not very impressed. It was also awfully hot. The weather outside is a bit on the chilly side but in the room it was warm and humid.

The facilities in the hotel took some getting use to. First the toilet is a dark puke green, just seeing it makes you not want to use it. As for flushing, it took skills to push and pump the lever just right before the water would come down.

The sink was confusing. It was the first thing I noticed when I walked into the bathroom, it had two faucets, one for hot and one for cold. I couldn’t figure out how to get warm water. So I’d be trying to wash my hand moving every few seconds from scalding hot water to icy cold water. My hands got quite confused, the left one thinks the water is freezing cold while the right one thinks it’s scalding hot. My brain couldn’t make up it’s mind, one second it’s screaming ‘ouch, you’re burning your hands, pull away’, and the next second I’m thinking ‘cold, cold!!’

After taking a short nap and a shower we went to our pre-tour meeting. During the meeting we met our tour manager, Dave and coach driver, Richard. They are both in their mid, late? 20’s and seem like great people to have fun with. After taking down our passport information we were told to meet at 6 am outside the hotel the next morning. Diem and I then claimed our plaid colored sleeping bags and left.

The streets

After the meeting Diem and I set off to find some dinner. We took a stroll around Russell Square and picked a place that had more customers than the places next to it. It’s a small Italian restaurant, the food and service was quite good. I had an olive oil and basil pasta and Diem had ribs.  When my pasta came, it was just what I ordered, pasta with a drizzle of olive oil and bits of basil… that’s it, no other sauce or ingredient. I felt cheated. We wern’t too sure if we had to leave a tip, the waitress told us it was similar to the American system. Looking at our bill, she told us £2 for our meal would enough.

After a brief phone call home to let everyone know we arrived asfely, we headed back and went to bed. Early start tomorrow!