A sunny day in London town

I made it! I'm in London now.

I don't know why, but I have this sudden urge of writing in English. It's both odd and understandable at the same time. Odd because my mother tongue is Romanian and understandable because here I speak English 24/7. As silly as it may sound, I even had a dream a couple of weeks ago in which I was talking to my parents in English...let alone the fact that every time I take a wrong step or drop something my exclamations are now in English... I'm even starting to THINK in English when I'm by myself, which clearly shows a daaaangerous path...the "Americanization" of Diana. Just kidding. That's never going to happen...I'm far too European for that to be possible and I plan on staying this way.

Ok...let's switch to something more interesting. Like me being in LONDOOOON! I love this place. I totally and absolutely love it. I feel like a child in a candy store,I cannot help not staring at the wonderful things around me. Although England is...amazingly enough...my 24th country to visit (and I feel truly lucky and blessed for that), it's indeed different from all the other places I've been to. It has a totally different vibe, it's so "out of the Sherlock Holmes movies" in the best way :). My room faces a typical English street and the building just across the street is identical to Tony Blair's house on Downing Street. Downing Street is basically...almost every English street. You can feel like Tony Blair's next door neighbor wherever in London you might find yourself :)

I got to London through Amsterdam (70 min. flight...I didn't even know when the plane took off and landed...it was such a short time...) and Heathrow Airport was a very weird experience. The first time I had been there I was only transiting it and I remember the endless queues and the immense crowds of people waiting for their flights or for the custom check.This time...it was hardly anyone. Maybe being a Saturday afternoon it was less crowded, but still...the airport was a much less stressful experience than I had expected. Another funny thing about the flight is that I got to "play the mother" in a way with two French kids who were sitting right next to me on the plane. They were probably sent by their parents to visit some grandparents or other relatives, because they were traveling by themselves and had the name tags with them. They were around 6-7 years old but so polite and nice...typically French I would say.

As the plane landed on London Heathrow Airport, Michael Buble's song "A foggy day in London Town" was playing in my iPOD. Although it was no foggy day, it was quite a sunny and beautiful one. By the way - I LOVE Michael Buble, he's an amazing jazz singer. Him and Katie Melua are my absolute sweethearts!

I took a London cab (great experience...they actually look like out of an English movie :) )and ended up on Wyndham Street, in Central London, where our lodging is. Webster is accommodating us at a cosy hotel in Central London (just 2 streets away from Regent's Park). Their campus here is still under construction, so we're staying at the Wyndham, which is great. Being a small hotel, it's basically "our house", there are only a couple of rooms except for ours and we already feel like home. The rooms are really tiny (hey, it's Central London...real estate is more expensive than anywhere else) but they're really neat and...English. I will take some pictures and put them online as soon as I have the time for that.

Tonight I marked one more accomplishment on my "Diana can do it" list :), respectively carrying 2 huge suitcases (25 kg each) from the place we had them stored in up to the Hotel (which is roughly 1 km away). Just imagine a bunch of American students (and me) crossing Regent's Park at 1 a.m in the morning with their huge suitcases.... That was a scene to remember. And, moreover, carrying them 3 floors UP THE STAIRS (there's no elevator in the hotel). Anyway...I could do it so...1 more point to Diana :)))

I think I'm going to love London. In fact, I already love it. I have so many things that I want to experience while I'm here...I feel that everything is just crowding into my mind, fighting for the top place on my "to do list". But there's time for everything. Indeed there is...:)