The journey so far….our first day in London

We arrived yesterday in London on Malaysian Airlines flight MH004 in terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport. The first leg of our flight from Brisbane to Malaysia was full and uncomfortable, although the flight was very smooth. It was very hard to sleep. We took the time during our 6 hour stopover in Malaysia to catch up on some shuteye. We had a shower in one of the airport hotels - which was like heaven after our flight - and explored the airport a little more. The 6 hours flew by and before we knew it we were on the plane to London - the final leg of our journey. The plane was barely half full so we were able to have whole rows to ourselves. This combines with the cool in-flight entertainment and the really great staff on the plane made it feel like we were traveling in first class. The best part was that we were able to get some sleep.

It took us almost 1 hour to make it through immigration when we arrived in London. After we picked up our luggage we changed into something warmer and took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station which took only about 15 minutes. After a short panic we decided to get a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was really nice and helpful with our luggage. Arran house hotel is very nice and has a bit of a bed and breakfast kind of feel to it. Our room is VERY small but clean, comfortable and really all that we need. We basically arrived and flopped on the bed and fell asleep.

This morning we woke at about 7:00 am and got showered and dressed for breakfast. The sun had not yet risen at this time. A full English breakfast is supplied by the hotel and it is fantastic - everything you could want. After we filled up, we headed out to explore.

The weather was beautiful - blue skies and sunshine - not a usual day in London I understand, but it made a perfect first day for us. We headed down to Oxford Street and organised mobile phones for ourselves. We then basically let our feet do the walking and explored as much as we could. We ventured down Regent Street, through Piccadilly Circus and continued down to Trafalgar Square. We then moved down Whitehall to Big Ben and over the Westminster Bridge to the London Eye. It was a huge walk, but the sights kept pushing us to keep on walking. What we saw today was really beautiful. The buildings were lovely and historical looking. You could not walk for more than 5 minutes without coming across something of historic importance or interest. We made it back to our hotel very tired and had a rest while we set up our phones.

We have two more nights at Arran House before moving to the Strand Palace hotel over New Years. Over the next couple of days we hope to organise a place to live, but tomorrow we will probably rest.