Day 1: Travel to London

We were a little bit worried to take Abby on a plane for 7+ hours, as the longest she’s ever been on a plane is the 2 1/2 hours to Orlando.  Now we were bringing her on an overnight trip to a totally different country.  Well, we needn’t have worried- she did great!  After a bit of a delay at Philly, we boarded the plane and ended up alongside some members of the University of Florida Marching Band.  Apparently, they were en route to London to play during the Opening Ceremonies.  They really didn’t know the details, but were definitely excited to be going.  Once airborne, typical airline food was served and it was sleepy-time for the family.  When we awoke, it was breakfast time and we were descending into London!

Day 2: London Arrival

I think the delay ended up being a good thing, as the other morning arriving flights must have cleared Immigration before us.  No lie, I think we were in line at Heathrow for all of 5 minutes.  Passport stamped and on the way to the baggage carousel, where thankfully all our bags were there.  On the way out, we stopped and picked up a Tep Wireless Mifi.  For only $15 bucks a day with airport dropoff and pickup, this was a pretty good deal to have unlimited 3G wifi whenever we needed it.

Since it was only mid-day, we decided to take the tube, as our flat was only a few blocks down the A4 from Knightsbridge stop on the Piccadilly line.  Getting to the platform, we had to turn around and head to the bus station as there was a signal out on the line.  When we got to the bus stop, the line was incredibly long so we decided to pay the extra and catch the Heathrow Connect direct service to Paddington.  On the way back down, the agent tells us they just reopened the station! We were on our way- 45 minutes later, we’re above ground walking past Harrods and heading to our flat!

Our Flat:

After getting settled and unpacked a bit, we took a walk down to King’s Road so I could pick up a local SIM card for my phone. We then walked back up and spent the day ‘getting lost’ in Harrod’s. Lucky for us, there’s a Cafe Rouge right behind Harrod’s, so I was able to have my Chicken Baguette and Lemonade & Orange Juice for the trip. On the way back to the flat, we made our first of many stops at Marks & Spencer to grab some food. It was SO nice to have a kitchen to do breakfasts and the occasional dinner in.