It's London, BABY! (Part I)

Yep.  It's finally happening.

I told you I'd get you a proper London post, and I'm delivering.

Honestly, y'all - it was the trip of a lifetime.  Flight/hotel paid for by work and just enough free time to see most of the things I really wanted to see. 

And, boy, did I see it. There are so many pictures that I'm going to have to split these posts up, lest I overwhelm you with all the loveliness! ;)

So let's start at the beginning, shall we?

My trip across the pond started with a ~5:00 flight out of DFW.  I felt like a high roller in business class with my fancy food and comfy seat/bed.

And thankfully I was able to sleep most of the way there so that when I woke up and it was 8:00 a.m. in London, my body had at least some sleep to keep me going for the day.

I snuck this picture of our descent - I couldn't believe how lush and green it looked.

After I landed at Heathrow, I grabbed a cab and headed to my hotel to check in. 

I stayed at The Park Lane Hotel on Piccadilly.

This was the bar area where people had tea in the afternoon.  I had hoped to be able to make it down one afternoon for tea, but the timing never worked out.  Next time... ;)

After I checked in, I set off on my first adventure:  breakfast.

I stumbled across a cute little restaurant just a few streets away from my hotel in an area called Shepherd's Market.  Yum.

Walking down random streets ended up being my very favorite part about being in London.  But more about that later... :)

On my way back to the hotel, I saw a double-decker tour bus that was about to pull away, and I spontaneously decided to buy a ticket.  The bus went around most of London in about two hours, and seeing the city from the upper level was amazing (even if it was freezing and drizzling to boot).

I took a lot of pictures on the bus tour...

(The Palace of Whitehall)

(Her Majesty's Theatre)

(Trafalgar Square.  This place was insanely busy/loud.)

(The juxtaposition of these very modern buildings just across the river from buildings that are hundreds and hundreds of years old was so bizarre.)

(Apparently a new Hollister opened up, and they enlisted the help of many handsome young men in promoting it... ;))

(The London Eye and Big Ben)

(I promise I took pictures of most of the real tourist attractions, but I'm saving them for other posts... ;))

After I finished the bus tour, I was famished and ready for something yummy and British. So when I stumbled across this little place...

I grabbed a table and treated myself to...

Fish and chips, of course!  And mushy peas, which were fairly disgusting.  But the fish was delicious!

At that point, the jet lag had started to set in, and I had a lot of work to do, so I headed back to the hotel for the night.  And after staying up until 2:00 a.m. that first night working, I was convinced that my bus tour would be the extent of my sightseeing opportunities.  But it turns out the best was yet to come... ;)

(Stay tuned for Part II - coming soon!)