London: day one

We arrived at London Heathrow about an hour later than scheduled-- thanks Delta. We picked up our baggage and headed for "the tube". A very nice gentleman helped us figure out which pass we needed and we were on our way. At first the train was comfortable. But with each stop we passed, more and more people got on. We kept thinking people would get off but they never did. Sixteen stops later we were tighter than sardines in that thing. Getting off with three suitcases and carry on bags at Gloucester Road was definitely interesting.

We got off the tube and headed up to street level. After several stops to check the map and a ten minute walk, we arrived at 28 Drayton Gardens. The owner of the home, Susanne--a gorgeous blonde Swede, greeted us and showed us around. She left us and Josh and I settled in.

The rest of the family was supposed I arrive four hours after us at noon, but we quickly learned they would be delayed as well. All nine of the rest of our party (Papa, Nonna, my mom, her friends Roby and Bernis, my dad, my stepmom, and my other brother) were delayed in Atlanta for five hours due to mechanical issues. I can't even imagine how painful that must have been. I noticed that I only listed eight people a second ago...that's because the ninth is my brothers girlfriend, Chelsea, and she would be arriving the next day.

So Josh and I had the house to ourselves. We took a walk, hit the grocery store, had showers and took a much needed nap. It wasn't long before they all finally showed up. They were relieved to have made it and relieved that we had stocked up on wine and beer.

Once everyone got their stuff into the house, we picked rooms. I'm not entirely sure how Josh and I ended up in the master bedroom of this gorgeous five bedroom house, but we did. We are more than comfortable there. After some visiting and story telling, we headed out for dinner. Everyone was famished so we literally walked into the first open restaurant we found. It was delicious. Traditional British food along with some things even Americans can appreciate (macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie).

Once our bellies were full it was bedtime. I'm pretty sure that we all slept like rocks...I know I did.