Got in after an uneventful flight, but with no sleep at all. Almost 1 hr wait in line for UK customs, but then quickly got bags, got on Gatwick Express train to London Victoria station, and walked from station to our hotel. Since at that point it was 11 am, our room wasn't ready, so we stowed the bags with them and set off - in just a few hours, we went to Westminister Abbey (although didn't go inside), and we saw some of the National Gallery, and walked to Leicester square (theatre district) and Covent Garden shops.
By the time we checked into our room at 2 pm we both felt we were ready to collapse. So, we napped for a couple of hours, then set out on more journeying, and had a nice casual dinner at Chowki, right near Piccadilly circus. On the way, we walked through St. James's park, one of many parks in the city - great to have such green space in such a huge city.
We then walked around Soho a bit - lots of cool restaurants and shops! We finished off with some strolling on Oxford street, and checked out Selfridges, a huge and famous London department store. We didn't make it much past the food section, which was incredible :)
London is definitely expensive! You look at prices here, and they seem reasonable, but then you remember they are in pounds, not dollars, so you have to add 60% for exchange. We took the subway (the Tube) back to our hotel tonight, and the ticket was 4.30 pounds each - almost $7 for a one way ride for one person!
