London - second half of day one :)

London. . .
I woke up on the train to London to a French voice announcing, “Arrival in ten minutes.” Naturally, I thought, “Fantastic. I slept the perfect amount of time.” I grabbed my bags and exited with excitement as the doors opened. Except I wasn’t in London. The scrolling marquee on the bus read “Next Stop London.” I asked a French man working on the train to hold the doors. I began to pull my bags back on the train and the man yelled at me!!! He told me that I should pay attention and not be a stupid American (totally what he meant) – then he screamed “YOUR WELCOME!” Ass hole.
Rewind – before the nap I sat in the train next to a cute American woman who pretended to be for England – hilarious... she had an 100 percent New York accent. lol I also found delicious food in the back of the train and a generously sized water. . . and a lollipop.  St. Pancreas International Station was insanely striking. As I wandered, I decided to that I would most likely need use of the internet to find my hotel. I asked a few baristas for the closest Wi-Fi location, they said the back of their café. . . but found nothing. As I walked to the front I thanked them as a young server with an French accent said, “Why you leading the poor girl astray, here, sit”. . . he led me to the front corner of the café and sent over a free latte. He didn’t even try to get my name or hotel or anything sketch sketch. So sweet! I was able to find my hotel’s website – looked at google maps – asked a couple next to me for walking directions – found it was a safe walk and went on my way.
I loved London the second my eyes hit the street. I entered on a busy London intersection with cars, double-deckers, black taxi cabs, and people on bicycles everywhere. I t was fantastic. It was cleaner than Paris, the architecture was changing my life, and everyone spoke a language I knew – amen! I zigzagged through the streets for a few miles and stumbled upon my hotel. The streets were wet, grass moist, and trees green. It was beautiful. I got to my room and opened the huge windows overlooking the city. My room contained a little tiny bed, a flat screen TV, a tea pot, cup and saucer, and a clean bathroom. Perfect for a girl in the midst of embracing her travels. There was not air conditioning, but I honestly didn’t care at all.
Dana (a fantastically blunt and open New Yorker who I found on Facebook that is also alone on her travels) came to my door shortly after. We asked each-other 1 million questions about everything. It was perfect. I said I wanted to shower before we went out and she was like, “oh so you need 15 minutes?” And she was serious! HILARIOUS!!! Somehow, I got ready in 30 and off we went. We had no plan and I love that. We stumbled upon amazingly busy districts such as Piccadily Circle and Leister Square and artsy areas like Soho and the The West End. We were fantastic wanderers. We stumbled upon delicious Indian food for dinner and discussed life, boys, school and travel. We wandered into the district of off Broadway shows and night clubs, met other travelers on the street, took a lot of pictures, and made it back by 1 am. Within minutes of walking into the hotel courtyard, my best friend HEATHER PAZ (bff from Rhema who now lives in Manchester, UK) arrived to see me  Heather and I jumped up and down while we hugged and screamed like little girls. Amazing day.