the first day...as told by Kendall.

Alrighty Dighty! Well this first day was amazing! So much packed into a mere 30 hours or so. I'll briefly recap my experiences up until Nicole's post and then go from there.

Alarm goes off at approximately 8:32 am.. IT"S THE DAY! I roll out of bed and brace myself for the load I am about to throw my back out with (an exaggeration...luckily I did not throw my back out on the first day of our trip). The flight went well enough and next thing I knew, I found myself eating a delicious hamburger waiting for the ARNies of the group to show up! Alas...I spotted them! REUNITED AT LAST! The next little while is history! Avery and I zonked out on the 8 hour plane ride while Riley and Nicole tossed and turned the whole time. We then found our way to the bachelor pad of none other than the hospitable "Uncy Max" (as he's come to be known). The apartment is close to the "West End" (downtown London) and is really great! Max let us ride in a taxi with him to a place near Harrod's and we parted ways. We got some food from Harrod's and learned a few lessons: 1. 100g is hardly any fruit salad. 2. When you sit outside on the curb eating food, people think you are hobos. We had a lady pass by that thought we were so desperate that the sweet soul offered us some milk that was in her baby's sippy cup calling it ice cream...A bit of a clue to how desperate we appeared apparently! haha but we were definitely NOT desperate!!! Here we are in a beautiful place surrounded by the most beautiful buildings and piping systems with ivy growing all over them! London really is a sight to behold! Even with the overcast weather, the grey of the sky really brings out the green of the trees and the red of the double decker buses! How lucky we are!

We were invited to join Max and his pals for a bit of dessert and met the owner of the famous Lorenzo's who is named...go figure...Lorenzo! He even insisted on us trying his famous "sweets" and we ended up being given about 50 dollars worth of dessert! It was DIVINE! We heard a great deal of jokes and stories of how the word "america" has a Italian root and how the word butterfly in German sounds awfully close to "smash-it!" I think it is safe to say that it is a lunch that none of us will forget thanks to Uncle Max, Mark, and good ole Lorenzo!

We've become masters of the "Tube" already as well...THANK YOU RILEY! Honestly...Nicole, Avery, and I would be lost as anything if Riley wasn't here! We got to go in to Westminster Abbey during a worship service and then headed to a place where we got cheap tickets to Les Miserables...which we're seeing tomorrow night! Since we were in walking distance of Covent Garden (pronounced CAH-vent according to Maxxy... instead of COH-vent or CUH-vent like Riley and I were debating), so we found ourselves dancing (literally) over to that area! A really neat area might I add. We were able to find a pretty reasonably priced place for dinner...the ARNies got some pesto sandwhiches while K over here got a delicious Beef pie thing...which I'll rave about for just a second... Now I know why England and Ireland are known for shepherd's pie and stew and all that! Because when it's cold and rainy, nothing tastes better than some hot MEAT! AH! I was in heaven eating that delicious pie! anyways....we headed back to the "flat" after that..and now here we are! We are loving it here and are alive and well! Until the next entry...