First set of pics and a mystery!

It's time for some pictures!!

Passport received and I'm on my way to London. Shocking!

From Waterloo records in the Austin airport, to the Waterloo tube stop in London.

First meal in London: fish and chips, of course. Now, I likely won't do this again. Maybe ever. Mainly because: 1) It's way too much food. 2) It's way too much fried food. But, it was fun to do once.

This morning I went on my first run in London. A short three miler through the neighborhood. Some sights along the way: The London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, and the River Thames. Good stuff. Looking forward to more runs in the future.

Then, Ed took me on a walking tour through London so I could get my bearings. I took a few pics of pretty things. I didn't take pics of the big tourist traps. Plenty of time to do that in the next 5 months!

This afternoon I did my first shopping in London. Went to Greensmiths grocery store and picked up a few things. Still have to figure out what are the best/cheapest places to buy groceries, but this place was cute and close and seemed reasonably priced. Just got some basics to use when needed (pasta, bread, jam, tuna, eggs, milk, and cereal). Then I stopped at Boots drugstore and got some shampoo and such.

Some fashion observations: women are wearing mostly skirts/dresses. And they're not all black and boring. I see print and color. I wish I had packed more of this type of stuff. I mainly have jeans, black dress pants, and skinny black jeans. Skinny jeans are the way to go if you're wearing jeans. Flats. Sandals. Now, granted there's a heat wave here (in the 80s), so maybe this isn't standard attire. But, I'm going to keep an eye on it for future London semester folks who want to know what people are wearing. I'm trying to fit in with the crowd, but it's clear when I speak that I am an American as was pointed out to us at the corner pub last night (I forget about the accent some times). Oh and today I walked around town w/ my cup of tea (see below) and Ed said that was clearly American. And then I did notice very few people were walking around with drinks in hand. Noted.

OH, I did have my first cup of tea today too. But, it was a take away (note: not take out) in a boring paper cup. English breakfast w/ milk. Standard. Not very exciting.

And now for the mystery: Both when I went for a run this morning and when Ed and I were out on our stroll, I see MANY runners with backpacks on their backs. Full on backpacks...while in full on running clothes! What is happening here?! Are they on their way to work? Is this just extra weight so they get more of a workout? Is it the style? Here's an example. I must figure this out.