London in 36 Hours

My trip has officially begun! After a fantastic New Years in Montreal and a whirlwind afternoon packing, I made it to the airport and onto the plane. The trip itself was uneventful (apparently there was lots of turbulence and they had to suspend drinks service, but I didn't notice, cause we all know I can sleep through anything), and I was able to find my hostel with no problems.
And then I set out to explore London. I've been here once before, so I had a rough idea of where things are, and the added benefit of having done a bunch of stuff already that I didn't feel the need to repeat. After so many hours in transit, I decided a walk was in order, so I set off for Kensington Park and Hyde Park. I spent a wonderful few hours just walking around and stretching my legs. There is a river/pond (kind of like Brown's Inlet in the Glebe but about 3 times as big), and there were some Canada geese hanging out there. Unfortunately they were just as loud and annoying as in Canada. The squirels were huge too, probably becuase I couldn't go 50 feet without seeing another person feeding them; they reminded me of Kingston squirels.
After my walk I went to the Museum of Natural History (museums in London are free, which is fantastic), and have decided that I absolutly have no interest left in science. None of the exhibits interested me, so I didn't end up staying long.
By this time it was dark, so after a quick dinner I headed out with the camera to Westminster, to see Big Ben etc. at night. When I was last in London we were busy every night so I didn't get the chance to see some of the landmarks all lit up, so I filled the night going to see Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye (all of which are right next to each other, so it wasn't that much of a journey), the Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace. The first four were beautiful, all of them were lit up nicely. Buckingham Palace was a big dissapointment, the lights were rather dim and it didn't look very grand. However I'm not sure if this was because it actually because it wasn't lit very nicely, or because it was 8:30 pm and I was going off two hours sleep and eight hours walking.
Today I spent the day at the Imperial War Museum, my favourite place in London. Despite being there for almost 6 hours, I only saw about half of it. The exhibits on the 2 world wars, of course, the children's war and conflicts since 1945. There was also a presentation of the winners from their video competition, so I watched those. The first two were ok (I thought the second was actually kinda boring) but the third was my favourite by far. It was about the legacy of the Holocaust in Vilna, and how it has affected the remaining Jews in the city. So because I didn't see the whole museum, I guess I'll just have to go back!
Now I'm on my way back to Heathrow to meet the group to go to Nepal. Another long flight, but I'm really excited to get going. Despite actually being away from home now, the idea that I'm spending 5 months away from home still hasn't really sunk in, but I'm sure it will once I arrive in Nepal. I have no idea what to expect, so I've decided that no expectations is the way to go. All I know is that I'm not looking forward to the 3 hour hike with my super heavy bag (its right on 50lbs). I'm not sure what the internet facilities are going to be like, so my posts for the next few months will be pretty sporadic, but I'll try to keep everyone updated on what I'm doing. For now, this post is long enough, so I'm off to the airport!

PS. My email is sarahrebeccaedwards@gmail.com. I'll be checking it as often as I update this blog, and answering emails when I do, and its the best way to contact me.