And we are off... easy ride to the airport, headache security but early boarding and, thanks to a wonderful benefactor, Business Class seats! So a nice meal, some TV, a few hours with the seat in "sleeper" mode and before we knew it they were waking us up for breakfast and we were landing in London!

Leaving Heathrow was a snap and the ride in to London quick and easy. We got to the hotel too early to check in so we cleaned up, left our bags and headed out into town. We started by walking around an area called Shepherd's Market. Which, as we have come to find out, it a lot like many of the other areas of London. Full of shops, pubs, eateries and plenty of old and new buildings, monuments, etc.

We found a great department store called Libery House in a building that looked right out of the English countryside. All the floors were built around a central atrium and from the lower floors you felt like you were in the center of a small theater. After some time we made our way to Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. There is SO much history here that every block has something interesting to stop and look at or admire. After Trafalgar we made our way along St. James's park and headed straight for Buckingham Palace. We saw the guards and the statue out front. Turns out the Palace and the courtyard are only open to the public in August and September. After some looking around we walked through Green Park and back to our hotel.

A quick change and some fresh clothes and we were back out. We headed out to Knightsbridge and gave Harrod's a quick run through making a list of things to come back and get. As it was 8:00pm, all the eateries in Harrod's were closing up and the main "food hall" did not really appeal to us, so we headed out in search of a pub.

Best part of London is... you do not have to search far for a pub. We grabbed a seat at Tattersal's Pub and ordered a drink and some classic English pub fare. As we left it started to rain, so after walking a bit we hailed a cab and made our way back to the hotel.

All in all, we had a great first day. We covered A LOT of ground, saw a bunch of stuff and enjoyed ourselves a great deal. Tomorrow is the London by bus tour!