Goodbye London, Hello Beijing.

2 pints of beer. Check.

1 excellent nights sleep. Check.

1 proper English breakfast. Check.

And much thanks to Kate and Peter for a short but great trip to London.  I'm looking forward to more of the same on my way back. If I'm lucky, the weather will be as gorgeous as it was today.

Next I'm headed to the airport for my Air China flight. I'll be riding on the tube with all my luggage, an activity that is apparently unprecedented in England, based on the glowering looks I received on the way here. I'll have to use my dumb American act again...turns out, I'm pretty good at it. 

Graphicy picturey stuff from London

Ode to bacon

Dear Bacon,

Why are you so much tastier in the UK? Even though they try to serve you with baked beans and some really gross sausage called pudding, I still love you.

Yours forever,

Kelly

Where's my sherpa?

One note about rolling suitcases and London: wheels + stairs = suck. And as we established in January when we visited with my mom in a wheelchair, this city is not made for rolling anything. After carrying my stuff up many flights of stairs and over endless bumpy roads (which are probably older than America), I showed up to Peter's work dripping sweat, and he generously offered that it was rather hot today. I think its maybe 75 degrees outside? But I went along with it as I wrung my shirt out on the floor. Looking forward to those China summer temperatures, which are supposed to be a lot like Texas. 

The most expensive Guinness ever

I just arrived in London, finishing the first half of my 20 hour flight to Beijing. I'm staying one night with my sister, and she's going to make Indian food (yum!) and then we will no doubt stop by a pub. Between flying to London, taking the tube to her husband's work to pick up a key, and then the tube back to her flat, all while hauling a a backpack and a 50 pound rolling suitcase filled with camera gear, this is quite possibly the hardest I've ever worked for a beer. Good thing they serve big pints. 

Packed

So there are nine hours to go until I leave the continent for my trip to China, and I have finished packing. Who knew I would actually be taking more drugs than clothing? I swear half my bag is filled with various home remedies and over the counter medications. There are just some things you do not want to explain to a pharmacist using broken Mandarin and hand gestures. Diarrhea comes to mind. And definitely yeast infection. And on that note, welcome to my travel blog.