The first day was spent on a plane.  The first leg of the trip was from SFO to IAD (Washington DC).  We left from SFO around noon (PST) and the flight was on-time with an early arrival in DC (around 8:30 pm EST).  It’s a good thing since originally, we were scheduled for a quick 50-minute layover with a plane change.  The plane was one of the older ones so Jes watched a movie on his iPad and I studied French on my iPhone with the book that came with the program.

Once in DC, we had just enough time to grab a bite to eat before boarding.  Originally, Jes and I were going to be stuck in the middle of a 2-5-2 seating arrangement.  Fortunately for us, the flight had a change to the brand-new 777, which had a 3-3-3 configuration giving us an aisle seat!  Sweet.  I was still stuck in the middle but at least I could bother Jes to get out for a pee break.  Jes is smirking in this photo because he was stuck in the middle seat last year on our way to Italy.

The plane also had personal entertainment at each seat so I watched Iron Man 2 and Mary Poppins on my way to London.  They also fed us a meal and a snack and I managed to take a decent 3-hour nap too.

We arrived on Thursday morning (9/3) around 10 am and got through customs rather quickly.  My cousin, John, had sent me directions on how to get to his flat so we made the trek down to the Underground Station, purchased 1-day Oyster cards, and took the Tube all the way to the Barons Court stop.

The walk to my cousin’s flat was short and the neighborhood was really cute.  We made it to his place before noon and he was working from home so we were able to drop off our things and wash up before lunch.

Here’s a photo of the front of his flat.  He lives on the second floor with a balcony facing the street.  He and his wife just bought it and moved in about a month or so ago.