We're here!

And we got here alive, but a bit on the jet lagged side. It took us two hours or so to make our way from the airport to the hostel because it was rush hour. Rush hour trains are insanely crowded. People had to contort their necks into funny shapes so that the door wouldn't decapitate them as it closed. And everybody reads on the train. Almost all of them read the same newspaper as well. It's kind of interesting how they're all reading the same thing at once, but refuse to make eye contact or conversation at all.
After finding our way to the hostel, we dropped of our luggage, with great relief, and did some sightseeing. We went to the Painted Hall which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and painted by a Thomas something-or-other. The paintings were really pretty, but the guide there pointed out a wine stain from a food fight (it used to be the Naval mess hall) and all the nicotine accumulation from smoking. There was a lot of symbolism in the paintings, and it was hard to be believe that they were three hundred years old. Everything was painted...it was quite spectacular. Next we went to the Chapel, also designed by Wren, and there was a music examination in progress. The vocalist was really good (we were told by the guide at Painted Hall that the Trinity College of Music was brilliant but that the Greenwich University sucked), but the accompaniest on the piano actually looked more nervous than she did. She was hunched over and kept on twitching. And the page turner kept on missing pages. But all in all it was a wonderful performance. The acoustics of the Chapel were great. Then we went to the Greenwich Park and Observatory on the prime meridion. We were a bit too asleep to appreciate that, but the view from the Observatory was spectacular, and the park was really nice. The pendulums in the clocks at the Observatory museum made me even sleepier than I already was. I think we're going back for a bit later to read or write or a picnic. For dinner we went to this Indian resturant called the The Mogul, and they had really nice food. There was just the perfect amount of spice (at least for my low spicy tolerance) and the appetizer was really interesting.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Vivian