England
As a born-and-bred Aussie, it is my sacred duty to (at the least) stop by in the Mother Country, as part of any respectable backpacking trip. Rather. So I've come to England: home of tea, fish and chips, big red buses, pints, and of course Silly Walks. Should be a simply splendid little stopover.
Generator hostel, London
Generator London is an enormous place: with over 800 beds, it's the biggest hostel in Britain. It's also in a great location, and it's very cheap (rock bottom for London prices, at least). However, this comes at a cost. Its enormity combines with its weird punk-industrial decor, to make it feel a bit like a prison. The sheer size of the place attracts homeless people: and security guards actually patrol the inside of the hostel, and randomly ask guests to show their room keys, as proof that they're staying there (such a nice, friendly touch, that is). The bar, dining room, and chill-out rooms are nice; but since most people come here in groups, and since it's just so big, socialising is hard. Basically, the Generator feels like a totally last-resort place to stay in London: I'm not planning on getting stuck here again.
Heathrow screen of death
When my flight landed in London Heathrow this morning, I was greeted at the baggage carousel not with my baggage, but with an amusing (if slightly worrying) message. Behold the Heathrow screen of death! What's going on, anyway — one of the world's biggest airports is using Windows? No wonder the terrorists are getting through: at this rate, Al-Queda will be CTRL + ALT + DEL'ing aeroplanes right out of the sky.
London, 'ere we come
Last night was a very short night. I took off from Boston's Logan Intl at about 6pm, and I landed in London's Heathrow Intl by 5am. And it was only a 6-hour flight. First time I've ever been across the Atlantic ocean, and also the first time I've flown with British Airways. All went well: no delays, no customs dramas, and no turbulence worth mentioning. Not much sleep — but good movies made up for that anyway.