I just flew in from London this afternoon and am trying to stay up until a little later so I can get back adjusted to Texas time. It's 7pm here and 1 am in London so forgive me if I'm a little loopy. Originally, I thought that there would be an internet connection included in the hotel room rates and I'd really have time to write about my trip everyday, but it didn't quite work out. But I did write all my thoughts on paper so that I can transfer them over... So my next several postings will be a little different from my usual and will be about my trip. Don't worry, it will not be a laboriously detailed "what I did today" account. At least I don't think it will be.

Anyway, London was "just brilliant", as the Londoners might say. In addition to my natural travel high, I love any chance to feel the pulsating vibe of an ultra-urban city. Every time I first step into it, I'm swept away with that familiar rush and then I question why I always choose my suburban lifestyle.

An ideal visit to any new city for me consists of as much local flavour (might as well keep the spellings authentically British) as possible and I think we did a pretty good job. Sure, I spent a day doing the whole "Royal London" thing, but I can't say that it was my favo(u)rite part. In fact, I read a lot of modern, British fiction (Sophia Kinsella, Marian Keyes, etc.) and couldn't wait to discover all of the ordinary, day-to-day things I read about. In my daily installments, I'll be making note some of that.

But without fail, after a week or so, I remember why I am a Dallas girl. I love my car and my driveway and frankly... my space. In this case, even as sad as I was to leave, I couldn't stop smiling as the plane landed with the sunny, open skies above.

Stay tuned...