London: Starting out in the most expensive city in the world.

While we knew it was going to be expensive, we really weren't prepared for the reality. That said, we just pretended that a pound and dollar were the same and it all seemed fine. $10 beers drink just like $3, so no sense dwelling too much on price on day one.

Since we only had a couple days, we decided to take a bus tour around London. While it felt like a touristy thing to do (and who are we kidding, with safari pants and money belts, we are tourists), it was actually a great way to see the city. Big Ben, Parliment, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly, etc...we saw it all from the comfort of a double-decker bus.

And to make sure we put our first day to the fullest possible use, some kindly Holiday Inn guest hit the fire alarm at 7am. So our day began with a screeching siren and orderly walk down 7 flights of stairs to the street below, in our PJs (actually, I was mostly dressed). Luckily we found a lovely little coffee shop nearby and several cups of coffee jump started our jet-lagged minds.

Overall, London is an amazing place to go (especially on some sort of corporate expense account).