Visitors!

J and I are expecting our first official visitors to London! My younger brother and his girlfriend are coming for a two week visit, and we're picking them up from Heathrow airport today.

I've been busy getting the flat ready for their arrival, and the extra linens have been washed and the fridge and pantry fully stocked. I've also been thinking about all the things I have to tell them to make their visit easier, and it made me realize all the things I do as a matter of course, which once were struggles for me when I first arrived. Like using my microwave and oven. Like remembering which tube lines went where. Like how to get a mobile phone. Simple things like that.

I suppose living in London somehow became living in London like dealing with groceries and buying light bulbs, and I haven't been as gung-ho about seeing all the sights as I once was when I first landed. This is the perfect occasion for me to put on my tourist hat again and see some of the places I've been putting off. I'm ashamed to say, but I still haven't been to the London Eye, the Tate Modern, St. Paul's Cathedral, and a bunch of other places I'm sure. So if you see me out there with my camera glued to my face, remember, I live here, I'm just not acting like it. =)