Lion City in the Rear View, Welcome to the Beautiful Island

The full sun hung low in the oatmeal-colored sky when we finally exited the terminal. It's a full twenty degrees cooler here (seven degree for you celsius nerds) than in Lion City, and the air is also mercifully drier. There is a natural chill in the air, something we haven't felt since leaving home.

Arriving here from Lion City feels a bit like coming back to earth from the future. Sadly, the air smells not of blossoms but of jet fuel and diesel exhaust. We get the impression of arriving into Baltimore from I-95 with a Soviet-era eastern european pall. But mercifully, that impression will be dispelled with vigor soon.