When we arrived at the airport in London, it was 9:00 a.m. local time.  We had been in the air for approximately 14+ hours, but had been awake much longer having had to travel by car from Sacramento to the San Francisco airport for our flights to Philadelphia, and then on to London.  Shortly after checking in with our "accommodations" (more on that later), we immediately took the Underground Subway back into the city center via Victoria Station.  We jumped on a double decker tour bus that gave us a really good feel for the city, and tremendous insight into what was available for us to see.  Everything in London, and every place you look, is an ancient artifact, memorial, or statue, steeped with history.