London Update

Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace
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Now that I finally have regular internet access and a little spare time, I can update everyone on my adventures in London.  Things are starting to get a little foggy now but I'll do my best to give a pretty good synopsis of what I did last week (it seems like such a long time ago)!

On sunday I did the bus tour as I wrote in my other post.  That was a good plan because it gave me a better idea of what I wanted to do in the little bit of time that I was in London.

On monday, I woke up pretty early and had bread and black coffee for breakfast in the hostel.  That's all I was willing to eat because they don't have real milk in London, they only have this non-refridgerated crap so I refused to eat cereal or put milk in my coffee.  Breakfast wasn't great but it was filling and free so I have few complaints.  I met some people in the kitchen that had been traveling for a few weeks and they gave me some tips about things to do in Rome and a map with some good restaurant info written on it.  After breakfast, I took the Tube (subway) to Piccadilly Circle where I picked up the free London Pass that came with my plane ticket.  I also got flirted with my an old man (not old old, but too old for me) named Moses and told him that I would go to lunch with him the next day but I never showed up.  The last thing I wanted to do with one of my few days in London was to spend time with a creepy guy named Moses.  After I got my Pass, I went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards.  I had no idea that so many people would be there, so I was really far from the Palace and could barely see the actual changing of the guard.  It also really made me bitter that I'm not royalty and don't have a palace of my own.

Statue outside Buckingham Palace
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Then I walked around the park right around the palace (I think it was St. James' Park, but it was a week ago and I can't remember).  After the park, I took the Tube to the West End which is London's version of Broadway, and bought a half price ticket for tuesday night to the most recent Andrew Lloyd Weber play, Whistle Down the Wind.  After I got my play ticket, I went to the Tower of London (free, with my London Pass and I didn't have to stand in line to get in).  I saw the crown jewels which were amazing and made me want to be royalty even more so I could sleep in a tiara.  I actually spent most of the afternoon at the Tower of London because there was so much to see.  I walked over the walkway that Sir Walter Raleigh paced while he was a prisoner there, I saw where Mary Queen of Scots was hanged, I visited the armories and saw cool weapons.  All in all, it was a very cool afternoon.

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After I left the Tower, I went to Harrod's which was amazing.  I felt very out of place in the store because it was just so nice and I was wet and dirty because it had been raining off and on all day.  After window shopping at Harrod's I went to Gap and tried to find the shirt that Sen wanted (sorry, no luck).  By that time, it was pouring so I went to the grocery store and got food that I could cook to help save money.  It cost me 13 pounds but I got enough food for 2 dinners, two bottles of Coke and a bottle of wine.  Then I just went back to the hostel, made dinner, watched a movie with some people in the kitchen and drank my bottle of wine.  And yes, I drank the entire bottle of wine all by myself.  Because of the extreme drinking and the busy day, I was too sleepy to go out so I went upstairs and talked to one of my roommates, a nice Australian guy named Luke, until I passed out.

On tuesday, I woke up with a bit of a headache from all the wine but powered through the hangover because it was my last full day in London.  Once again, I had crappy breakfast in the hostel and hit the streets early.  My first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral (free with my London Pass).  They won't let you take pictures in St. Paul's so I got some postcards to commemorate my visit.  It was amazingly beautiful inside, in the awe inspiring kind of way that makes you peaceful.  After St. Paul's I headed to the British Museum (also free but that's just because all the state owned museums are free).  The museum is HUGE and I realized that I would never have enough time to see everything so I just focused on a couple things, especially the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman artifacts.  I tried to see the Japanese exhibit so I could take pictures for Crissi but the exhibit was closed for renovations.

After the museum, I headed to Westminster Abbey and Parliament.  I had to pay to get into Westminster Abbey (boo) but they give you a suggested way to see the Abbey.  Everybody who is anybody is buried there, and even some people that I never heard of are buried there.  At Westminster Abbey, I also got my first real experience with obnoxious, ignorant Americans.  The people in front of me just didn't know how to behave and knew absolutely nothing about history and were just annoying in general. Being behind them made me understand why more than half of the world can't stand Americans, I'm an American and I hated us a little bit because of them.

Then I walked around Parliament, I wasn't able to get in so I just took pictures from the outside.  I also walked to the London Aquarium and to the London Eye, which I was willing to go up in but the line was crazy long and I had play tickets so I couldn't wait all day.  I headed back to the hostel and changed out of my dirty clothes and wrote postcards.  The play was OK, not great but I have definitely seen worse, much worse.  It was entertaining and I can always say that I saw a show on the West End of London!  After the show, I went back to the hostel and made dinner and watched LOST, which was a nice treat for me because it was tuesday and I just wasn't expecting it.  So that was the end of London for me, off to Paris the next morning.