Lovely London

London (the "real" one) has been an interesting and diverse city. Sometimes relaxing and easygoing, sometimes overwhelming and bustling with action, it has a lot going on. I haven't felt too out of place or like I'm in a foreign city except when forgetting to look right instead of left before crossing the street and almost getting smoked by a car! Luckily, I've got into the habit of just looking both ways, then at the ground (some streets have "look right" or "look left" painted on the ground with a big arrow for dumb people like me), looking both ways again and then just following other people when they cross. At least if someone gets hit by a car, it'll be them and not me!

My first day here, we hit up Spitalfield's Market . Usually hectic on Sundays, this is a great place to have a cheap lunch of diverse menus and wander a few market booths for trinkets, scarves, antique jewellery, cheese and other random items that you can bargain for. With Wenzie, my lovely host, and her friend Tracy, I walked around the city and along the Thames River which is significantly cooler than the one in London Jr. -- but I still wouldn't swim in it. At a pub near the river, I had my first All-Day English Breakfast in England and a pint of Stella, which I could barely finish. Note to self: order half pints!

Luckily, they write 'look right' or 'look left' on the ground for dumb people like me

A bizarre thing happened while I was walking down a random street in London. I came upon a familiar face which I quickly recognized as Buffy, a friend whom I attended and taught with at a tennis camp back in Toronto and haven't seen for at least 6 or 7 years! We pretty much freaked out right there in the street and got caught up. The world is TINY!

Chuey joined me on Wednesday, and it was awesome to reunite with her. She just came back from Cuba and I almost didn't recognize her as she now looks light-haired and dark-skinned! That night we got together with some friends from Western, Blake Moran, Chris Burling and Jay Hamilton. We sat at a pub eating "toad in the hole", meat pie and mash, drinking pints and reminiscing on classic crazy stories from our days at school and rez.

On Thursday, we hit up the Big Bus Tour of London and sat in the amazing weather (upwards of 20 degrees and sunny all week) viewing the city from the top deck. Our tour guide was from Victoria, B.C.! Fun facts: Cleopatra's Needle is London's oldest monument at 3,500 years old, brought over from Egypt. It has two sphinxes facing towards it, but they were actually installed incorrectly! The sphinxes should actually face outwards to guard the Needle and no one knew until it was too late. Also, we passed by areas where people were executed. If you were lucky, you were beheaded. If not, you were hung and while you were hanging they would cut you open, take your entrails out into a bucket in front of you and then tie each end of you to two horses that would run in opposite directions. Yum...

After grabbing a great deal on theatre tickets from the half-price ticket booth at Leicester Square underground station, we saw Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre. The show was so amazing / moving that I sobbed like a baby through most of it. Afterwards, we went to an Indian restaurant in the area where the waiter aggressively tried to sell us on dishes!

Today was a shopping excursion with another Med-Syd buddy, Wizz (Nick B) on Bond Street (very pretty, but no purchases due to limited funds) and Harrods (hoity-toity). We hopped on the City Sightseeing boat cruise included with our bus tour fare and hung out on the Thames River for more cool views of the city.

Tonight we're off to meet our Contiki tour group at the Royal National Hotel and then we hit Paris bright 'n early tomorrow morning!

More pictures coming soon!