London, Day 2

Well, today was kindof boring but also kindof relaxing.

I got up early and grabbed the tube to Abbey Road, where I snapped a few pics and got a yummy latte.  It was the most anticlimactic moment of my life when I saw it.  It looks nothing like the album cover and there's nothing of note anywhere except for a fence in front of one house that's covered in Beatles graffiti.

Then I wandered back to the tube and went to the Tower of London.  I'm not sure if it was worth the 14.50 to get in (with a student discount) but it was cool to see the jewels.  The towers were also cool and the museums (if you really want to call them that) were not bad.

They had a cafe in the Tower, so I grabbed lunch there.  Delicious onion soup (I forget what they called it - but definitely not French) with spicy croutons (not hot) and a huge slice of bread.  Along with a bottle of water and a slice of treacle tart, it was my least expensive meal out in two months.  I was super excited about treacle tart, as I had only ever heard of it, mostly in Harry Potter, but in other British books, too.  It was really good.  It reminded me of a really thick and dense rice krispy treat in a pie shell.

Then I did a little shopping, went back to Marks and Spenser's and then wandered around near my hostel for a good while.  I was looking for a clock because I left mine on my bed (with one other person in the room having left and checked out before I left for the day) and the cleaning crew disposed of it.  Normally they don't clean and make the beds until you check out, but they've done mine every day. I'm not sure why, and neither is the girl I talked to in reception, but now I don't have a clock.  I really liked my clock.  It was small and had the temperature and the date and an alarm and a snooze and it was digital, which was nice for the changing time zones.  And it's not on RadioShack's website for me to order a new one.... I got a lot of funny looks today when I asked for a digital travel clock and they're just so much more convenient.

I also got lemon sherberts (HP1, anyone? Dumbledore's favorite candy), peppermint humbugs and a selection of tea.   And some other stuff, but I can't ruin all the surprise. =P

After wandering, I came back to the hostel, talked with the receptionist for a bit about Harry Potter and Douglas Adams and the Beatles, discovered the British like anything and everything American more than their own.  I find it interesting, because I much prefer European literature to American and like the Beatles more than Lynyrd Skynyrd, who's surprisingly popular here. Then I logged on, posted photos to facebook and watched Psych, Criminal Minds, White Collar and NCIS. Now I won't have anything to do to kill time all week, but I'm sure I'll manage.

Tomorrow is an early morning - finish packing, grab a Krispy Kreme donut (or a dozen?) and catch my train back to Brussels.  Class at 12:15, I think, which should be fun.

Oh, and here's an updated list in order of favorite places (yeah, I know they're all different, even the old standing, but this is it with reflection strictly on places I like to visit):

Howth > Dublin > Venice > Charleston > Barcelona > London > Madrid > Zurich > Rockland > New York City > New Orleans/Baton Rouge > Cologne > Bruge > Toledo >Dusseldorf > Brussels

Ok, let me rephrase this. Here's a list in order of where I'd like to live (based on where I've been):

Howth > Dublin > Charleston > Madrid > Rockland > Venice > Barcelona > Zurich > Toledo > New Orleans/Baton Rouge > Bruge > Dusseldorf > Cologne > London > New York City > Brussels

Goodnight, world.