London

So you know how I wrote this in my blog a few days back?:

In London, I'm going to Westminister Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Science museum (if time), Greenwich, Big Ben, London Eye, My Little Eye, Kings Cross, Tower Bridge, and Abbey Road.  My train leaves at 7:30 AM on Monday.

Well, it's at least 12 Pounds to get into any of these.  Tomorrow I am going to Tower of London (I want to see the Crown Jewels) but I'm not sure about the rest.  But first, my day.

This morning I slept in for a good long while (8:30 or so) before eating.  The hostel website lied and I didn't get free breakfast, but I knew so I bought stuff last night.  I also grabbed a croissant or two on the way to Hyde Park.  On the way, I also stopped at Harrod's (Mom's suggestion) which was awesome.  I have never been so amazed by a department store.  It was huge and so expensive.  There were brands I'd only ever heard of being sold.  I did get a little teddy bear key chain that has a bow that says Harrod's on it, but I don't think I could afford anything else. 

I got to Hyde Park and walked around for a bit before walking over to Wellington Monument to start a free tour.  It was run by the same people as the one I went on in Dublin and our guide was pretty cool but also kindof odd.  We saw Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, St. Mark's Palace, the war square, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, 10 Downing Street, Horseguards (where beach volleyball will take place for the Olympics 2012), the House of Parliament, Churchill's War Rooms, Nelson's Column, The National Gallery, Whitehall, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.  Then we had lunch at an awesome restaurant called Verve which was inexpensive and had fantastic fish and chips. 

The best part about this tour was that there were six girls from Brasil there.  They were all speaking Portuguese and, though I teared up and missing home, I recognized some of it and was able to speak a little bit.  Three of them just spent twenty days touring Europe, staying in seven countries or something, and are going home tomorrow.  It was a lot of fun and it made me happy that I could talk with them, but also sad because I don't get to hear it every day anymore.

After lunch, I went on another three hour walking tour, also by the same company but this one costing a bit, that toured "The City" or the old part of London.  It was also a lot of fun and we saw all the various bridges, The Monument, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Covent Garden, Globe Theatre, Church of the Knights Templar, Mansion House, the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, HMS Belfast, RAF Church and some other things.  It was a lot of fun and there were a couple of other Americans I talked to - one of which was from Alabama who is working in Dublin for her final semester in primary education.  We talked the whole trip, shared a love of Tolkien, Harry Potter and Douglas Adams and had fun annoying our tour guide, who didn't know or didn't like any of the three.

I really like the walking tours because it tells me where I need to go back to and give a lot of history... not to mention they're really inexpensive compared to actually going in all these places.  We don't actually get to go in all these places, but here in London, that wasn't as much of an issue.  Entrance fees into all the places would total well over 100 pounds, but you get a history and how to get your money's worth (like the fact that they tell you when and how to get into services so you don't have to pay to get into the churches and stuff). I enjoy them.

Afterwards, Emily (the girl I met) and I headed to King's Cross together.  We took pictures at Platform 9 and 3/4, which, due to renovations, was actually between platforms 8 and 9... if you considered platform 9 to actually be there (it's shut down for the next several months).  We thought it was funny, but we still got our pics. 

We split up and I went over to Marks and Spencer's (Marks and Sparks, according to the locals) and got myself a couple towels (sold in sets of six...) and dinner.  For some reason I thought it was a hotel, but it's actually a department store with a grocery store.  It's interesting. Totally psyched about my towel.  (If you don't know why it makes me so happy, I suggest you read the best book in the whole world, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.  Ford Prefect, the roving reporter for The Guide carries a "largish bath towel from Marks and Spencer's" and discusses the importance of the towel, which you can learn about here.  Enjoy.)

I got microwavable dinner from the frozen foods section, and hopped back on the tube to my hostel.  I made a few phone calls from the station and then came back and made dinner, logged on, checked email and wrote this blog.

Now, going back to my list...

Westminster Abbey - too expensive, but saw outside
Buckingham Palace - 22 Pounds for 17 rooms out of more than 700? No, thanks
Tower of London - will go tomorrow - must see Crown Jewels
Science museum (if time) - haha "if time" - will have to go next time
Greenwich - don't know how or why this got on my list - unimpressive and not worth the time
Big Ben - saw - pretty cool
London Eye - way too expensive but saw from across the river and other places
My Little Eye - unfindable and closed on Sunday - next time?
Kings Cross - saw, unimpressive because of construction and got platform pic
Tower Bridge - too expensive and really boring museum, apparently
Abbey Road - tomorrow - but apparently not worth it

So, tomorrow, Tower of London, which takes a good half-day or so, and then Abbey Road and then whatever suits my fancy.  I have some requests for London items (tea and glasses, mostly) but let me know if you want something.  Here's your one and only chance to ask me for something specific.  =P

I'm not sure why, but I've been having a lot of trouble missing home while I've been here.  Maybe it's because everyone speaks English or because there's a Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut or KFC on every block, sometimes all right next to each other.  I'm not sure.  They do have Krispy Kreme and Ritz and Oreos and a ton of American brands in the grocery stores and corner shops here, which is awesome (I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to take stuff back to Brussels with me...) but it just makes me miss home so much.  I love everyone back home and I miss you all lots. 

Goodnight, world.