9.26.2008

It’s London, everyone! But only the Readers Digest Version.

Well readers, I’ve arrived. Mostly in one piece. With the exception of bad curry on the flight over, everything went smoothly. I made my way to the hostel, quickly settled and then went on down to the local pub (you know, do as the locals do). At this point in time I was not yet in London, as I arrived at the Gatwick airport, which is still about 45 minutes out of London. No, the town I was in was the booming town of Horley (look it up! There’s even a Wiki article about it!) Not too much time was spent in Horley, however, the pub was especially nifty, since it had been there since at least 1602. (My goodness...this pub is older than Canada!)

Well, Horley aside, I decided to spend my second day getting acquainted with London. Even though I was still mostly jet-lagged, I felt it was definitely advantageous of me to get the London low down. I did not feel as out of place in London, as there are creatures from every creed & colour. I’d put money on it that I heard more languages that day in London, than I will hear my entire trip. I started my trip by wandering in a circle trying to find street signs. *Note to anyone traveling to England--street signs are not their specialty*. Once I was oriented, I started my journey. I made a point to avoid the tourist trap things. A lot of them are quite overpriced (£25 to get into an exhibit! Sounds alright...but then double it for Canadian funds. Oy!) Something handy for travelers to know however, is that all museums in England are free, so I’d advise hitting those first and then seeing if you are still interested in going to the Clink Prison exhibit, or the Jack the Ripper walking tour (I’m actually quite tempted, I must say).
Here’s what I saw while I was wandering:

Tower Bridge: This is the bridge that everyone calls the London Bridge. It is not. London Bridge is actually quite ugly and industrial looking.
Tower of London: Chalked full of history--(the mish-mash of styles makes that obvious) This is something that when I get the chance, I’d like to take the tour. This is right by the Tower Bridge on the North Bank.
Clock Tower: Everyone calls this Big Ben--but that is the nickname of the Great Bell within the tower. It is the largest four faced chiming clock in the world.
Houses of Parliament: Self explanatory. Clock tower is connected to these. Harry Potter flew past them in Order of the Phoenix.
Westminster Abbey: Beautiful. But they charge £14 to get in. Or, you could just go to a Sunday service for free.
Buckingham Palace: Not as exciting as I thought it would be. The Victoria Monument in front was very neat, but crawling with tourists (I mean literally--people were actually climbing up the monument the whole time) I think Buckingham Palace would be more interesting for the changing of the guards
Green Park: It’s right across from Buckingham Palace. I thought it was fantastic--I’m told it doesn’t even compare to Hyde Park though.
The town is quite overwhelming and obviously I wasn’t expecting to really see a lot in just one day, but I did want to soak in as much as I could. I will definitely go back and write a much more in depth blog, but for now you get the readers digest version. I hope you enjoyed it!

9.21.2008

Take-Off!!!.......?


Well, my bags are packed. I'm ready to go.  And I'll stop there, before I become the 899th person to cover "Leaving on a Jet Plane".  Though there were a few complications (flight was changed a total of three times...the last one being when I was waiting to check my luggage)  I am here.  In the airport.  Waiting.   I always find flying to be a little awkward.  As a sock-monkey,  you always get a slough of questions.  "...And what nationality did you say you were?"  "Are you here by yourself?"  "You want to bring an elephant as your carry-on?!"  (Umm...maybe that one is just exclusive to me)  "Did you have to pay full price for your ticket?"  (Obviously!  Did you?  Why do people ask me that?  Are they trying to say something about my size?!) Anyway...here I am.  There's not much to say about the airport.  It's the same as always.  Expensive shops.  Nervous people.  Nervous people who by stuff at expensive shops because they can't stand waiting.  You know the drill.    Well, with all that said, I believe I'm going to go check out the Gucci shop.  One hour left, and I hate waiting.