London

Day of Bridges

In my last post I told you I was going to London with the Spaniards, Lorena and Anabel. Both were going to be celebrating their birthdays in London and invited me to come with them. Unfortunately things don't always go according to plan. A couple of days before we left, Anabel told us that she wasn't feeling well and that she wouldn't be able to make the trip. If that wasn't bad enough, just the task of leaving the flat was plagued with difficulties. I was at the library, finishing up my papers, before I rushed back to the flat. I handed my less than stellar work to Dan so he could turn it in for me, grabbed my packed luggage, and rushed out.

On the way to the bus terminal I checked my bag to make sure I had my wallet. Of course I had my wallet, but I did not have the little ID holder that had my licence and all my credit cards. So it was either miss the bus or go to London without any money save the change in my pocket. Fortunately, Lorena said she could float me some cash and I could pay her back once we returned. We did make our bus, but just barely.

The cramped seating, snoring man two rows behind us, and our excitement for seeing London made sleeping on the bus nearly impossible. Needless to say we were not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when we got to London in the early morning. For some reason I believed that if the sun went down by four in the afternoon that meant it would be up earlier as well. I was wrong.

Lorena and I arrived before seven on a Sunday morning. If you didn't know (because I sure as heck didn't) London is pretty much dead on Sunday mornings. People sleeping in or at church, but places don't open until mid-day. Since we couldn't very well lug our suitcases all through the city, we decided to leave them at the hostel we were staying at.

While we were grabbing breakfast at a Starbucks, Lorena was telling me what she wanted to do first. "I have to see Big Ben, so I know that I'm here. We're not in China." After noticing the Asian study group at the table next to us, she said, "Oops. Sorry."

So Big Ben it was!

  

  

Westminster Abbey

We took the tube to Westminster and saw Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the House of Parliament. We took our time, snapping pictures and buying souvenirs. Lorena then decided she wanted to see the bridge.

"What bridge?"

"You know the bridge in London," she said.

It looked like he was floating in air.

Didn't the Death Eaters destroy the Millennium Bridge?
Looked fine to me  

Folks, do you know how many bridges there are in London? We walked a total of six bridges to get to the one she was looking for, the Tower Bridge. It was over an hour of walking, which is fine, except that it was very chilly. Never before have I actually felt my age. I felt the cold seeping up my legs and settling in my hip joints. Lorena, being ten years younger than me couldn't understand why I wasn't as spry as her, bless her.

We walked along Queen's Walk. There were vendors and street performers and despite the cold, it was fun. We didn't go up the London Tower to see the Crown Jewels, nor did we do the London Eye. It was times like those that I desperately wished I had brought my bank cards. (Maybe I'll make another trip to London after I finish school.) We also saw sand carvers along the banks of the River Thames.

On the Tower Bridge

It's Ho-Ho-Homer!

Under the London Eye

After making it back to the hostel and settling in, we decided to take a stroll down Regent's Street.

"Fiiiiiiive goooooooldeeeen riiiiiiings."

The theme was The Twelve Days of Christmas. Having never heard the song, Lorena couldn't understand why I wanted a picture of the fifth day so very badly. It was so I could write the caption!

Day of Markets

The second day we woke up with the mission to go to Camden, a borough in London. The Spaniards had both insisted that it was a place I had to go to. There were street vendors and food booths and eclectic zones of coolness that a person can just stumble into. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of Austin and South Congress. So I felt pretty much in my element. The only difference was the temperature. Where Austin experiences summer ten months out of the year, I definitely felt the winter chill.

One thing that had I warned the Spaniards about before Lorena and I left was that I simply suck at haggling. I can't do it. I don't know why; it's just a truth. Anabel had told me that some of the cool zombie shirts she owned were actually from Camden. It was true. There were a lot of places to buy shirts, and it was a blessing that I didn't have more access to cash because then my wallet would have suffered in the long run.

I did buy a shirt, though. Oh... more like a jumper (what they call a sweater in the U.K.). It was Banksy's girl with the heart balloon. I loved it as soon as I laid eyes on it. I asked the guy, who kept calling me pet names, how much he wanted for it. He told me £20. I scoffed and said £15. He told me that he couldn't give it to me for that little and then said £18. I turned to Lorena who said that that was the same as £20. On hearing that, the vendor said that it was a big difference. "£17?" I asked. He agreed only "because he like me." I may not be good at bargaining but I knew that was a crock, but I was still happy because I managed to knock off £3 of what he originally wanted for the sweater. In Vickyland, that's a victory. As we were walking away with my prize, Lorena said, "You paid too much for that sweater."

I was famished and after hearing that the food vendors were really good, I was excited for some noodles. In Scotland... well... they don't do noodles well. They taste like cardboard. Surely these Camden noodles were nom-nom-worthy. Sadly, folks, they were no better than the kind that I could find on campus. So very sad.

While we were in London, Lorena and I used the heck out of the Underground. And it was easy to get the hang of it. I credit my recent trip to mainland Europe for that. While waiting for the connection, I saw a poster that caught my eye. Nothing out of the ordinary because what better way to advertise? Keep this poster in mind, folks.

Yes, that is a Christmas tree made out of barrels of Jack.

From the Underground we made our way to King's Cross. I was adamant on going there to see Platform 9 3/4. As a quasi-Harry Potter fan, I was kind of disappointed. I say quasi (or as my Renaissance professor would pronounce it "quay-sigh") because I read the books, saw the movies and own most of both. But I won't wait in ridiculously long lines for premiers or signings, nor will I dress up in costume, so I don't consider myself a fanatic. True it was a little disappointing, but I was there!

Because Lorena humored me with King's Cross, I agreed to go to Harrods. Personally, I didn't see the point--it's not like we were going to actually shop there. Still, Lorena wanted to go in even if it was to cry at all the things she couldn't buy. Harrods was organized differently than other malls. It had huge halls for separate departments with expensive merchandise. I was actually more impressed with the window displays. They were doing a fairy tale theme.

The Little Mermaid

After the excitement of Harrods, we made our way to Hyde Park for their Winter Wonderland. Regretfully, I didn't ride any of the rides. But for £5 a pop, can you blame me? It's a good thing I'm not like some of my friends who are parents. Then I'd have an excuse to ride them, and, folks, I really wanted to ride the rides. But alas, I'm not made of money.

Lorena enjoying some Spanish churros

The Flamin' Discos

If this Rudolph was in Texas, there would be a line to ride him
and people gathered 'round.

Since we still had some kick in our boogie, we decided to check out Covent Garden, another outdoor market place with lights. And guess what I saw? 

I'll try posting the rest of the London trip tomorrow. I'm going with Lorena to the airport and checking out Edinburgh again. The last time I was there, I didn't get to tour the castle. 'Til then!