Europe adventure. Day 29, 30 & 31.
Written in my dorm room on day 26 and 145 of College Adventure.
As you probably noticed, college has been getting in the way of my blogging. But I have not given up, don't worry! I will write about every day of my trip, even if I have to forfeit sleep. At this moment there are quite a few people partying away outside my room; today is one of my suitemate's 21st birthday. And I'm in bed blogging, wearing pajamas. Oh, what day was I on... Right! The first day of London. This shouldn't be too hard to remember. Time has gone by so quickly that it feels like I was in London yesterday.
Nina and I woke up at around eight and I helped myself to nutty corn flakes, yogurt and instant coffee. Sean had made it clear we were free to eat anything in the kitchen. Sean was still sleeping on the couch, so I made sure I was quiet, Nina and I left the house not long after that. The Tube from Hounslow Central to Green Park takes a while, and I had to catch the Changing of the Guard. Sadly, I underestimated the crowd. I thought getting there a half an hour early would be fine, and it wasn't.
What an experience. People--so many people--thronged around the Buckingham Palace. I couldn't see through the gates. I couldn't see the street. I was blind, pushed and shoved and shouted at to keep moving. I was so confused about where I was meant to be moving to, so at one point I just stopped and joined the waiting crowd. I was just standing there, hoping that something fantastic was going to happen and that I would at least catch a glimpse of it. Of course, that wasn't the case. The Changing of the Guard isn't all that interesting, even on days when you don't have to lift your phone up above your head, snap a picture and hope for the best just to see something. But I valued that morning just for the crazy experience.
After that was over I stopped at a pub for lunch. Something about the atmosphere of it reminded me of Ireland, and I missed Ireland so much. I ordered shepherd's pie and tea and though neither were amazing (and the tea cup and utensils were dirty), I enjoyed it. It's hard to go wrong with shepherd’s pie.
I followed signs to Victoria Station, because someone I asked told me there was a tourist information center there. I found a little stand giving out maps, and nearby there was a place to buy theater and attraction tickets. I asked them about tickets to Wicked and The Lion King. Nina had told me before we parted ways that she wanted to meet up later and look for tickets together, since she was interested in seeing a show as well. I just wanted to find out the general price range. They were expensive, that's for sure. The lady offered me tickets for one of the shows at what she said was a good deal, and I almost bought them right then. I would have, but I wanted to check in with Nina first and see what she wanted to do.
Good thing I didn't get those tickets. I found out soon afterward, while wandering around the city, that you can get tickets at a much better price at discount ticket offices or the theater where the show was actually playing. While I wandered around I just soaked in the different atmosphere, people watching and getting only a little bit lost. I noticed quite a few phone boxes and post boxes, which I appreciated greatly. I also noticed how many people were wearing prim suites and professional attire, or just generally classy outfits. It definitely seemed like the younger people in their twenties and thirties cared much more about how they looked in London, and Europe in general, than they did in the U.S.
I looked for postcards while strolling down the streets of London and was sorely disappointed with the selection. They were all the same, and all very cliche. I like art or interesting photography on my postcards and all I found were poorly photoshopped images of the queen, red phone boxes and the British flag. I walked through Hyde Park and saw gaggles of geese, paddles ducks, bevies of swans and flocks of pigeons all around. In the water the birds were accompanied by paddle boats. There were countless beautiful flowers, and I managed to resist the temptation to take pictures of them all.
I got to the Diana memorial, which someone had told me to check out. It was not what I expected, not what memorial brings to mind. I really loved it. It was a circular, man-made river, and children splashed around in it, laughing and screeching. There was absolutely no sadness there. On my way out of the park I bought myself an ice cream cone, which I finished on my way to the underground station. I was meeting Nina in Leicester Square, by the discount ticket booth Sean told us was there. What I hadn't counted on was a One Direction premier happening in the center of the square. I got off the tube and was overwhelmed by a swarm of screaming girls.
Thankfully, I had plenty of time to find Nina in the mess, since I was early. When it appeared she was not there yet, I took a walk down to Covent Garden. I found myself going into quite a few book stores along the way. In that area there are theaters everywhere, and many discount ticket offices. I stopped by one and bought myself an expensive ticket to The Lion King and the London Dungeon. On my way back to meet Nina I stopped and bought some cheap Chinese food. I didn't eat much of it, because it wasn't very good. I threw away the leftovers and went back to waiting by the discount ticket office in Leicester Square. It was very hard to see anything but One Direction fans. I placed myself next to one of the security guys, because he seemed like one of the only people around who cared just as little about One Direction as I did. I chatted with him while keeping an eye out for Nina. I never found her, and was unable to contact her. Eventually I did, and it turns out she had looked for me, given up, and gone off to do something else. I asked if she still wanted me to buy tickets and she said yes, if I could find them within her price range.
The cheapest Wicked tickets I had managed to find all day were at the theater itself, and that was a more than a couple tube stops away. I prayed the tickets I had found earlier would still be available when I got there. Rushing the whole time, I managed to get the tickets, which were only slightly over Nina's price range. I figured I could pay the extra five euros. On my way back to Hounslow I sat in Green Park and wrote down my plan for the next couple of days, jotting down financial notes as I did. I got irritated when a man decided to stop and talk to me, calling me "special girl" and refusing to leave me alone even when I looked at his friend pleadingly. Eventually he left, after a couple of rude comments from me. I got on the underground and took the long ride to Hounslow Central.
I stopped at a grocery store on my way to Sean's house, asking someone on the way how to get there. It was easy to find, it turns out, and I bought more food than I probably needed. Gluten free crumpets? Yum. On the way out of the grocery store parking lot I somehow got turned around and ended up very lost. I went in circles for quite a while until I finally found someone who could point me in the right direction. When I finally got back to the house Sean was sitting on the couch with the new couchsurfing guest, Tonia from China. We all sat around talking for a while. Tonia had brought some rose wine, which I had some of with my dinner. I did a load of laundry, hung it up to dry and went to sleep.
The next day I had a giant breakfast of corn flakes, crumpets with jam, orange juice and coffee. I packed myself an equally large lunch and left in time to hopefully see the changing of the guard, this time with a better view. Turns out the changing of the guard didn't happen on that day, so, feeling a bit disappointed, I walked around St. James Park and stumbled upon some other sort of guard ceremony was going on. I took a video that sadly got lost in the depths of my phone and then walked to see The Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I had part of my packed lunch on a bench with a wonderful view of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, bought a delightful postcard at the tourist shop nearby and then took the tube to go have lunch with Tonia.
Tonia was working not too far from Leicester Square, some sort of internship I never asked much about. She had been working there for a couple of weeks, however, so she knew exactly where to eat. She brought me to this cute little hipster-y sandwich place. Since I had already eaten and had more packed for later, I just bought myself a chai tea late and sat down with Tonia. I think the chai made me sick, but it was delicious. I finished up the rest of my little ham sandwich, banana, carrots, peach yogurt and cookies. Then Tonia and I took a quick shopping trip to TK Maxx, a store that is exactly like TJ Maxx, but in London. I bought a dress there, and then Tonia had to go back to work, so we parted ways, planning to meet up again that night for some fun. After Wicked, of course.
Unable to help myself, I bought a ticket to Matilda shortly after lunch, thoroughly depleting my funds. Looking for nothing in particular and feeling incredibly broke, I walked into bookstores and gift shops, thankfully finding very little that I wanted to buy except a funny condom with an interesting drawing of one of the Queen's guard on the wrapper. That would be a gift for someone, and I had yet to decide who. I sat down and did my finances, knowing that if I was going out that night after the show than I was going to spend. I had to figure out how much I could spend without having nothing for the next few days. It seemed a little tight, but I figured I could manage with the groceries I had bought for a while, so I bought a ticket to a pub crawl that Tonia and I wanted to go to.
With plenty of time to kill before Wicked, I decided to go to the bus stop and get my ticket to Bath for the next day and Dublin to catch my plane home. I planned on also getting a ticket to Salisbury to see Stonehenge, but the timing of the tickets didn't work out at all. Outside of the Apollo Victoria theater I looked around desperately for Nina, remembering the hours searching for her the day before and feeling nervous about missing the show as people filed in. Finally, she got there, and we took our seats just in time. The show was amazing. Definitely one of my favorite shows of all time.
The only problem was it went on longer than I had estimated, Tonia was waiting for me and my cell phone had very little charge. Parting ways with Nina for the last time, I rushed to Leicester Square once again and looked around for Nina where she said she was going to be. She wasn't there, and I started to panic as my phone lost all charge. Then she came running up, followed by one of the pub crawl leaders, and they led me on to meet with the rest. We went to a couple of clubs with the pub crawl, one that was not too bad and one that was much too big and crowded. Somewhere in there I lost my hat, which was incredibly sad. Then we decided to leave and go somewhere else on our own. We were joined by one one of the other pub crawlers, David. I didn't get a chance to know him all that well, and didn't even learn his name until the end of the night, but the three of us had a great time together.
We went to a gay club. It was small, with good music and fun people. David had no problem getting hit on, and I loved that I wasn't getting hit on nearly as much. Tonia ended up making out with the one other woman in the club, if you don't include the hilarious drag queen who was standing outside. We danced for hours, and I accepted more than a couple of free drinks from David before I let him down by saying I had a boyfriend. He was a very nice guy, and maybe I'll meet him again someday. Tonia and I took the bus back to Hounslow, since the underground was closed. We were both exhausted, and it was a very long, very uncomfortable bus ride. Finally I fell into bed for a lovely two hours of sleep.
I woke up at six in the morning to get ready for my bus to Bath. It had rained during the night, so all of my laundry had gotten more soaked as opposed to dry. I packed some in a plastic bag, along with whatever I had from the day before that I could wear again. It was nice to be able to leave most of my things at Sean's house, knowing I would be back. Tonia and I had a fun time telling Sean about our adventures of the night. I packed as much food as I could fit in my bag and got on the tube to Victoria station.
The bus to Bath felt longer than it was. I was so tired and I couldn't get a wink of sleep, because there was a small child screaming the whole way. Bath was worth it, though. The small city is absolutely beautiful. I especially loved the street musicians and just staring at the architecture. Because of my lack of sleep, I had a very hard time finding my hostel. I kept walking right by it, missing the sign on the door because it was also a sign for a bar. Turns out you have to check in at the bar--which is where the breakfast would be in the morning--and then you get your key to a little back door that has no sign at all. Despite all the confusion, it ended up being a very nice hostel. In the lounge on the top floor I could sit on a little red couch and have a wonderful view of the city.
When I first got there I left my bag with the guy at the bar and walked around the city. I went into a few gift shops and bought a postcard and a ticket for a Stonehenge day trip the next day. I was so happy I would get to see it after all. I saw the Roman baths, which had a audioguide narrated partially by Bill Bryson. I listened to more street music, continued to wander, and stumbled upon an absolutely adorable little Tea Shop advertising gluten free lemon cake. Of course I had to go in. I got some tea and cake served by girls in white aprons and bonnets and spent a while sitting and updating my blog.
Back at the hostel, sitting in that odd little lounge, I ate microwaved leftover pasta and promptly got a stomach ache. I rested for a little while, but I didn't want to miss any more of Bath than I had to, so I headed back out to do a Comedy Walk a couple of people had told me about. It was definitely an interesting tour, with absolutely no real information and more than a couple of really bad jokes. Still, I enjoyed it. I got to see more of Bath, and see a strange man in a purple suit throw a stuffed bunny tied with chains into the river, only for it to appear on land once again. He also loved to make fun of the small children, knowing they wouldn't understand a word of what he was saying. The funniest part of the tour turned out to be a crazy guy riding by on a bicycle, wearing a hood on his head, yelling and shouting. The unexpected spectacle happened at the perfect time, when our purple adorned guide was wearing a blindfold and wandering around the street. It could almost have been planned, if it had made any sense.
The show finished with the comedian tying someone's engagement ring to a balloon and letting it fly away, and then for the bunny to ride up on a remote-control car with the ring in its arms. I went back to the hostel and got some much needed sleep, feeling like I had seen almost everything there was to see in Bath.
And now to end with some tragic news. I lost all of the pictures I took in London and Bath. They were accidentally deleted from my phone and I was unable to recover them. Close your eyes and imagine me in a red phone box, imagine pictures of the Queen's guard surrounded by crowds of tourists, imagine pictures of swans and flowers and Big Ben, imagine gorgeous shots of the Roman baths, of the view from that red couch at the hostel. Someday, I will go back and I will take more pictures of those things, and maybe you have been there and have pictures of your own. What matters is that I remember what happened, I remember the people and the sights, and they look a little like this...
As you probably noticed, college has been getting in the way of my blogging. But I have not given up, don't worry! I will write about every day of my trip, even if I have to forfeit sleep. At this moment there are quite a few people partying away outside my room; today is one of my suitemate's 21st birthday. And I'm in bed blogging, wearing pajamas. Oh, what day was I on... Right! The first day of London. This shouldn't be too hard to remember. Time has gone by so quickly that it feels like I was in London yesterday.
Nina and I woke up at around eight and I helped myself to nutty corn flakes, yogurt and instant coffee. Sean had made it clear we were free to eat anything in the kitchen. Sean was still sleeping on the couch, so I made sure I was quiet, Nina and I left the house not long after that. The Tube from Hounslow Central to Green Park takes a while, and I had to catch the Changing of the Guard. Sadly, I underestimated the crowd. I thought getting there a half an hour early would be fine, and it wasn't.
What an experience. People--so many people--thronged around the Buckingham Palace. I couldn't see through the gates. I couldn't see the street. I was blind, pushed and shoved and shouted at to keep moving. I was so confused about where I was meant to be moving to, so at one point I just stopped and joined the waiting crowd. I was just standing there, hoping that something fantastic was going to happen and that I would at least catch a glimpse of it. Of course, that wasn't the case. The Changing of the Guard isn't all that interesting, even on days when you don't have to lift your phone up above your head, snap a picture and hope for the best just to see something. But I valued that morning just for the crazy experience.
After that was over I stopped at a pub for lunch. Something about the atmosphere of it reminded me of Ireland, and I missed Ireland so much. I ordered shepherd's pie and tea and though neither were amazing (and the tea cup and utensils were dirty), I enjoyed it. It's hard to go wrong with shepherd’s pie.
I followed signs to Victoria Station, because someone I asked told me there was a tourist information center there. I found a little stand giving out maps, and nearby there was a place to buy theater and attraction tickets. I asked them about tickets to Wicked and The Lion King. Nina had told me before we parted ways that she wanted to meet up later and look for tickets together, since she was interested in seeing a show as well. I just wanted to find out the general price range. They were expensive, that's for sure. The lady offered me tickets for one of the shows at what she said was a good deal, and I almost bought them right then. I would have, but I wanted to check in with Nina first and see what she wanted to do.
Good thing I didn't get those tickets. I found out soon afterward, while wandering around the city, that you can get tickets at a much better price at discount ticket offices or the theater where the show was actually playing. While I wandered around I just soaked in the different atmosphere, people watching and getting only a little bit lost. I noticed quite a few phone boxes and post boxes, which I appreciated greatly. I also noticed how many people were wearing prim suites and professional attire, or just generally classy outfits. It definitely seemed like the younger people in their twenties and thirties cared much more about how they looked in London, and Europe in general, than they did in the U.S.
I looked for postcards while strolling down the streets of London and was sorely disappointed with the selection. They were all the same, and all very cliche. I like art or interesting photography on my postcards and all I found were poorly photoshopped images of the queen, red phone boxes and the British flag. I walked through Hyde Park and saw gaggles of geese, paddles ducks, bevies of swans and flocks of pigeons all around. In the water the birds were accompanied by paddle boats. There were countless beautiful flowers, and I managed to resist the temptation to take pictures of them all.
I got to the Diana memorial, which someone had told me to check out. It was not what I expected, not what memorial brings to mind. I really loved it. It was a circular, man-made river, and children splashed around in it, laughing and screeching. There was absolutely no sadness there. On my way out of the park I bought myself an ice cream cone, which I finished on my way to the underground station. I was meeting Nina in Leicester Square, by the discount ticket booth Sean told us was there. What I hadn't counted on was a One Direction premier happening in the center of the square. I got off the tube and was overwhelmed by a swarm of screaming girls.
Thankfully, I had plenty of time to find Nina in the mess, since I was early. When it appeared she was not there yet, I took a walk down to Covent Garden. I found myself going into quite a few book stores along the way. In that area there are theaters everywhere, and many discount ticket offices. I stopped by one and bought myself an expensive ticket to The Lion King and the London Dungeon. On my way back to meet Nina I stopped and bought some cheap Chinese food. I didn't eat much of it, because it wasn't very good. I threw away the leftovers and went back to waiting by the discount ticket office in Leicester Square. It was very hard to see anything but One Direction fans. I placed myself next to one of the security guys, because he seemed like one of the only people around who cared just as little about One Direction as I did. I chatted with him while keeping an eye out for Nina. I never found her, and was unable to contact her. Eventually I did, and it turns out she had looked for me, given up, and gone off to do something else. I asked if she still wanted me to buy tickets and she said yes, if I could find them within her price range.
The cheapest Wicked tickets I had managed to find all day were at the theater itself, and that was a more than a couple tube stops away. I prayed the tickets I had found earlier would still be available when I got there. Rushing the whole time, I managed to get the tickets, which were only slightly over Nina's price range. I figured I could pay the extra five euros. On my way back to Hounslow I sat in Green Park and wrote down my plan for the next couple of days, jotting down financial notes as I did. I got irritated when a man decided to stop and talk to me, calling me "special girl" and refusing to leave me alone even when I looked at his friend pleadingly. Eventually he left, after a couple of rude comments from me. I got on the underground and took the long ride to Hounslow Central.
I stopped at a grocery store on my way to Sean's house, asking someone on the way how to get there. It was easy to find, it turns out, and I bought more food than I probably needed. Gluten free crumpets? Yum. On the way out of the grocery store parking lot I somehow got turned around and ended up very lost. I went in circles for quite a while until I finally found someone who could point me in the right direction. When I finally got back to the house Sean was sitting on the couch with the new couchsurfing guest, Tonia from China. We all sat around talking for a while. Tonia had brought some rose wine, which I had some of with my dinner. I did a load of laundry, hung it up to dry and went to sleep.
The next day I had a giant breakfast of corn flakes, crumpets with jam, orange juice and coffee. I packed myself an equally large lunch and left in time to hopefully see the changing of the guard, this time with a better view. Turns out the changing of the guard didn't happen on that day, so, feeling a bit disappointed, I walked around St. James Park and stumbled upon some other sort of guard ceremony was going on. I took a video that sadly got lost in the depths of my phone and then walked to see The Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I had part of my packed lunch on a bench with a wonderful view of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, bought a delightful postcard at the tourist shop nearby and then took the tube to go have lunch with Tonia.
Tonia was working not too far from Leicester Square, some sort of internship I never asked much about. She had been working there for a couple of weeks, however, so she knew exactly where to eat. She brought me to this cute little hipster-y sandwich place. Since I had already eaten and had more packed for later, I just bought myself a chai tea late and sat down with Tonia. I think the chai made me sick, but it was delicious. I finished up the rest of my little ham sandwich, banana, carrots, peach yogurt and cookies. Then Tonia and I took a quick shopping trip to TK Maxx, a store that is exactly like TJ Maxx, but in London. I bought a dress there, and then Tonia had to go back to work, so we parted ways, planning to meet up again that night for some fun. After Wicked, of course.
Unable to help myself, I bought a ticket to Matilda shortly after lunch, thoroughly depleting my funds. Looking for nothing in particular and feeling incredibly broke, I walked into bookstores and gift shops, thankfully finding very little that I wanted to buy except a funny condom with an interesting drawing of one of the Queen's guard on the wrapper. That would be a gift for someone, and I had yet to decide who. I sat down and did my finances, knowing that if I was going out that night after the show than I was going to spend. I had to figure out how much I could spend without having nothing for the next few days. It seemed a little tight, but I figured I could manage with the groceries I had bought for a while, so I bought a ticket to a pub crawl that Tonia and I wanted to go to.
With plenty of time to kill before Wicked, I decided to go to the bus stop and get my ticket to Bath for the next day and Dublin to catch my plane home. I planned on also getting a ticket to Salisbury to see Stonehenge, but the timing of the tickets didn't work out at all. Outside of the Apollo Victoria theater I looked around desperately for Nina, remembering the hours searching for her the day before and feeling nervous about missing the show as people filed in. Finally, she got there, and we took our seats just in time. The show was amazing. Definitely one of my favorite shows of all time.
The only problem was it went on longer than I had estimated, Tonia was waiting for me and my cell phone had very little charge. Parting ways with Nina for the last time, I rushed to Leicester Square once again and looked around for Nina where she said she was going to be. She wasn't there, and I started to panic as my phone lost all charge. Then she came running up, followed by one of the pub crawl leaders, and they led me on to meet with the rest. We went to a couple of clubs with the pub crawl, one that was not too bad and one that was much too big and crowded. Somewhere in there I lost my hat, which was incredibly sad. Then we decided to leave and go somewhere else on our own. We were joined by one one of the other pub crawlers, David. I didn't get a chance to know him all that well, and didn't even learn his name until the end of the night, but the three of us had a great time together.
We went to a gay club. It was small, with good music and fun people. David had no problem getting hit on, and I loved that I wasn't getting hit on nearly as much. Tonia ended up making out with the one other woman in the club, if you don't include the hilarious drag queen who was standing outside. We danced for hours, and I accepted more than a couple of free drinks from David before I let him down by saying I had a boyfriend. He was a very nice guy, and maybe I'll meet him again someday. Tonia and I took the bus back to Hounslow, since the underground was closed. We were both exhausted, and it was a very long, very uncomfortable bus ride. Finally I fell into bed for a lovely two hours of sleep.
I woke up at six in the morning to get ready for my bus to Bath. It had rained during the night, so all of my laundry had gotten more soaked as opposed to dry. I packed some in a plastic bag, along with whatever I had from the day before that I could wear again. It was nice to be able to leave most of my things at Sean's house, knowing I would be back. Tonia and I had a fun time telling Sean about our adventures of the night. I packed as much food as I could fit in my bag and got on the tube to Victoria station.
The bus to Bath felt longer than it was. I was so tired and I couldn't get a wink of sleep, because there was a small child screaming the whole way. Bath was worth it, though. The small city is absolutely beautiful. I especially loved the street musicians and just staring at the architecture. Because of my lack of sleep, I had a very hard time finding my hostel. I kept walking right by it, missing the sign on the door because it was also a sign for a bar. Turns out you have to check in at the bar--which is where the breakfast would be in the morning--and then you get your key to a little back door that has no sign at all. Despite all the confusion, it ended up being a very nice hostel. In the lounge on the top floor I could sit on a little red couch and have a wonderful view of the city.
When I first got there I left my bag with the guy at the bar and walked around the city. I went into a few gift shops and bought a postcard and a ticket for a Stonehenge day trip the next day. I was so happy I would get to see it after all. I saw the Roman baths, which had a audioguide narrated partially by Bill Bryson. I listened to more street music, continued to wander, and stumbled upon an absolutely adorable little Tea Shop advertising gluten free lemon cake. Of course I had to go in. I got some tea and cake served by girls in white aprons and bonnets and spent a while sitting and updating my blog.
Back at the hostel, sitting in that odd little lounge, I ate microwaved leftover pasta and promptly got a stomach ache. I rested for a little while, but I didn't want to miss any more of Bath than I had to, so I headed back out to do a Comedy Walk a couple of people had told me about. It was definitely an interesting tour, with absolutely no real information and more than a couple of really bad jokes. Still, I enjoyed it. I got to see more of Bath, and see a strange man in a purple suit throw a stuffed bunny tied with chains into the river, only for it to appear on land once again. He also loved to make fun of the small children, knowing they wouldn't understand a word of what he was saying. The funniest part of the tour turned out to be a crazy guy riding by on a bicycle, wearing a hood on his head, yelling and shouting. The unexpected spectacle happened at the perfect time, when our purple adorned guide was wearing a blindfold and wandering around the street. It could almost have been planned, if it had made any sense.


Long overdue but worth the wait.
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