...I made it to the Thames after checking out the Somerset house (where I'm pretty sure Vantage Point was filmed) and saw the skyline 360 view from Waterloo bridge. Breathtaking. London Eye down south, Tate Modern across the water, the Gherkin building in the distance.
I walked across and stepped inside Waterloo station. Grabbed a drink at a cafe inside (SO hot and humid still) and sat down to watch the people shuffling to their trains. A pretty looking girl sat down two seats from me, and I "asked her the time" to start the conversation. She had spent some time in London with some friends and was waiting for a train to take her down near Brighton for a job. She had ordered white wine and received red from the same cafe. It was her 22nd birthday.
I finished my drink and continued through the South End to my hostel. It was called the Dover Castle Hostel and was situation above a bar. I was put on the third floor (which in America would have been the fourth, as their first floor is simply called the "ground floor"). It was still hot. I went downstairs to order the special drinks they had, and soon found out that Cider is very popular here. Definitely a little too sweet compared to what I was expecting.
I decided to walk down to the river walk to see what the Tower Bridge looked like during nighttime. It's beautiful. And I'm pretty sure I saw it for the last time it had the Olympic rings, as they were not there the following day. There was also an exhibition that had been set up called "Perspectives" in which photographs of major traumatic events in the world were displayed. Some of the captions sent shivers up my spine. It contained pictures of starving children, wars, 9/11 images (of the people watching, not the event itself, which were some haunting images), British troops in Iraq, the earthquake in the Philippines, and more. Very cool. There were fountains in the ground which were still on, too, at 2230, and people were still playing in them, partly because it was so warm still. I got my first Guinness in Europe at a pub on my way back to the hostel, watched part of a James Bond film in the lounge, and went to bed.
The next day I decided to do the major touristy things: got my "Oyster Card" to be able to ride the Tube and headed over to the London Eye, Big Ben, St. James Park (filled with birds and pelicans), Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Hyde Park (which was filled with monuments and stuff still set up from the Olympics), the official Olympic shop, and Harrod's (the largest shopping store in London, possibly the Empire). Harrod's was awesome, as was when I was 11. I found the HoverDisc thing I had when I was a kid, clothes that I could possibly never afford, and got myself lost. Very fun. I stopped by the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square, saw some Rembrandt's and had my picture taken with the lion statues.
My next stop was SoHo and Chinatown, where I spent most of the rest of the day. There was the M&M store which was four stories high, and the premiere of Keith Lemon (a British comedian with a reputation that looks like a rehashed version of Austin Powers) which brought David Hasselhoff and some well known British stars that the two teens standing next to me on the fence were raving about. I headed back to the hostel to grab some pants and a decent shirt, then went back to SoHo to see The Bourne Legacy at what was apparently a really nice theatre. I got to choose between salty and sweet popcorn, which was cool. I didn't get popcorn. There was also beers, wines, and spirits to choose from. I didn't get alcohol. I bought an orange Fanta and took my seat in the theatre (which had three tiers of seating!).
After the movie I wandered into Chinatown, where I found a nice, three story Irish bar (bottom floor: seating/bar, second floor: dancefloor/ bar/ live rock band playing some awesome classics from late 90s and early 2000s, and the third floor was a top floor open balcony) which was all overrun with some Australians and some French girls. That was entertaining for a while. I stopped by the Underground to head back to the South End, but Tube was apparently done for the day. I took a big red bus home and crashed.
The next morning I missed breakfast at the hostel, which was alright, I needed the sleep. I grabbed breakfast at a grocery store and enjoyed it at the RiverWalk. It was a really pleasant morning. I had all my gear with me, but when I stopped into the Tate Modern I was able to check my bags. The Tate Modern is filled with (imagine this) REALLY modern art. I have been waiting for the day I would see a pile of feces on a pedestal and be told it was art. Tuesday, the 21st of August, 2012, at about 11am, was that fateful day.
I took the Tube over to the Tower of London and wandered around the grounds a bit, then headed over to the station to be taken by the bus. I missed the first bus, so had to take the Underground to the other station, but I caught the bus eventually. Wound up in Cambridge, walked around some more after some more confusion, but eventually made it to Brooke's place. We grabbed a (fantastic) burger from the "Trailer of Life" and met up with some people at the canal for some beers. Had a nice chat about life at Cambridge, the work they had done, and what it's like to be going home soon (which was kindof weird). Came back to her place and crashed on her floor. :) Slept rather well.
More on Cambridge to come later! :) Goodnight everyone
No comments:
Post a Comment