Illegitimate Sun

Sorry for the late post, but the internet was broken in the hostel.

Tuesday got off to a late start with me over-sleeping the complimentary toast & tea in the hostel.

I decided to try a traditional English breakfast. For those who haven’t tried it, an English breakfast is two eggs (extremely runny), sausage, English bacon, toast, & the whole mess smothered in pork n’ beans. It’s like a breakfast slinger; I had mine with tea. Surprisingly, the beans were quite good for breakfast, but the eggs & sausage were slimy & greasy – weighing me down. I resolved to wake each day in time for toast & tea.

After breakfast, I made my way down to the London Eye, the world’s largest ferris wheel. The sky was a calm blue, the first since my arrival. The view was amazing and I snapped even more photos of Big Ben and the Thames. The only problem with the photos is distortion from the glass pods we rode in. I’ll have to wait & see.

Westminster Abbey was next. There are too many sites inside to describe, but the seats for the Knights of Bath were my favorite. The scrollwork, banners, standards, & pageantry were fascinating. Pictures weren’t allowed so you all will have to come here and see for yourselves.

Last was the Globe Theater. Yeah, I’m a Shakespeare freak, but I think this museum/theater would be entertaining for everyone. Following interactive displays that discussed Elizabethan stagecraft and a healthy dose of bear-baiting, you’re lead into a tour of the theater by one of the permanent employees. Apparently, the Globe is not funded by the government (surprisingly) and it is a private foundation that rebuilt the theater and opens it to the public. In fact, the whole structure is not complete, with classrooms and other useful items having been left until more funding can be secured. The foundation focused on rebuilding the theater first and added attractions later. They even had to fight several court battles to utilize the land.

The theater itself is gorgeous. Hardwood & thatch, marble painting, and gorgeous lighting. The sun was just beginning to set, which lent a warmth to stage and hid the upper seats in shadows from my groundling point of view.

On my way out, I donated money to purchase a brick for the unfinished education center.

By the end of the day, I was pretty tuckered out. Apparently, I’ve been putting on some hard miles and my right boot has cracked and the stitching is tearing. Worse, it rubbed off part of my pinky toe. (The blood-soaked sock was a nasty surprise.) I’ve grabbed a band-aid and keep trudging.

After such a long day, all I wanted was to relax in the pub and hit the sheets early. I began chatting with a Irish girl there. Never did catch her name. We were trading touring stories (She’s been to Israel & Africa), when suddenly another Irish girl (drunk Maggie) lands in my lap and starts shouting at me.

“For god’s sake man, you’ve got two hands. Why aren’t you using them? Where’s your omph-omph? Where’s the meatloaf (meat love)?”

Turns out Maggie is the sister of – and was determined to set her up for the night. (Maggie had her own beau picked out and her sister wouldn’t let her go off on her own.)

After wrestling myself away from one Irish lass, the other gave me a goodnight kiss and dragged her sister home.

After that, I was ready for bed.

Later on, I’ll talk of my trip to the British Library, the Magna Carta and the First Folio

Joshua
1:45 London Time