Illegitimate Sun

Archive for the ‘London’ Category

Friday was an experience London as a local day. I spent the morning reading the Financial Times and sipping tea. The afternoon was spent browsing the department stores and seeing all the Christmas window displays. Do you remember the displays in that movie Mannequin? Well, they really do displays like that here.

Harrods had several windows that each were based on a James Bond film.

Tonight, I looking at going to a club tonight with Canadians girls I met last night. I need to rest up.

Ta,

Joshua

8:15 London Time

Another late post.

The British Library is a treasure for all who visit. The range of original works is amazing. The Lindisfarne Bible, First Folio, the Magna Carta, even letters and drafts from Byron & Eliot. After seeing most of this work, I felt a lot better about my own handwriting. I also cursed my inability to read Latin.

Next came the British Museum. Egyptian relics, the Elgin Marbles & Sutton Hoo were all highlights in this overwhelming museum. I was surprised by the enormity of some of the relics. Individually they weighed tons, yet somebody saw enough value to cart these monstrous works of art to England from lands abroad.

Lastly on Wednesday, I ran through Harrods, mostly to find some new shoes. It truly is a store for ladies and gentlemen (with the wallet to match.) It was a little pricey for me but was interesting never-the-less.

During the day, I began getting a cold so I crashed early to try and nip it in the bud.

The next, I had a cold in full force.

Instead of going through boutique shop after shop, I elected to just track down Marks & Spencer and get some new shoes.

I can appreciate why the Puritans built their new towns on a grid pattern. The map here is a madhouse with no pattern whatsoever.

Eventually I tracked down M&S, picked up some new shoes (42?), breakfast and hit the road to Trafalger Square.

There, in a haze of pigeons, I was attacked by a hawk. Literally. Apparently they fly hawks around the square to chase off the thousands of pigeons in the area. This hawk mistook my head for a perch. The next thing I know, wings are beating my face and something is clutching my hair & ear. You would not believe how fast the Bobbys were on me apologizing and freeing me from their bird.

Finally was the National Gallery. I quickly gave up on looking at every picture and still spent 4 hours gazing at works by Raphael, Titian, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Turner, Seurat, & a host of others.

Well, I’ve got to go. For some reason, the barmaids in the attached pub are dressed like Catholic school girls.

Signing off,

Joshua
7:00 London Time

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

There’s a lot going on, try to keep up.

My twenty minute walk in the rain last night lead to neither towels nor an umbrella.

I was on the Tower Bridge during a thunder storm, a frightening, beautiful moment.

I was soaking wet when I returned, this leads us to travel lesson number 1) Creative Uses for a T-Shirt.

Passibly dry, I went to the pub for a night of cider, kaoroke, & the movie “Oceans Eleven” all going on at the same time.

Today, after a breakfast of toast & tea (all that was available), three Americans – Adam, Maggie, & Gloria – and myself all attended the Changing of the Guard.

We took a detour through Hyde Park and stopped at Speakers Corner. I gave a rousing oration on the merits of the metric system, but the crowd was apathetic.

The Guard Changing was stately, ceremonial, and crowded. All was going well until the official marching band broke out in the “Star Wars” theme. I ended up rolling in the streets. In spite of the hilarity, I think I got some good photos of the horse guard riding down the street and the black taxis that were zooming past them.

After a lunch of fish & chips at The Slug and Lettuce. I split from the group and headed to the House of Parliment.

Photos don’t sufficiently portray the complex nature of architecture involved here. A gothic panorama frames the passing river. I was overwhelmed. I did my best to add to the dirth of inadequate pictures and moved on to the London Aquarium.

Fish

More fish

I grabbed a ticket to the London Eye for tomorrow. More later on this.

The next two hours were spent looking for a towel. I’m convinced that London only sells novelty souveniers, stationary, hair care products, and cell phones. No store carried more than one type of product and all of it was something I didn’t need. Even locals had no idea where I should go. Harrods probably got there reputation simply by carrying stuff people actually needed. My final solution was to buy a Travel Towel in a camping store for 15?. (There’s a ? symbol on my keyboard, damn.)

Shooting back to the hostel for a dinner meeting, the train I was on became stuck. Over the course of the next hour, I got to talking with Margherita, the Polish-by-way-of-Italy young lady crammed into the train next to me. She spoke fluent Polish and Italian, a was learning English. I happen to be learning English as well. When the train was finally moving again, I invited to her grab a drink and we spent an enjoyable two hours practicing her English in a nearby bar. She gave me some great tips on Italian restaurants.

After field testing my new towel in the hot tub & sauna, I meet another American – Jessica – and we went down to All Bar One for a wine and custard pudding.

A full day; I’m going to bed.

11:30 in London

P.S.: I’ve typed this post three time and payed out 3? for internet access. I’ve either got to post less or see less. I think we know the answer to that quandry.

I have arrived!

Impressions of the trip:
Detroit has neat airport; it’s like a upscale mall. It also has an indoor tram that you can throw stuff at.
Northwest Airlines has the worst overseas flight service. How can you run out of tea on a flight to England?

In England:

Of course, I pick the wrong train coming into town. The schedule said it stopped at London Bridge, but it really went to Blackfriars. I decided it wasn’t that far to my hostel so I threw my pack on my shoulder and started hoofing it. Three things became apparent over the course of two miles:

1) I probably overpacked.
2) I did not pack my umbrella
3) Laminated maps are a good thing.

I also walked by the Globe & the Tate Gallery about this time.

Arriving at 11:00 AM, I was not able to check-in, but I did check my luggage and was off again.

I had lunch at a cafe built under Tower Hill, where they chopped off heads.

I toured the Tower. Our Beefeater guide was both graphic & funny in his story-telling. Bloody funny you might say.

The Crown Jewels were amazing, but I couldn’t attached a value to them. They were so ornate it bordered on gaudy and confused my sensibilities.

Erik – I saw a bill that also had a bayonet attached!

Kelly & Mom – I kept an eye out for Sharpes Rifle in the Armory museum, but they’ve been moved to a show in Leeds.

Right now, I’m about to venture back into the rain to buy myself an umbrella and a towel. (The irony is not lost on me.) Apparently, this hostel doesn’t supply towels like I read.

After that, its a pint for my birthday!

Cheers,

Joshua

[Posted 5:00 PM - London Time]