"Yes, London. You know fish, chips, cup ‘o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary f*ing Poppins… LONDON!"
*WARNING – RIDICULOUSLY LONG*
Starting a ‘blog’ is always difficult as I really don’t like them in general. So I sit and try to think of a manner by which I can write something entertaining, yet keep it from seeming completely self-indulgent. Hopefully this works to that end. I recently got back from a 2 day excursion in London, flying in late Monday night and back early Thursday morning. Unfortunately I only had 2 full days there. My wallet disagrees and says it was a good thing I was only there for 2 days, but the rest of me was ticked.
I went to visit my good mate Simon, a London-born chap who I met when we were both on missions in Siena, Italy (I’m smiling to myself at how ridiculous that sounded). Simon’s a good guy who’s actually the mastermind behind the up and coming band Kid and Conundrum, so it was a good thing I got to visit him before he’s too famous to remember me anymore. For the moment he’s teaching languages at a Catholic school in Guildford, south of London, but soon he’ll be traveling the world rocking to his own tunes and the screams of thousands of adoring fans.
He picked me up at London-Gatwick, an airport also south of London, and we went to his parents’ house in Epsom to spend the night. I thought I’d get used to cars driving on the left side of the road while I was there… I didn’t. My mind was repeatedly blown as every instinct in my body screamed “WE’RE GONNA DIE!!” at every turn.
On Tuesday we went to London by train and walked from the Victoria station towards Buckingham palace. Unfortunately my batteries were already nearly dead, and I'd left my spares at Simon's parents' place. So my apologies for the rough photos from day one, I was trying to conserve battery life (and thank God they lasted all day) by using the little viewfinder, etc. But back to Buckingham Palace. We just happened to time it right to catch the changing of the guard, which was cool but disappointing as there were no guards in their tall fuzzy hats that day. It must have been casual Tuesday.
We continued on through St. James’s Park towards Parliament Square where we saw the Houses of Parliament/Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Eye of London, and a lot of statues. From there we walked down Whitehall towards the old offices of the Admiralty and the Horse Guards. We timed it right, again, to see the changing of the guards there as well.
From there we went to Trafalgar Square and saw Nelson’s Column. I rode a Lion, and we proceeded into the National Gallery to saturate our brains with fine art. It was really impressive, and the cheapest experience we had at the price of free. We left the Gallery and sought out one of my ‘must do’s for lunch: Fish and Chips. We landed on the Princess of Wales, a decently priced pub that specializes in sausages. So while Simon nommed some sausage I went to town on my Fish and Chips. Note here that in Britain by Fish and Chips they mean a huge honking chunk of fish with a marginal amount of chips, quite unlike home. It was delicious.
After lunch we caught the Underground at Charing Cross and sped to Covent Garden to see the performers and the famous market. The themed performers were sweet, though Cathy apparently thinks they’re creepy, while the more traditional ones (magicians, jugglers, etc.) were a bit more on the weak side. They dragged everything on waaay too long and used the same jokes as their competition. For example, when another audience somewhere else would cheer or laugh the performer we were watching would invariably say “You hear that? They’re watching the DVD of my performance yesterday!” To which I always wanted to reply “If your show’s so good that people would come to a market to watch the DVD why aren’t they here watching the real thing right now?”
Of course some Americans had to show up in ridiculous hats and stand out like sore thumbs to attract too much attention. Those kids must think the world hates Americans.
From there we went to Greenwich, passing under the sixth tallest building in Europe, Canary Wharf to get there. Unfortunately the Royal Observatory closed right as we arrived, so we didn’t get a chance to go inside. But I did get the chance to stand on the Prime Meridian and look confused as to what time it was. Clever, I know.
After the Observatory we walked around a bit and investigated the maritime feel of the area, seeing the world’s fastest boat (at the time it was built) under repair near the Thymes; and unfortunately under a tarp as well. The thing had a ton of masts, and apparently was set on fire by an arsonist recently. We also saw a squirrel sitting on a sign by the old Naval College, it was sweet.
After Greenwich we went to see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge near the new city hall. Apparently London hasn’t had a mayor in... well forever, and the recently elected one went ahead and built himself an egg-shaped city hall to kick off his career. Although, granted, it does look a bit cooler than an egg since it apparently got partially blown over during its construction.
From there we went to a pub in Camden Town to have dinner and watch a football (soccer) match between Liverpool and Milan INT. It was a tight game the whole time, and since Liverpool is Simon’s team it was pretty fun to watch. From there we went to a bar where a band was playing and enjoyed the live music (but didn’t enjoy my beer, tasted like liquid bread; don’t drink John Smith beer, it’s as generic as its name).
From there we headed back to Epsom and hit the sack after a long day of walking and tube-riding (the underground (the subway) in London). On Wednesday we got up a little later as we really needed the rest, and headed back into London to get a better look at the Tower of London. We got distracted by WWI and WWII monuments, and then the oldest church in London, but finally made it to the Tower.
We started out with a guided tour given by a Yeoman (a Beefeater) who was absolutely hilarious. He started the tour by explaining the moat (which is huge, 40 meters across) and how it used to be put to use. Just as he got finished describing a defeat handed to the French (but we don’t talk like that anymore, he said with a smirk, because we’re all great friends. Aren’t we?) a group of 50 or so French kids started making ridiculous amounts of noise behind him.
They were actually so loud that he had to pause when they yelled. This is actually impressive considering he was a Sergent Major and was standing right in front of us.Finally he went over and took some other guards and told them to behave in, I’m sure, less than kind words. We proceeded from there to get a basic, colorful tour of the Tower and its battlements. Various executions and tales of torture were told along with the history and significance of each section of the tower. It was incredible; the amount of history in the thousand-year-old tower is mind boggling.
You know those situations when all you needed was a gun but you couldn't find one? This is where they were.
An early attempt at psychological warfare. If you don't understand don't worry, you don't want to be intimidated anyways.
Part of an arrow shooting competition thing in the museum. All you need to know: I won.
White Tower, the centerpiece and oldest bit, was built by William the Conqueror on the site of an old Roman fort in 1066 after he won the Battle of Hastings. Ever since then they’ve been adding onto it and making it more imposing; at least up until the 18th century, when explosives made their defenses redundant at best. Now known in its entirety as the Tower of London it’s also the home of the crown jewels, which we also got to see.
Photos beyond this point weren't allowed. Actually this might not have been allowed either, but... well too late I guess.
We spent almost the entire day at the Tower of London. The Beefeater we got a picture with was nice enough, though he didn't want a hug from Simon. Tough guy. Afterwards we went to Brick Lane where we ate at a curry house called The Monsoon.
Supposedly London’s Indian food is the best in the world, even better than in India, and I’d believe it after our meal. Although I guess I've never been to India... it was great. The way it works on Brick Lane, though we only got a minor experience of it, is that as you walk down the street (which is saturated in curry houses) and the restaurant owners/workers will come out and try to convince you to eat in their restaurant by offering free drinks, dishes, or discounts, whatever. And then you decide which one you want to eat at based off the deals offered and whether or not there are other people eating there (empty Indian restaurants can be scary things).
After dinner we headed to a concert in an underground venue to see Peter and the Wolf. They were amazing, I loved their music. We also saw part of another act called Mumford and Sons who were really good as well.
And so, after rocking out there we headed home. I got to bed at about 2am and got back up around 4:30am to catch my flight. And that’s about it. London is great, I could probably live there (assuming I could afford it) with ease, just a cool and lively place. Thanks to Simon again for the hospitality and great two-day whirlwind tour, can’t wait to come back and visit you again. And to the rest of you, London is sweet, go there.
