Where to start? For everyone who's been asking for details of our trip, I really want to do this justice. Going to break it into different sections (blogs) and recount what I can.
Hours after the Alarm Debacle, I woke up and went downstairs to a table full of homemade meuslix, toast, bagels, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, yogurt, milk, orange juice, coffee, and silent stares all giving me the "What the hell happened?" look that has been all-too-familiar to me throughout my entire life. Breakfast was fantastic. Auntie Margaret is a bit of a health nut, so we were only fed the absolute best during our stay.
We caught the noon British Rail from Sydenham Hill into Victoria, and the moment we walked out of the station, there it was - London! All of these fabulous old buildings made of stone featuring intricate carvings, but also technological ad boards and banners for plays everywhere (i.e. Wicked.) Heritage and modernity all mixed together into something cohesive. Kind of.
After first finding the Currency Exchange ($100 got you 51 GBP - ouch), we walked all the way to Buckingham Palace (didn't see the Queen), then to Trafalgar Square, and finally to Westminster Abbey. It was 12 quid to take the tour, but everybody felt like it'd be worth it, so we spent the next 2-3 hours of our lives there walking around, checking everything out, and enjoying the complimentary handheld audio commentary. Soothing, rich and dignified British voices made you feel sophisticated-by-association. Just listening to them made me worried that I'd start saying words like "delightful" and "extrorrrrdinary" [sic] regularly, or that the cadence of my speech would change or something.
Anyhow... it was so wild to be standing in this church of which certain sections were over 900 years old, seeing the tombs of various kings, queens, and other notables. So much history in one place. I was overwhelmed. And now I've got a wishlist a mile long of different British history books available from that great curator we all know and love - Barnes & Noble.
I am now officially an aspiring history buff.
SIDE NOTE: For any of my friends who are the type that get easily discouraged, depressed, or impassioned about how "imperialistic" America is... I've got good news: we're not alone. Turns out that we're not the first society to be contaminated by different ethnicities, political institutions, and religious sects fighting for cultural hegemony. Maybe it has less to do with capitalism and more to do with human nature.
One curiosity at Westminster Abbey was a shrine to the Father of Evolution, Charles Darwin.
After Westminster, we walked past Big Ben and Parliament, and as predicted, weren't able to do it without hearing Clark Griswold quoted several times ad nauseum. But if you're there, why not, right?
We had plans to meet up with Owen and Chris's cousin, Ben Thomas, at 5PM for dinner, but everybody was STARVING. So we looked around for snacks to hold us over. I picked Starbucks - had a blueberry muffin (A+) and what was the absolute worst grande mocha ever - "I can't tell if this is a mocha or a hot chocolate. It doesn't taste like it has any espresso in it." Epic Coffee Fail. (No big deal.) We hung out on the steps for a bit and then walked to the London Eye.
Now, the platform along the River Thames was filled with all sorts of performance artists, doing all kinds of whacky sh*t. Most were downright laughable, but some were good. I thought about tipping a guy, but remembered that that would cost me 2-to-1. As long as the American Dollar is this weak, I'm not tipping you heartily unless you set yourself on fire.
Eventually, Ben Thomas showed up, and it was excellent to finally meet him. His brother, Robert, came to America years ago, traveled around with us for several weeks, and was a total riot the entire time, but I'd only heard stories of Ben up to this point.
Robert showed up about 30 mins later, and the two took us out to enjoy a few pints.
British brews are STRONG. You gotta be careful. Especially if you're working on a (mostly) empty stomach. I wasn't so careful. I instantly got a lot more talkative than usual.
Two pints in, Ben and Robert's sister (Lucy) showed up. Bright girl. Really nice to finally meet her as well. And from there, we were off to have pizza at this cool little place called ASK. "If you want something, all you have to do is... "
After dinner, they showed us the way back to the station, and we boarded the train back to Sydenham Hill. The walk back from the station was only a few blocks, but there was this absolutely BRUTAL hill to climb that we would have to endure several times during our stay in London. My calf muscles were on fire by the end of it.
Given all the walking around all day, I thought getting to bed would be a cinch, but I just lay awake in bed all night long, thinking, "Great... we've gotta be up in a few hours to pack and catch a plane to Sweden." I finally dozed off, but 45 minutes later, was awoken by Owen saying, "Thombo... it's time to rock."
-- Thom
