London Town
So London was amazing!
Flew out Friday night from Galway (teeny-tiny airport, but they actually frisked me at security which only had two guards and one working metal detector). Flew in to London Luton, where a 16 passenger bus picked us up. Which was covered in rock posters and memorobilia and had blue lighting inside. Crazy. We listened to the Beatles at first, then the driver switched on the radio. And we listened to the British version of NPR tell us about the Trail of Tears and the plight of the Cherokees in America. Umm, wow.
Got to the hotel sometime past 11, couldn't find Chaelee. She was in an entirely different hotel, this one right in front of the British Museum where ours was SUPPOSED to be, according to the directors. Fortunately she managed to find a switchboard opperator who actually helped her, so I got a message from her at my hotel and was able to call her back. We chatted until about one in her hotel, and it was fabulous to catch up.
Saturday started off with a horrible continental breakfast. I had cereal and buns, because the only other choice was toast which tasted like rubber. Then we were off to the Tower of London. Pretty damn cool. Chaelee met me there, so we walked all over it together. Had lunch at the cafe there, then off on a bus tour. It was neat to look out and see so much of London, which is a gorgeous city filled with old architecture and new. We stopped at one point to get the obligatory pictures with the guards, walking past Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace for some more pics. We drove around some more, stopped at Westminster Abbey quickly, and then were back at the hotel by 4:30.
So I met up again with Chaelee, and we went to the West End, and saw SPAMALOT!!!! It was absolutely amazing. Cost me 45 pounds, but we had good seats downstairs, and hey, when will I be in London next? My face absolutely hurt from smiling and laughing for 2 and 1/2 hours. After that we went back to her hotel and had double stuffed oreos, curtesy of her mom, and talked until the neighbors started banging on the wall.
Sunday was quite fun. We left to go to the London Eye by tube. And we were really late. So they told us to take the stairs..which were medieval circular stairs from hell, which we RAN down. And ended up on platform one, when we needed platform 2. And left behind half the group and both directors. So we ran back up, and over, and found platform 2, but no one was there. So we got on there, and decided we'd switch at Green Park to the Jubilee line. We had to be at the Eye for 11, so when we got off, we were RUNNING through the tube station, only to find out the Jubilee line was closed. So back we ran, and found our director, Kevin, and the rest of the group, just arriving. Back to the Piccadilly line and switch to Bakerloo, to get off at Waterloo, to get to the Eye.
Which was fantastic. Imagine a gigantic ferris wheel with these big pods you can stand in, that takes you so high up, you can see all of London stretching before you (huge! no end in sight!). Chaelee called when I was at the top, and we agreed to meet at Big Ben which was right across the river. So off I go on the bridge, to get close enough to spit on Big Ben. Then we walked past Westminster, and the Abbey, and went to Trafalger Square, dedicated to the venerable Nelson. We went into the National Portrait Gallery for a while (most musuems are FREE in London. You just walk right in. Insane). At one point when walking around we passed some more guards, these ones on horseback! So I walked right up and was letting the horse nuzzle my hand. Fingers flat!
Then we walked around Pall Mall a bit, jumped on the tube to get to Oxford Circus, and went shopping on Oxford Street. Drool. Amazing. And incredibly crowded. I bought a nice wallet at United Colors of Benetton, and that was it. I was a good girl. We went to eat at this cute little place called Garfunkels.
Then it was back on the tube to King's Cross Station, to get pictures of us at Platform 9 and 3/4. They have a trolley half submerged into the wall there, very cute. Back on the tube to finish our day off at the British Museum (WOW) where I found the stone Assyrian murals from Ninevah showing the lion hunt that my art history teacher spent an hour on when I was a freshman.
We left the hotel at 6 by bus to get to the airport, leaving by way of Camden Town (market area and music mecca). Then got on the highway and slowed to a crawl. For an hour. Finally we got to Luton and ran to check in. Bathroom stops were urgent, so we got through security and ran to that as well. (This was about 8:20, our flight left at 9). After this, I notice that I have Ashley's name on my boarding pass, not mine. And she has her name on her pass. So when I tried to get on the plane, they almost didn't let me because my passport and boarding pass names didn't match. (NOT my fault, pay more attention airline employees, instead of talking to your coworkers when checking peopel in!)
So we're on the plane, 72 people, full up, and we're not leaving. And we're not leaving. It turns out that they were counting 72 bodies on the plane, but since I had someone else's name, and Libby did as well, only 70 NAMES had checked in. So they couldn't figure out who was missing, because there were 72 BODIES on board. Finally they call Libby's and my name, and we had to ring the little Help from Stewards button, so the ENTIRE plane could stare at us in accusation. (Not our fault!)
Finally we left, and got back in Galway a little after 11, to a windy and rainy night. Cabs back to Menlo, where I had a piece of toast with jam smeared on it (by fork, no knives were clean) and collapsed into bed.
Today dawned with gale force winds, but at least it's not raining! So off to Dunnes for food, and soon I have to be in class. What a weekend!