I'm beginning to find patterns in my days abroad. I wake up every morning (thank goodness), and my mother jumps in the shower first. After she is finished, I shower and get ready. We go downstairs to breakfast, I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast (the hotels usually have the same thing they offer), and I drink a few cups of coffee. Then, when we're finished, we come back up to our room, get ready for the days events (planning, dressing for the occasions, what camera to bring, etc), and then head out the door for the tube. It has been the same every morning since we've left pretty much. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I am a creature of habit, you see, and I think it makes me feel more comfortable to have these repetitions while I travel. Tomorrow, however, that is going to change. I will get to that in a bit, but first let me explain what we did today.
A quick side note: I have noticed a few things about this blog. 1) I have been typing less and less every night, and it seems that my mother is typing more and more. I am very excited to get back home and read her opinion and thoughts about our vacation. I just think that she must be putting a lot more detail into her chapters, and I think she must be doing a better job than me. 2) The format of the website has changed since my last blog, and with the new format it is possible to see how many views we've had. Now I want to say first and foremost that I am doing this blog for myself more than anything, so I can look back on this vacation whenever I want and remember everything about it. Having said that, it is amazing to see we've had almost 700 views since we left. I want to thank everyone for reading, I know you don't have to and it takes time out of your days, but it's nice to know your out there. Now having said that, I've also noticed (because it breaks it down by views per day) that our number of views each day has been dropping. I hope we're not boring anyone... are you still out there reading about our great adventures?
Anyway, I digress, so after our usual morning routine, we went down to the lobby to meet our guide for the morning. My work has utilized a guide here in London, Peter, for several years now, and because it would help me in my job, they had asked him to show my mother and I around for the morning (I know... my job is INCREDIBLY difficult). He was right on time, and he was fantastic. I know I say that about everything here, but it's always true. He was funny, witty, and extremely knowledgeable. He took us on an extremely fast tour of some major attractions here in London, explained them all in extensive detail, and all while making us laugh. He was a truly amazing guide and I can see why we continue to work with him.
He took us first to old London, explaining in detail that London used to only be 1 square mile just off of the Thames River, where the shale started. They couldn't lay foundation in medieval times, so they started the city of London on the river after the mud stopped and the shale started. From there, London expanded westward, which is why the further west your travel in London, the more modern the buildings become. So, we started off in old London at St Paul's Cathedral. He explained a great deal about the history of the cathedral, and took us inside and showed us the main areas. From there we crossed the 'Wobbly Bridge', which is the only bridge across the river that does not allow motorized vehicles. It's called the Wobbly Bridge because when it was built, it was so unstable it wobbled and many people were catapulted off of it before the city refortified it making it more sturdy.
From there we walked up the river and stopped off for some coffee. We continued onward until we reached Westminster Bridge, Peter pointing out different buildings and areas of London, explaining more history and architecture along the way. We then went over to Westminster Abby, where we were given a tour of the grounds and the outside of the building. Peter then led us to the bus stop and showed us the proper bus to get on to get to Trafalgar Square, we said our goodbyes and then went our separate ways. (I rode a city bus! A big red one! And we sat on the 2nd floor! And we didn't get lost or get off at the wrong stop! It makes me feel a little more comfortable for tomorrow, but I'll get to that in a moment.)
Once back in Trafalgar Square, my mother and I walked over to The Crypt. It is a cafe in the Church Saint Martin-in-the-Fields. It is located in an actual crypt and the tables and chairs are situated on centuries old tombstones. It was good food and not too expensive (which I finding in London is not that easy to come by). We finished eating and then made our way back to the tube station in the area and went to Harrods, a shopping complex and place to get High Tea while in London. Now, I didn't really know what to expect when going to Harrods, but I'm glad I went there. It is a little to ritzy for me in terms of shopping (we're talking Sacks 5th Ave types of shops) but it has great tea, and a nice dining area on the upper floor with a decent view.
From Harrods, we made our way down the street to the Victoria & Albert Museum. This museum is another that I think is on par with the British Museum. It is free of charge, and full of ancient artifacts from all over the world. They have changing exhibits that you can visit for a small fee, but the majority of the museum (ancient Rome, The Renaissance, ancient Asia, etc) is free and fascinating. After we looked around the museum a while we decided to head back to our hotel a little earlier than normal, due to the impending strike about to take place.
We decided it'd be best to get our train tickets for the airport today so they didn't sell out before tomorrow. The tube station by our hotel just happens to also be a train station which we were told would not also be affected by the strike, that it would just be the tubes. Well, when we went to buy our tickets, the train station (which charges 1/2 the price) told us they would not be operating tomorrow either, and that we would have to take the Heathrow Express (which is faster but more expensive). So we left that area, went to the Heathrow Express line, and asked the clerk for 2 tickets for tomorrow morning, to which she replied 'we are operating limited hours tomorrow due to the strike so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get there'. When we asked what hours are they operating, she said she had no idea! Perfect, just wonderful, the only good thing is that we don't have to be at the airport tomorrow, we're just going because we had DJ re-book our last night at a hotel closer to the airport due to the strikes. But now, it looks like we may miss an entire day of touring because of this mess. And for those of you that read my Chilean blog you'll recall they were all in strike when I was there also (I hope I'm not the start of all these riots!).
Then to make things a little more complicated, my mother and I have tickets tomorrow at 2:30 for the Warner Bros Studio Tour of the making of Harry Potter. So we have several buses to take now (because the tubes won't be operating) and the traffic is going to be horrible, and the train to get us to the airport (which will get us to the hotel to check in and which will get us to the bus to Warner Bros) doesn't have a certain time they are operating! Tomorrow is going to be interesting to say the least. We better not miss the tour because I've already paid for the tickets, and the Harry Potter tour is one of the things I was looking forward to the most (and I know this goes without saying, but I don't care if you think I'm weird or childish for wanting to tour Harry Potter Studios... Harry Potter is amazing!).
In order to prepare as much as possible, we bought all our last minute souvenirs tonight, and went to one last pub just in case. Now, even if it takes us all day tomorrow, at least we're ready to go. It is sad for me to think these grand adventures are coming to a close so quickly; it feels like yesterday I was planning this whole vacation. Well, we still have one more day, which will be an adventure in and of itself, and then the flights home (and airports are always an adventure). So, until then...
No comments:
Post a Comment