August
2008
Blogging from Britain Part 3
Did I mention that we love the Tube? The subway system they have here is so awesome. It makes the whole city so seamlessly accessible.
Yesterday was another wonderful day. We took the Tube straight to Wesminster. Wow, that place is gorgeous. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures inside (although that didn’t stop some people!). We did the little audio tour, which was pretty cool. Poet’s corner was really neat. It’s really weird to think of all of the dead people that are in there. It’s quite macabre when you think about it. Churches are pretty creepy in general though. When we were done exploring, I lit a candle and we left. We walked around that area for awhile, and then we took the Tube to the Tower of London.
We stopped at a street cafe before we went to the Tower. We shared a delicious piece of coconut flan and we both had some coffee. The Tower is freaking huge. I had no idea it was that big. We wandered around for awhile and then we went to see the crown jewels. Kyle wasn’t to excited about this, but for some reason I was. Man those monarchs like their bling! We also went to the Bloody Tower, where prisoners were tortured. They had some replicas of various torture devices. That was really cool (although, not for the prisoners, I’m sure…).
From their we hauled ass to Dr. Johnson’s house. It was closing soon and I really wanted to see it. We went in 20 minutes before they closed and the woman behind the counter didn’t understand why we would want to pay to go in for only 20 minutes. She couldn’t understand anything we said! I said that I would rather go in for 20 minutes, than not go in at all. She kept insisting that there was a lot to see. We went in anyway- it was hilarious because there really wasn’t anything to see! I mean, it was cool because it was his house, and it was neat to imagine him living there, but there wasn’t much to it. I asked Kyle what on earth that woman thought would take up so much time? Ha! Oh well. After we left we went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, the old stomping ground of Johnson, Dickens, and others. This place was awesome. I wish we had pubs like this in Davis! I had some hard cider (my new favorite drink! It’s like having beerless beer! Delish!) and Kyle of course had a few pints, and we split some “chips.”
We walked around outside of St. Paul’s cathedral, but we didn’t have time to go in. Since we’re going to Notre Dame and Ste Chappelle, I thought we could skip touring St. Paul’s. It was magnificent from the outside though. I’m sure it’s gorgeous inside. Oh well, we can’t go everywhere!
We pretty exhausted at this point, but we didn’t want to go to our coffin of a hotel room. So we decided to take the tube back into Westminster. We crossed one of the bridges, and watched the sunset behind the House of Parliament and Big Ben. What a beautiful site!
Side anecdote- after drinking at the pub, Kyle had to pee (again) when we got into Westminster. But the side of the Thames we were on isn’t very touristy, so there was no where for him to go. While I claimed a bench for us, he tried to find a bathroom, but to no avail. He was faced with a decision- either pee outside in the park, or go into the Children’s Hospital that was right there and use their toilet. In an attempt to avoid being arrested for being lewd in public, he went into the Children’s Hospital! A security guard asked him if he was a visitor, and Kyle said “no, I just really have to go to the bathroom! Can I please use your toilet!” The guard took pity on him and said, “okay, but you really need to ask. You can’t just come in like that.” Kyle was humiliated.
It was getting pretty late, and my feet hurt really bad, so we went the Waterloo station to go home for the night. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then came home. It’s really weird, our first night at this hotel was freezing, but the past two nights have been so freaking hot. Let me tell you, it is not fun to be in such a small, windowless space when it’s that hot. Oh well, at least our hotel in Paris will be a real hotel. I can stand this place for one more night.
I’m so sad that we have to leave London tomorrow. I’m pretty nervous about going to Paris. It’s hard enough communicating with people in London!
But, did you see the Spaced house yet?????