HELP

Someone wanna come over and help throw all my stuff over the balcony with me? Max isn't doing anything to help--typical dog :-P

Oh...one last note on the trip. No, the luggage never turned up. They've told me to forget about getting it back and just file the claim. Sheeeesh. Two phone numbers were on the outside of my bag, yet it sits somewhere unrecoverable. So, next time you travel, take a big bright marker and write in big letters:

EVEN IF YOU ARE A BITTER AIRLINE EMPLOYEE PLEASE CALL (specified phone number) IF THIS BAG SITS HERE FOR MORE THAN 6 HOURS. I AM RATHER ATTACHED TO THE CONTENTS OF THIS SUITCASE!

This is fun...I am using Microsoft Picture It! v. 10 to edit my photos. This is the colored pencil filter. looks like I have artistic talent! :-P
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more on London

Ok, so I was about to fall asleep during the last post.

OK...so I stayed in a hostel. I know one person who totally knocks that. So he has lots and lots of money to spend. I wasn't totally destitute, but why waste all of your money on hotels when you're there just to shower and sleep? And when travelling alone, why stay isolated in a hotel room when you can meet all sorts of people from all over the world in a hostel? UK hostels have quite a high standard, and the one at St Pancras far exceeds any average standard. Other than the two Aussies girls who were travelling together and are pretty young, I didn't have any problems with anyone in the room and there were several throught the 7 nights I was there. We sort of decided that those two probably had never stayed in a hostel, as their stuff was spread out all over the room, they dominated use of the bathroom, slept in other beds than their own (within the room, not down the hall) and never quite got the hint to go hang in the lounge when people wanted to nap. Oh well.

London is an old city, and I could feel it. When I first saw the Thames, there were boats running around on it, but I didn't really see the modern boats, I just saw the activity as it's probably been for several hundred years. Kind of like when I cross the Mississippi River, it makes me think of all the steamboats that have run up and down that river. The history of the place remains. I did feel the history (more modern) when I let my self picture the kiss between Charles and Diana on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. And in Westminster Abbey--images of the funeral jumped out at me. This is crazy. I am really not THAT into Diana and her legacy. But they are the modern images of UK that were seared into our heads by the media.

So...one last reference to that defunct royal family and I'll end this story of my trip. If Charles and Diana's wedding got me interested as a child, it's quite ironic that I ended up over there just days after Charles' wedding to the other woman, Camilla. I stood looking at postcards at a vendor's booth on the street. There was a handkerchief of C + C, and it made me laugh and think even the strangest things come full circle. (Wanted to be in England around the time of the first wedding, was there....yeah yeah yeah)

Thoughts on London

Alrighty.

I've made it home. I still hate the French. But I am home.

I think my timing was just off. BUT STILL--I FINALLY MADE IT TO LONDON!
ok...seriously. London is a great city. I saw many of the things I'd ALWAYS-literally--ALWAYS wanted to see. To sound sappy, I think it goes back to when Charles and Diana got married. I think one thing I remember being fascinated about was actually, the time difference and that to watch it live, you'd have to be up in the middle of the night in the Midwest. Ok, so I was about 10. Stop rolling your eyes! :-P I know I was a geek. I even felt cheated when I woke up the next morning and only got to see the reruns. There was something else going on that day...something about airlines and deregulation...not sure what all of that was about. Or was it a strike. Phones got deregulation. No matter.

Anyway...I digress...ENGLAND...LONDON...

SO, I've pretty much always been curious about the place...we came from there, our ancestors here were mad enough at the time to cut ties with them, give up having a king or queen, sort of the same language, though they *the English* sound funny, but only the ENGLISH...the SCOTS sound wonderful, with the IRISH a close second.

YES...yes...always wanted to go.

So, since Charles and Diana, have just wanted to be there...see these places. I went FINALLY. To those who want to travel and haven't, the hardest part of it is sitting on the airplane for 7 or so hours waiting to get there. London is easy. Even if you think going to a city is not a vacation. I never felt unsafe when walking around alone. There's tons to do, for free and for a fee. The Underground (their subway) is quite extensive and what I think is best about it--many of the lines run parallel and then some cross and several lines. Hard to explain, but you can get to one place several different ways within the system, so even if you get on the wrong train at one station, usually, whereever you figure it out, you don't have to go too far to get back to the direction you should be going. YAY!

Despite what is said about British food, think in terms of America. What's our cuisine here? Anymore, we all eat everyone else's cuisines, too. I ate fish and chips several times...mainly b/c it was pretty cheap. I ate McDonalds a couple times...but for the Chicken Curry sandwich. Not bad for 1 pound. I know I ate more...I grabbed a slice of pizza at some local chain, but they have Pizza Hut, too. All sorts of things are possible.

Someone asked if people were friendly. I was in the city, still, so not so much friendly, but some people would talk. I even found myself on an empty train at one point. (Turned out the thing was going back the other direction, so everyone else heard the call and jumped off the train in the station.) But there was one other person left and she walked up to me to ask what was happening. Turned out she was Pakistani and just in England recently. Very nice but many people would just plain be afraid to talk to her if she was doing the same in the US.

to be continued in the morning.....

The River Thames -- this was my first view of it upon coming up out of the Tube. Despite the modern stuff I got this sense that it's just as it's been for several hundred years. Busy, busy life on the water.
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Harrod's THE GRANDFATHER OF ALL DEPARTMENT STORES. I read that you're not supposed to take photos inside other than the memorial, but, I managed. :-)
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ceiling stained glass in Harrod's. Sorry, bad angle...trying to snap quickly and avoid looking like a touron. I failed. :-P
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Bottom of the Egyptian escalator. At the top is a replica of the statue of Ramses, which is at the British museum.
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Diana and Dodi Memorial in Harrod's. Look at the pyramid. (that black thing under their photos.) There's a wine glass from the hotel in Paris and that round divot near the middle bottom is the ring that was supposedly an engagement ring. Quite a shrine, but it's in the basement of the building.
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the theater
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It's Pacey....he's doing theater, err...THEATRE....in the West End
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Anna Chancellor....she's in Hitchhiker's Guide...but she was also Duckface in 4 Weddings and a Funeral.
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not in the movie...but he's a celeb. I have to go and look up his name.
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The Voice - Stephen Fry (also narrator for Harry Potter movies) Also, according to my friend, Brett, from Australia, he HUGE and one of his favorite British comedians.
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Not a red carpet for the premier, but a blue one!
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Bonjour, you suck

I'm sorry, really sorry, but I REALLY DO NOT LIKE THE FRENCH! That's all. Bad enough at the Tower of London where the school groups were, but in their own country, they are even worse. There are lots of words I would like to use, but I won't. gggrrrr


On a better note, last night was incredible. I went to a play in the West End--"Life in the Theater". I.saw.and.have.photos.of.Pacey! Yes, Josh Jackson and Patrick Stewart are in this play in London, in it's last week or so. I have photos of Pacey, too. woowoo. Beforehand, I went to see where it was located and after that, I stumbled upon the London premiere of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Don't know any of the actors, but it was cool. Battery is really low, so I'll charge up when I am back on American soil. I think I'll kiss the ground after the day today's been. Even worse than losing the baggage coming over. They really are nasty people!

oh yeah, am supposed to be posting things everyday

Alright, so right now I am SUPPOSED to be in Rome and only halfway through my trip. Not in Rome, and the trip is ending early. Not to worry, as soon as I get back, I'll start saving for the next trip.

So, Sunday, I went to Greenwich. That was a spur of the moment decision. I was just going to take the train to East London to see what was out there, and go far enough east that I've be past the Prime Meridian. I ended up on the train going to Greenwich instead. I should have planned it--would have saved some. It's not right off the underground. I hiked around the town, walked past lots of cool stuff I didn't stop to look at, and into a huge park where the Royal Observatory is. I was there too late to see the exhibits, or even get in the gates, but there's a place marked outside of the observatory where the Prime Meridian passes through. Got a German to take the photo after using hand signs.

Sunday evening, I came back and went to hang out with one of the others in my room here at the hostel. At one point in our six bed room, we had 4 Aussies, on American (me) and a Dane. The Dane wasn't really social, but the Aussies are all fun, and Karen and I went and hung out with Rob who is from here in London. A fun evening was had by all, as we all pointed out the cultural insufficientcies of each other's countries, or, as the Sun would put it, we really ragged on each other. We first went next door to the pub, but it closed at 1030pm. People in Orlando cry about how early things close there (2am)--they'd hate it here. We walked down to King's Cross Station and sat on the benches, where Karen and Rob introduced me to pasties (sort of like a hot pocket, but not)

man I must be tired

I just re-read what I wrote. Not so much humor, I must be exhausted. I am--time for sleep

me, Robert, Karen - a multi-national gathering :-P
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Trafalgar Square lion with Big Ben down the road
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check it out! blue.sky.in.London!!!
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half in the west, half in the east
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Half a world away

Well, I did it. Not only have I come to London, I have experienced life in the Eastern Hemisphere. Was practically to China, I was...actually, went to Greenwich and stood on the Prime Meridian. Woohoo! What a world traveller I am!

More later or tomorrow.

Portabello Road Market
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Street where the treasures of ages are sold...

I am at Starbucks on Portabello Road.

It is soooo cool. Huge flea market up and down the road. Fruits, cheeses, breads, antiques, junk--all mixed in together and what makes it cooler than American flea markets--it's ALL--mostly all--British stuff!!!!

Ok...so I don't want to waste all my time online.

Tower Bridge from Tower of London
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yes, I am really here! (Buckingham Palace in the background)
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These feets were made for walking

\Alright, so still no luggage. Did I mention I bought a hair dryer? I decided that since they have a normal return policy at that store, I will just return it at the end of my stay in UK. It’s got the UK plug on it, so it’s of absolutely no use in the US.

Friday was spent wandering the city. I left the hostel, headed east, and went to a different subway station than I’ve been using. I got off at the stop near to the British Museum. So, off to the British Museum. This is the place to go to see what all the treasures the Brits took from the rest of the world while they reigned over the Empire. Saw a piece of the beard of the Sphinx, saw parts of the statues and other things from the Parthenon in Athens. (Which was pretty cool!) and saw the Rosetta stone. That was impressive, but at the same time not. If you don’t know what it is, people found it quite a long time ago. There’s hieroglyphics, another ancient language, and Greek writing on it. All three say the same things and it was from this that researchers learned how to translate the hieroglyphics. I learned about it in my History of Western Civilization class a couple years ago. (OK, more than couple) My professor would be so proud! If I thought that he’d remember me, I’d send him a postcard saying that I too had made the pilgrimage to see the almighty Rosetta.

I wandered around a bit more, saw some of the Native American and Aztec and Mayan things. They even have one of the statues from Easter Island. The only thing I looked at on the second floor was medieval things. There was a cool exhibit of early clocks. One very large, intricate one started chiming while I was in the room. Everyone--about 30 people--stopped talking and just turned to it as though it was some shrine and just watched until it was over.

Also in the building is the Reading Room. This is where some rather famous people hung out….reading…and went on to make some major changes. I’ve read about it -- at the moment--being still not quite awake (oh yeah, it’s Saturday, I am writing now b/c I was just entirely too tired last night.)anyway…where was I? Karl Marx hung out there getting ideas for how to revolutionize Russia. I thought about asking for a book to read, to see what revolutionary ideas I could come up with. Instead, I decided to leave that to someone else, I wanted to see more of London.

I left, and headed down one of the side streets and made my way back to where I’d exited the Underground. I turned south on what is Charing Cross Road. I wandered in and out of shops there. Interesting. Sort of like Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles. I continued and came to Leicester Square. This is where a lot of the theater is. I do need to decide which show I want to see. I am split between seeing the play ‘Life in the Theater’ which has Patrick Stewart and Joshua Jackson (Pacey’s hanging out in London!) or Mary Poppins or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. If I could, I’d go see one every performance, just to catch up on my theater going!.

My journey didn’t stop there, I kept walking south or west, or whichever direction…. I next came up to Trafalgar Square. It’s got a huge column with a statue of Lord Nelson, there’s a museum I didn’t go into (close to closing at this point) and the huge lions. Took a few photos here. Kept on…next up, walked past 10 Downing Street. Was going to wish Tony Blair luck with the upcoming election, but the guards wouldn’t let me through. Oh well.

I ended up back down by Big Ben and Parliament. I turned, and walked the length of the building and was amazed at just how large that building is. I crossed and went around to the front of Westminster Abbey. Also just amazingly huge. From there, I figured I may as well keep going. So, I crossed a couple streets and this time I was headed towards Buckingham Palace. From my direction, I got to walk through St. James Park. Very pretty. Saw several types of ducks and birds I’d never seen before. Also saw regular ducks and some coots (koots?) like what come to Disney World for the winter and hang out on Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. After I left the park, I tried to get a peek at St. James Palace and Clarence House- former and current home of Charles…and now Camilla. The flag was flying above Clarence House, so I wonder if Charles was back, or maybe William or Harry was hanging out at dad’s house for the week.
Buckingham Palace seemed a little smaller than it looks on television. It’s still huge though. There were several bobbies at one gate. I really wanted to go ask (beg) for just 5 minutes on the grounds. Heck, everyone else seems to be gaining access to the Queen’s homes.

Continued walking. I think I hit that 10,000 steps that they say you should do every day now - latest in exercise fads.

Now, I was just trying to get back to the subway and I probably did a huge loop around a neighborhood and went at least a mile out of the way, but I am in LONDON and there’s cool architecture EVERYWHERE, so I didn’t mind! I finally ended up at Victoria Station and all was well. Back on the train to my stop up here at St. Pancras, and up to the room

Oh yeah, I finally found a cord with the British plug for the laptop. That was the best find of the day! No adaptor needed. Just hook it up and I can charge my toy!

Must go get breakfast and head on out. Portabello Road Market today…and a visit with British Airways.

Cheerio!

FREE internet access...just walk into the HUGE Apple store

A little later now.

So...

Heathrow airport isn't what I expected. Not so much like our aiports that have converted into malls where you can catch a flight. It actually seemed pretty industrial looking. Seemed a little more like the airport at Port-au-Prince Haiti in that there was no decoration at all...at least in Terminal 4 where I was. There was a Starbucks though.

I haven't been to NYC, so I don't know if it's comparable. London is cool and crazy at the same time. The Underground seems run down. My basis for comparison is the DC Metro, which is pretty much immaculate (relatively speaking) Not bad at all here, just different.

The Tower of London. First of all....for those who don't know, it's not just one tower. It was actually a castle when it started out. Lots of people held prisoner here. The two little princes killed by Richard III, Lady Jane Grey, Ann Boleyn. Saw the Crown Jewels...they wisk you past them on a conveyor belt, so don't blink! Lots of suits of armor. It was pretty cool to think about it...some (LOTS) of that stuff is 500-600 years old. I didn't take the Beefeater tour (lead by the men dressed up), but got an audio headset tour. Not nearly as funny, but learned lots and went in and out of places as I liked. I think MY fave part of the place was the medieval palace. Very simple and the wood inside just made it smell as old. It rained on and off while I was there. So I now have a nice Tower of London umbrella.

I need to cut down on spending, so after I buy a jacket (b/c BA.com is still trying to locate that suitcase) tomorrow, it'll be the free museums!

My full itinerary includes Rome and Paris. If the bag doesn't show, I may just do extended UK, but then again, I could just also pick up a backpack and be a true vagabond with what little I have! :-P

When I get to the wi-fi places, I will get the pictures coming in.

Bloody cold weather

OK...no luggage, so Oxford street shopping happened yesterday afternoon.

Currently standing in the middle of Victoria Station.

First, I took the undergrond to Westminster stop. I walked up the stairs and directly in front of me was Big Ben. I was soooooo excited, my eyes started watering! I had my second experience with a gypsy there--"coins for the children!"--they put a tiny tissue flower in your hand and then ask for the money. I asked a street vendor about them. One woman was extremely aggressive towards a man standing next to me. Told him he would be lucky in love if he would only give up 10 pence. After walking along the Thames, and buying a few things to wear, I arrived back at the hostel, and was asleep around 7pm. I slept 12 hours!!

Today, English breakfast at the hostel and to the Tower of London! It was tops of my list of things to see. Was v. cool to see and quite cold out too! Since I am standing at a kiosk, paying for this (internet usage) I will type more later from an internet cafe.

I arrived, but where is my luggage going to vacation?

For those of you waiting to hear, I've arrived, but after finally reaching baggage claim, where the heck did my suitcase go? Wasn't scanned at the layover, so I may be without for a bit. For those of you scratching your head, stay tuned for clues to figure out where I am. ;-)

Free at last!

Double meaning as I sit here at 5:44 am, watching the funeral of the Pope.

He is now free of the earthly bonds. and I have thoughts on this entire week, but not right now.

Free at last -- I'm semi-wireless now. Got a Gateway notebook today, and wireless router. Still not set up, but I've tagged onto someone's router/connection. Quite exciting. Just wish I could get this figured out before next week.

Keep your eyes on this blog over the next couple weeks. More posts, and more interesting posts!

Still trying to figure out what to do with all of this stuff. Trying to finish next week's plans. Mailed birthday presents today.

One thing that concerned me this morning. I woke up...I was conscious, and felt ok. Within minutes, I had this headache that started spontaneously. I mean--not some little annoyance that gradually came on, but pain as if I'd just slammed my head into a brick wall. I got up, took Excedrine and went back to bed for a couple more hours.

I think I am going to go eat Mexican and hang out after while. I took a shower, so hopefully, I have somewhere to go, otherwise, perfectly good waste of soap! :-P

Too much stuff

I have too much stuff.

I didn't get as much on the moving truck my mom took up to IL, so now I am contemplating taking a carload up this week before dentist appointment and next week's trip. I just am so NOT motivated to drive up there, but if I don't a lot of my stuff will not make it to IL. ugh.

Max is singing "On the Road Again".