Just Touched Down in Londontown
And so it begins again! I flew into London around 7:30a.m. on Virgin Atlantic, which was a fantastic airline. I highly recommend it. We flew right along the Thames so I could see all the famous sights of London. You could see the crowd already gathering at Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. That is where I intended to rush to as soon as I cleared customs. It took until about 8:30 to clear customs and then I had to figure out how to use the Underground. By the time I waited in line to get my ticket it was 9:15 and then I got off a stop too soon, so I had to wait in line to get another ticket to go to the next stop. Finally, I reached the Hyde Park area and walked down the long road to Buckingham Palace. The palace was nice, but the gold-detailed gates were the most impressive to me. I crossed the street, remembering to look right (!), and then smushed myself in with the crowd. I went to cross in front of one of the gates but one of the policemen motioned for me to wait, and I kid you not, the palace gates opened and a procession of cars began to come out and in one of the cars, in the back seat, I saw someone who was either the queen herself or her sister!!! She was wearing one of the hats that they always wear and everyone yanked out their cameras and waved. I only saw her, but wasn’t able to get a picture because who would think that you would ever happen to see that? I decided to go up the Victoria monument and sit on the stairs to watch so that I could have some personal space. I didn’t realize that the changing of the guard was like a parade. The new guard came in, led by a full band, who played some kind of theme that I’m sure must have had the words “God Save the Queen” in it. I watched and listened for a few minutes, but honestly, I got a little bored with it, so I decided to leave early and head for a walk along the Thames. I dropped off my backpack at the hostel, which took me forever to find because the one street it was on changed names three times. I walked to the Parliament building first and there was a little park near it where I watched some school kids play cricket for a while. I crossed the river and took in the full view of Parliament. I wandered the path and took pictures of the Tower Bridge and then went to the Tate Modern museum for a few hours. There were definitely some very strange and wonderful works but my favorite was the exhibit where there was just a white room with a GIANT table and four chairs in the center. I walked under the table and felt like I was in the Jack and the Beanstalk tale. After the museum I took a little nap in the park and then walked over to Westminster Abbey, saw the 12 euro entrance fee and then left for the hostel. On the way, I had some bangers and mash for dinner (English sausages of sorts with mashed potatoes and gravy) and a lager. I went back to the hostel and met my roomates who, of course, were from Buffalo and Syracuse : P Small world. The next morning I was up at 5, no problem since I went to bed early due to jetlag, and walked to Hyde Park. I saw the beautiful rose gardens and then decided to go to breakfast in the nearby neighborhood of Chelsea. Only, it wasn’t as nearby as I thought. I walked for about 45 minutes to get there and, in the usual fashion, I couldn’t find the exact place my guidebook suggested, so I settled for a little French bakery. It began to rain lightly so I waited it out and then headed back to Knightsbridge, where all the high-end shopping is. I explored Harrod’s for a while and a few other stores and then headed back towards Victoria station to catch the bus to the airport. All in all I had a good enough time in London, but I’m glad I only stayed one day. I think that it would be MUCH better to go with someone to London. It’s sort of lack-luster when you’re by yourself. I was thrilled to be heading to Greece anyway, and as an added “bonus” I could see the Dalmation Islands of Croatia from the plane window!
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