Wow. What a trip. Marc, Jordan, Sogol, Taryn, Paige and myself left for London at 10:30pm on Thursday night, taking an 8 hour bus ride there. Previous to the experience, this seemed, and was deemed, a good idea. Being that we could get our full sleep on the bus ride down there - and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle London. Well, what happened was a little different, and this is the start of the story.
It turns out this would not be the pleasant bus ride as expected. It was filled with crying babies, complete body failure from the 15 inches we had in between seats, and numerous loud speaker interruptions. Not one of the six of us slept a wink. Luckily, we didn't let that stop us. We quickly got off the bus from hell and walked to our hostel, king william the IV! Jordan and Paige had a different place to stay, and we went our separate ways. It was a little 20 minute walk to get there, and we had to wait another 15 mins for reception to open. Once we got in the people were very friendly, there was a girl in her 20s that worked there, she asked me where I was from and got ecstatic when I replied San Diego. She is working on her degree here and then wants to go to San Diego for graduate school, small world. Anyway, after chumming up with the receptionists for a bit, we were able to sneak in for some free breakfast! Which was needed, seeing as we barely made it out of the busses alive. I compensated with the lack of sleep by downing 5 cups of coffee. NOW we were ready to go.
During breakfast we were able to get a map from the hostel and plan out our journey for the day. So, after breakfast we headed out and knew exactly where we were going. Contrary to previous trips *cough* paris! ;), anyway, we went towards the houses of parliament. This a huuuuge towering building, quite the sight, even more of a sight when it is abutting Big Ben and across the street is Westminster Abby! Looks like we were headed in the right direction. After we gawked at the buildings for a good portion of time, we were actually able to get into the house of parliament. We were quickly terrorist-checked and stripped of phones/cameras and bags, and off to watch a little debating we go. We were seated in the upper decks, with a thick glass barrier separating us from the council, as if we were about to witness a gruesome gladiator battle... but no, it was far from that, a debate about the use of tanning beds in the UK. What a hair-raiser. Needless to say, that got old quickly, after 15 minutes of important debate, we left.
Just up the street was the Horse Guards, who literally stand in two stalls for the entire day, looking out into the face of danger... err... cameras. Don't get me wrong, I did snap a picture or two as well. We kept walking and went into Trafalgar Square, which contained two huge fountains, an ornate statue surrounded by four giant lions (of which we were able to mount), and the National Gallery. All around were other intricate arch ways and towering buildings. But today wasn't the day to visit these places, we kept walking into another district called Piccadilly Circus, this was the times square of London. Television screens replaced walls of buildings, and the people per sq foot capita grew ten fold. There wasn't much to see per-say here, other than a statue of Eros, a cherub frozen in an archery pose. We made a few laps in and out of the streets and ended up at a Sushi restaurant. Yes, Sushi.
The sushi place was called YO!, immediately I felt we were on a friendly basis. It was actually pretty cool, we were the first people in for the day, actually arrived a few minutes before opening. It was mostly bar sitting around a large rectangle, inside of this rectangle were two conveyor belts which went in opposite directions, carrying nothing other than delicious sushi and japanese delicacies. Seems like a good idea at the start, but the urge to grab the sushi which keeps passing you by is hard to suppress. So, why suppress it?! Marc racked up the most dishes, with 6, I was close behind with 5. It wasn't too bad either, not as good as Ra sushi, but not bad for UK food!
Now that we were plump, we wobbled along the streets of London for a while longer. After weaving in and out of side streets a place called the Apple Market presented itself, right next to Chinatown. This market was filled with a few fruit stands, and a lot of jewelers and gifts of the like. As we approached the end, a guy who was from Finland was performing a street show, did some push-ups on his thumbs only, with the grand finale side flipping over a girl laying down and a 4ft raised chain. Not bad.
A while longer and we approached a giant building. It was the Grand Chapter of the Freemasons! I don't know about you, but if you have read any of Dan Brown's books, or know even a hint about this stuff, this is a pretty cool find! We went inside, were able to tour around the endless Freemasonary history and items. I took a few pictures of some ritualistic tools, and the 33rd degree awards and sashes... "all will be revealed, at the 33rd degree" :). We also caught a tour in the building, she led us through the history of the chapter, and of the masons themselves, we were taken through the building itself, and ended up in the Grand Chapter Hall (which was guarded by two 1 and 1/4 TON bronze doors). The ceiling had to be at least a hundred+ feet up, paintings and sculptures adorned the room. Seeing all this was quite the treat for me.
Following that, we cruised around the city a bit more, until we met up with Jordan and Paige at a National Geographic exhibit. There were pictures all over the walls in which I found myself in my own world browsing around from one to the next. One of the pictures was of a tribesman, standing in the water, two feet from the edge of Victoria Falls... it was breathtaking. After we left the exhibit, we headed off to an old fashioned 50s diner. In the spirit of money saving, I sat this one out and got subway later ;). But it was a good time, even though the exhaustion of the day clearly has set in.
That being said, we were almost ready to go back to the hostel, it was only around 7pm though, so we felt we had to at least do one more thing! Jordan and Paige went their separate ways once again, and the rest of us headed into the National Galleries. As tired as I was, I am glad I went to see the works of Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, De Garre, and Seurat. On the walk home we were able to see Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abby at night time. As well as the london eye reflecting off the Thames river... not a bad walk home if you ask me.
We got to the hostel at 9pm, I was out like a light twenty seconds after my head hit the pillow.
Day 1, success.
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