We made it! We are officially here in London, being tourists for a bit. I'm running on about 5 hours of sleep, but feeling pretty good. Awfully glad it's just about bed time though!
To begin the day (or, well, yesterday) we said rather tearful goodbyes at the airport. My mom and dad and my brother, and Brandon's mom and brother came to see us off. It was hard. I had to fight back tears while going through security. We got borded and then left a little bit early from the gate.
The flight was really good. Smooth sailing all the way and the food was pretty good, even though you had to pay for most things you wanted. The seats were so small though and the leg room was a joke. I slept for only about an hour and Brandon didn't sleep at all. Oh and we had seat back tv's which was awesome - or would've been if Brandon's had worked. We switched seats a few times so he could watch while I tried to sleep.
We finally, finally landed, ahead of schedule by about half an hour. No problems through customs and then on to baggage. Our's were out pretty fast and then we both did a quick freshen up in the bathroom and then went to find the bus. We talked to a tourist info lady to find out where we catch the bus into the city and who informed us that the Easy Bus is only 2 pounds if you book your tickets online. It would cost us 10 each so why not take the train for 11 each? So we did. That put us at Victoria station (right where we needed to be!) at about 7:30. Feeling rather disgustingly tired, sweaty and a little motion sick, we fumbled our way to the correct street and finally found the hostel. It wasn't really all that hard but the packs were just getting really heavy.
We finally, finally landed, ahead of schedule by about half an hour. No problems through customs and then on to baggage. Our's were out pretty fast and then we both did a quick freshen up in the bathroom and then went to find the bus. We talked to a tourist info lady to find out where we catch the bus into the city and who informed us that the Easy Bus is only 2 pounds if you book your tickets online. It would cost us 10 each so why not take the train for 11 each? So we did. That put us at Victoria station (right where we needed to be!) at about 7:30. Feeling rather disgustingly tired, sweaty and a little motion sick, we fumbled our way to the correct street and finally found the hostel. It wasn't really all that hard but the packs were just getting really heavy.
We couldn't check in yet, not till 1pm, so we stored our luggage and set off. Got some coffee and a sandwich accross the street but I really wasn't feeling well so I didn't finish either. Good thing Brandon was hungry! We decided to just start walking and exploring and ended up finding ourselves at Westminster Abbey. Originally we weren't going to go in, but when we saw it, Brandon was completely taken in and I was more than happy to see it again. So we paid the 16 pounds and toured around with a handheld audio guide that made a huge difference to making what we saw more enjoyable.
We were there about an hour and half and then walked up the road a bit to Westminster Bridge past the parliament buildings and Big Ben. All of this I should mention was without a camera. Duh. Oh well. Next we found a bathroom and sandwiches at a little grocery store and had a quick lunch underneath Big Ben. And we heard it chime Noon!
I sort of remembered from being here before how to get to Buckingham Palace so we headed in that direction. We walked through St. James' Park which is more gorgeous than I remembered it. And then there was the Palace. The Victoria fountain is covered up with scaffolding which was a big disappointment, but I guess they're restoring it or something. We're going to try to get back there and tour the gardens and such either tomorrow or Sunday.
We started the long walk back and got ourselves a little bit lost. We asked for directions once and got heading the correct direction. We came out in a completely different place than we started this morning, but we made it back at least.
So now the hostel. I'm far from impressed. It's above a pub, we knew that, and it's old, we knew that too. But I can feel every spring in my bed (very bottom bunk in a set of three) and our room for six is full now with the addition of us two. My comforter has some kind of disgusting stain on one end which at least is covered up by the duvet cover and I'll put that part down by my feet. Then Brandon climbed up to the very top bunk to make his bed and promptly fell through the slats. The girl came up to fix it so now he says it's fine, but I'm not so sure. I told him to switch with me but he won't let me sleep up there either. He tells me not to worry, that we'll be just fine and that we have everything we need here. And really, it's very safe and the locker in the room here is big enough to hold the laptop and all sorts of everything else we need. Maybe I'm just extremely overtired and oversensative too. It was cheap!
I sort of remembered from being here before how to get to Buckingham Palace so we headed in that direction. We walked through St. James' Park which is more gorgeous than I remembered it. And then there was the Palace. The Victoria fountain is covered up with scaffolding which was a big disappointment, but I guess they're restoring it or something. We're going to try to get back there and tour the gardens and such either tomorrow or Sunday.
We started the long walk back and got ourselves a little bit lost. We asked for directions once and got heading the correct direction. We came out in a completely different place than we started this morning, but we made it back at least.
So now the hostel. I'm far from impressed. It's above a pub, we knew that, and it's old, we knew that too. But I can feel every spring in my bed (very bottom bunk in a set of three) and our room for six is full now with the addition of us two. My comforter has some kind of disgusting stain on one end which at least is covered up by the duvet cover and I'll put that part down by my feet. Then Brandon climbed up to the very top bunk to make his bed and promptly fell through the slats. The girl came up to fix it so now he says it's fine, but I'm not so sure. I told him to switch with me but he won't let me sleep up there either. He tells me not to worry, that we'll be just fine and that we have everything we need here. And really, it's very safe and the locker in the room here is big enough to hold the laptop and all sorts of everything else we need. Maybe I'm just extremely overtired and oversensative too. It was cheap!
We both got much needed showers and took about a 4 hour nap and then took ourselves out again. We walked back up to the Thames and accross to take pictures of the parliament and Westminster. They're so different all lit up at night. Then we found a pub called the Red Lion which is very old. Some semblance of it has been in that area since the late 1400's. The form it's in now has been there since 1900 and Charles Dickens was a patron. Fish and chips and mushy peas...so good!
We're back in the hostel now, sitting on Brandon's bed which we've pulled down onto a spare spot of floor. So much safer for all involved! And we're going to do a little research about how to get to the Tower of London tomorrow. And then sleep. Oh glorious sleep!
One final note on the day. We're finding that we make a really good travelling team. Between the two of us someone is always very aware of where we are and what general direction we should be walking in. Brandon keeps me calm and notices when I need food and I tell him not to cross the street before the light changes!
It sounds like there is a lot to see! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the hostel and Brandon almost falling through!!! At least these things make good stories after they're over. :)