I had a rough night of sleep due to the fact that I tried to stay awake on both flights, but kept falling asleep on my second one. Oh, this reminds me…so my flight from Tel Aviv was at the airport but they took forever to let the new crew on. This was a 50 minute delay. Despite me having a 1.5 hour leeway between flights, and the captain saying we were only 15 minutes late, I got off, headed to my next flight (not exiting and having to reenter this time) and my flight was already loaded. We waited a long time after I got on the flight…I know why. The luggage, my luggage, needed to be transferred. I watched it get loaded on my plane and was happy when we then headed off.
I was awake for most of the night. The train is nearby and you can hear it go by, but it is not loud or horrible, it has a nice little jingle that I hum along to as it passes. Anyway, three roommates were sleeping, one entered a bit after me and one was an empty bed (yes, a 6 dorm room this time due to late booking). The three girls woke up early and headed out and then I got up and did the same. There was a lame breakfast, but I say lame and really mean a basic breakfast, it was all that I needed.
I headed to where my free tour should be and was 1.5 hours early so I walked around. I began to get way cold, so I grabbed a tea from Starbucks and enjoyed their free internet. Then the tour. It was a good tour, loved my guide. He was very interesting and did a great job showing us the sites and telling us things like “this is the smallest police station that ever was in Britain”
And someone broke into the palace in 1982 and set off all of the alarms and the guard thought it was a trip up and shut them off and the guy somehow managed to find the queens room out of the 700 available ones and he sat with her for 20 minutes talking then asked for a cigarette and she called for the guards. It took 30 minutes for the police to arrive and the guy got deported (was here illegally from Ireland) but no arrest was made as it was not illegal to break into the palace…imagine that.
I got some tips on when to check out Westminster Abby for free and took lots of pictures of the guards. Afterwards I went with the guide and part of the group for food. I got fish and chips with the smashed peas. The peas were minty and too watery to really eat but the fish was good as was the tarter sauce but I was no fan of the chips. No worries, I have plenty of time to fix that.
I headed to a hotspot and spoke to my sister and warmed up a bit. Then I walked to Picadilly Circus and then to Hyde Park, where the Winter Wonderland was going on. It was nice and I enjoyed a cup of special hot coco while I walked around. I found a super cute ring, but I think it was not worth the cost. I tried a roasted chestnut (better then the ones that I tried to make in college, but still not good). They guy was all “they are from Italy, so good” I was no fan though. I tried some Hungarian stew too, then threw out the rest of the mini sample, poo to you! I was going to walk back to the hostel since I was toasty with my new hat and gloves, but the map does not show my road (it is off of the map…) so I just rode the super crowded tube.
I tried a couple of times to get some shots of the tube but it was not good enough. I mean the people are all packed in. Okay, so maybe not like China where the workers push the people in and then slam the doors, but enough where it is a bit …strike the bit…clostraphobic-ish.
I got back early as I did not want to wait another hour at the Winter Wonderland for the circus show and met two of my roommates. By met, I mean one was on the phone and when she got off ignored me and the other walked in and then said nothing as his phone seemed more interesting to him. Oh well, two empty beds left, and one roommate I still have not met. Perhaps some conversations will come about.
Oh, I did meet some nice people on the tour but we did not stick together or find out any contact information to meet up later. I guess tomorrow is my Grim Reaper Tour. Let’s hope I meet some other people before then…
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