suchnone #367 Day 2 Walking Tour of The City of London

We woke up early to make the 10am walking tour of the City of London. The tour started at Tower Hill just across from the Tower of London. As you can see from the pictures, it was a clear day. A clear day but chilly and a bit windy from being right on the Thames. PSP and myself were clearly the oldest members of the tour by at least 10 years. The tour guide was Australian and had lived in London 7 or more years. He was a good storyteller and kept the 3hr tour interesting with many stops along the way.

I will not go into minute details about the tour but will show pictures of the stops that stood out for me.


World War I Memorial at Tower Hill



Close up view of Sundial at Tower Hill.


Monument to the Great Fire of London


Part of the Roman London Bridge built in 75A.D.


Tower Bridge



St. Paul's Cathedral




Globe Theatre



Temple Church

This link takes you to the rest of the Walking Tour of London pictures I took.


After the tour we walked around Covent Garden looking at the street vendors. We then headed into the Theatre district to find the theatre the Lord of the Rings Musical was playing in and the restaurant we were to have dinner in that evening. After finding both, we headed back to the hotel and then to a local pub for a few pints. I had promised a friend I would have a London Pride first but I went for a Guinness and yes, it is true, the Guinness is so much better there than in the States. It is smoother, no bite, very tasty.

Dinner was in an upscale pizza place called Fire and Stone. With the ticket package we got, we had choice of pizzas and a free cocktail which we could only get a seabreeze which is ok but really wanted a beer with the meal but anyway. The pizza was very good. I got the Sydney - Which is crisp oven-roasted smoked bacon, free range egg, shaved smoked ham, mozzarella, Fire & Stone’s tomato sauce, basil & chives. Will definitely go back there if and when I get back to London. The musical, not so good. I had read some not so pleasant reviews and I can see why. I do not want to go into detail, but it had problems. But, I am happy I did get to see it. The special effects were awesome, best part of the show. And the story is by Tolkien so that part was good. If anyone would like details of the show, let me know.

We headed back to the hotel. PSP went to the chip shop on the corner and got an order of chips and a few candy bars to eat before we went to sleep.

Up next: Day 3 British Museum, British Library and Wesley House

suchnone #366 Day 1 Arrival

I left for the airport a good 4 hours before my plane was to take off. It only took an hour for me to get there and then a record 10 minutes to get through security and to be seated at the gate waiting for boarding to begin. So I wait for 3 and a half hours but I know if I would have been late, I would have been even more stressed and anxious. Thanks again to my co-worker and her fiance for giving me a ride to the airport.
I read about half of Blood Sucking Fiends, a book by Christopher Moore while waiting at the gate. Also talked to a few friends on the phone and my parents before takeoff. I noticed a young boy running around, playing with his trucks, being loud, being a typical boy and I hoped he would not be near me.
Boarding began about 45 minutes before takeoff. It went smoothly and I ended up having no one sitting next to me but the boy and his mother were in my row. Sort of diagonal from me were a group of very loud and probably drunk guys. I worried I would not get any sleep at all, I do not sleep well to begin with so I just knew I was going to be worn out when I arrived in London. I had nothing to fear. The boy soon fell asleep and the guys passed out shortly after dinner was served. The trip was most quiet from then on. But not before two things happened.

First, about 5-10 minutes into the flight and while we are still climbing to our cruising altitude and with the fasten seat-belts sign still on, a passenger gets up starts walking around, opening the overhead compartment and so forth. The captain has to tell him twice to sit down and the second time he did not sound very happy. I think we were close to turning the plane around. But, the man sat down. Then 5 minutes after that, the intercom comes on and says:

"Are there any doctors on board?"

I begin to look around and no one is moving and then we hear:

"Are there any nurses on board?"

About 6 people in my area stand and go to a woman about 9 rows in front of me. She had never flown, was going into a panic attack and started hyperventilating and having asthma attacks. She was able to be calmed down and there were no more problems of this nature the rest of the flight.

The in-flight meal was good, barbecued pork roast with mashed potatoes. I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which I had wanted to see for some time. Very good.

Then I tried to read some more. Then I tried to sleep some. Watched Meerkat Manor, then tried to read and sleep some more. I am guessing I slept more than I realized because just after thinking we had so many more hours left to go, the captain said:

"We are just off the coast of Ireland and will be landing in London in about an hour and a half."

I watched the sunrise over the green coast of Ireland.

We landed and I prepared myself for the long process of getting into England. Fifteen minutes later, after going through security, having my passport checked and then through customs, I was in England, but in a line, I mean a que, to get a Gatwick Express train ticket to meet my friend PSP(I cannot remember what I have called him before) at Victoria Station.

Arrived at Victoria Station in about 30 minutes time from Gatwick. Walked around looking for the Krispy Kreme where I was to meet PSP. Krispy Kreme was a small coffee cart like structure and sure enough there was PSP waiting for me. We made our way to the Underground ticket office where I purchased a three day pass. We then set out for Paddington Station which our hotel was near to. Actually less then five minutes from the station. Our room was not ready so they let us leave our bags in a back room and we walked down to a little diner on the corner and had tea. It was so good. The day was somewhat overcast or maybe it was cause I was in a fog what with jet lag but the rest of that day is a blur. I know we finally got in our room. It was on the 3rd floor and the heat rose so we had to keep the window open or it would have been too hot, well at least for me. It was below freezing at night and in the 40s (Fahrenheit during the day. We walked around Paddington Station, near a big park which I cannot remember the name of right now, walked to the Jordanian part of London where PSP who has lived in Jordan told me what all the smells were, so many spices, fruits, tobaccos etc in the air. London does not smell like other big cities I have been to, maybe it was the closeness to the park or maybe it was cause I was in a fog but it was pleasant. We walked around some more, basically trying to keep me awake. I had said I would stay awake at least until the sun went down. What I did not realize was the sun went down at 4pm. We went back to the diner for a light dinner. I was not that hungry but knew I needed food to help me adjust. I had a bacon and egg on toast.

We went back to the room(will describe it later) watched some BBC, think it was the news and a quiz show called Mastermind Junior(I think). I have no idea when I finally went to sleep that night but I slept some of the time and woke up ready to go the next morning.

Up next: Day 2 Walking Tour of London

suchnone #365

Here's a meme I got from Vi. I know I said I would post about my trip and it is coming. Just finished the pictures(see previous post) but I had told Vi I would do this one so here it goes.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?

Traveled to England



2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I do not make resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

One of my co-workers had(well her daughter did) her first grandchild.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Dr Russell, a retired professor where I work who I worked on a history of the university with. He also was one of my Father's professors when my Father was in school here in the 1950s.

5. What countries did you visit?

England


6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

More relaxing days, more time to see NC.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

December 17th - day I landed at Gatwick airport in London

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

going to England


9. What was your biggest failure?

never cleaning my house


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I had a cold for almost 3 weeks last Fall. not fun


11. What was the best thing you bought?

an iPod shuffle

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?



13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?


14. Where did most of your money go?

my trip to England


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
again, my trip to England

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?

all the songs off Radiohead's In Rainbows, Ryan Adams' Cold Roses

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder?
happier

b) thinner or fatter?
thinner, I think


c) richer or poorer?
richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
visited friends

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
not damn thing


20. How did you spend Christmas?
In England visiting friends


21. What was your favorite month of 2007?
Ok, getting old but December since I spent most of it in England


22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
no

23. How many one-night stands?
none


24. What was your favourite TV programme?
Dr Who, Heroes, Jeopardy!



25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
no. its so easy to hate, so easy to hurt, it takes strength to be gentle and kind. hating is a waste of my time.


26. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter #7, Blood Sucking Fiends and Children of Hurin


27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Radiohead's In Rainbows, my album of 2007.


28. What did you want and get?
Wanted to travel to England and I did



29. What did you want and not get?
Would have liked to have met a nice girl but did not happen and do not seeing it happening.


30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers. Saw both of them on the flights to and from England



31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Nothing, 37

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I did want to see the beach but I am not sure if that would have made my year "immeasurably more satisfying".


33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
pretty much the same one I have had since 1989


34. What kept you sane?
beer, playing lord of the rings online, my blog friends, my friend Sally



35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Scarlett Johannson and Nicole Kidman are both nice to look at



36. What political issue stirred you the most?
the selection of a new president.



37. Who did you miss?




38. Who was the best new person you met?
Gareth, my friend Heidi's fiance, very cool guy. They complement each other very well.


39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007
Not to put expectations on anything, they can lead to disappointment

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Just not sure on this one. Tried to look up songs that I listened to a lot this year but none of them really fit. Oh well

suchnone #364

I have upload the first of quite a few pictures from my trip to England on to Flickr. It took longer to process the images yesterday that I thought it would. Plus, I have to deal with a flat tire so that took up some of my day as well. More on that later.
Here is a link to the pictures I have posted so far.
Link

suchnone #363 welcome back, welcome back

I am back in the States after 17 days in England. Had an awesome time, saw and did a lot of things I had thought about doing for years. Took many pictures, keep an eye here, some will be posted here, all will be posted on my flickr page(see link on the right). Also will make link here when the pictures are posted. I will being more proper posts after I get some rest detailing what I did, where I went and all the different ales I drank. Bottom-line, I will be going back, maybe sometime in 2008. On the downside, did not get to see Vi. The last few days I was there I was a little under the weather and one of my friends I was staying with got a bad cold so did not do much those last few days where my days and Vi's days right after she got back from Australia overlapped.

Hope everyone had a great holiday and here is to a great 2008.