We got up and got dressed and we had a few questions to clarify at reception. I was seriously considering asking if it would be at all possible to switch rooms because of the snorer and because neither of the lockers under our bed were functional. So we got to the desk and Will simply asked how many of our roommates would be checking out that day. She said three out of the six people in the room were checking out, so we had a good chance that the snorer would be gone. We also clarified the locker situation. She suggested we switch beds at 10:00 when the three checked out; of course the people who took our old beds would not have functional lockers, so it doesn’t really solve the problem for the hostel. So we had breakfast and waited until 10:00. The bed switch was a success. Not only did we get lockers that worked, but we put Will in the bed by the window, so he could have control over it. Mwahahahahahaha!
Unfortunately, the snorer was still there at 10:00 and the other three beds had been stripped, which meant he was the one who would not be checking out. We decided we would just tough it out another night. Despite the continuing presence of the snorer, we were feeling pretty good.
We headed out into the city. The first thing you notice in London is that they drive on the left side of the street. This can be dangerous for tourists who are used to traffic behaving a little differently. Fortunately, they have handy guides to help you cross the street.
It’s like a parallel universe.
The weather was terrible. There was steady heavy rain, but it let up just a little when we headed out.
We went to Hyde Park, which is just a few blocks from the hostel. There were some fountains and birds there. Somewhere near there, there was also this huge horse’s head.
Our plan was to make our way to a ticket office to get theatre tickets, so we walked in that direction while looking around and stopping to see things that looked interesting. One thing that looked very interesting was a restaurant called Garfunkel’s. The plan was to get fish and chips, but after looking at the menu and considering the scarce breakfast at the hostel, we decided to each get a proper English breakfast which includes a fried egg, two pieces of toast, ham, sausage, French fries, a grilled tomato, a small mushroom cap and a nice scoop of baked beans. It was a right proper English breakfast.
After that, we successfully bought theatre tickets. We weren’t far from Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abby, and Big Ben so we headed that way next. Trafalgar Square is pretty neat. They have these four big lions that tourists like to crawl on. Unfortunately, they were setting up for a concert so the lions were not accessible. We could still see the fountains though, and a giant ship in a bottle.
We also discovered some kind of royal cavalry. The sign to the right of the horse warns people that it could kick or bite.
Soon we made it down to Big Ben.
This photo is actually an optical illusion. Big Ben looks bigger than Will but they are actually the same size. But honestly, Will was underwhelmed by Big Ben. Westminster Abby cost 16 pounds per person to get into, so we just looked at the outside.
We also got a view of the London Eye. Will apparently has no interest in it, but I can’t figure out why.
You’ll probably notice one of the cars on the Eye is a skeleton. I guess that’s for tourists who want to be extreme?
Buckingham Palace was only a short walk, so we headed there next, but we got a bit distracted by St. James Park, which is full of ducks, geese, pelicans, and squirrels. I was amused by all the tourists who were fascinated by the squirrels. There are squirrels where I’m from; they’re nothing special right? Until I realized that these squirrels will come right up to you to take food from your hands. Unfortunately, we didn’t have anything to give the squirrels. Maybe we’ll go back another day with something good for them to eat.
We finally got to Buckingham Palace and that’s where they have the guards in red with the big red hats. I guess these are the guys you see in movies that aren’t supposed to move or react at all to people around them. But they seem to march around when they feel like it and they move their eyes too.
There are a few things about London that are considered iconic. One is the guards with the black fur hats. Then there are the police officers and the double decker busses. Lastly are the phone booths.
After Buckingham Palace, we walked down a different street and ended up at a tourist information office. We had some questions for them. First we asked where we might find a grocery store, we asked where we might find a phone book, and how we could get to Stonehenge the next day. They gave us the transit schedules for Stonehenge, directions to a grocery store, and a phone number for a telephone book company. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a pay phone to work, so we didn’t call the phone book company, but the grocery store was a success. We ate lunch sitting on a ledge outside the store.
Down the street from where we were eating our lunch, we could see Picadilly Circus. It is a major intersection that is a bit like Time Square. It has electronic screens that show tons of adds. Somewhere around there, I saw a shop that had Walker Shortbread in the window. We stopped there because Walker Shortbread was on my list. After sampling the shortbread, we were tired and it was getting chilly, so we headed for the theatre. We wandered around near there until we could go in. They had opera glasses stuck to the seat in front of us. If you stuck a pound into a lot, you could pull them out and use them. They were fun.
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