Believe it or not I woke up at 7 this
morning to a gorgeous sunny day, so I hustled out to Hyde Park and
Kensington Gardens to take advantage of the sunshine. Spent a few
hours walking around/getting lost. I found my way to Kensington
Palace, the former home of Princess Diana. I wandered the gardens
for a bit but decided not to make the trip inside yet; it cost money,
I had a river cruise appointment, and a lot of the palace was under
construction so I'm still not sure if I want to make the trip yet.
What has been a bit frustrating with London is that in preparation
for the Olympics, a lot of things are closed/under construction until
2012. I bet London 2013 will be a great time to visit.
I made my way back to Westminster a
little bit early, so I went back to take more pictures of the Houses
of Parliament and Big Ben with blue skies. This woman accosted me
as I was heading up the steps from the Tube by sticking a fake flower
in my shirt saying she was for the Save the Children's charity, and
would I like to make a donation. I figured I'd throw a coin her way,
but then she said, “Paper please. Most people make donations of 10
or 20 pounds.” I couldn't see my face, but I'm sure it looked like
one of the most skeptical faces ever made by a human being in the
history of time. I said, “Sorry,” and tried to walk on but she
continued saying, “It's our last day. I can break a bigger bill if
you need to.” I said, “Sorry,” again and walked on and she
actually followed me. I was this close to asking if she wanted her
plastic flower back, but she finally left me alone. The whole deal
left me annoyed; I kind of wanted to run into her again on my way back
but it's way too crowded and I'm not going to give American tourists
a bad rep by getting in stupid arguments in front of everyone.
Relentless wench! It was similar to how the reception at my hotel
accidentally swiped my credit card when I arrived (even though I had
prepaid), and making a big deal about my wanting to remove it because
it was only an authorization and they wouldn't actually charge me.
And then she said it would take 48 hours to cancel and blah blah blah
until finally after she had asked twice I said, in my normal, sweet
(not really) voice, “Take. It. Off.” It could be that London has
so many tourists, but so far I'm not getting the same type of
hospitality that I got in Canada or New Zealand.
I booked a cruise 2 days ago on the London Eye for today after seeing that the weather was going to be good today,
and walked around that area until I got harassed too many times by
more people trying to get money, either by dressing up or trying to
make something for you. I think my big camera gave it away, so a
word of advice, if you are in that Westminster area of London, near
the London Eye, it is a tourist booby-trap and I hope you either have
a lot of cash or you're willing to be a jerk to people you will never
see again.
The London Eye Cruise wasn't that bad;
it gives you a good view of the important buildings along the Thames.
I would have gotten more out of it if I hadn't gone to see those
places on foot already, but the breeze was good and the sun was
shining so it was a nice little boat ride. The London Eye itself, if
you didn't know, is basically a gigantic Ferris wheel. They don't
call it that of course, but that's pretty much the gist. You stand
in a big glass capsule and it takes half an hour to make a
complete loop. Luckily today the visibility was good, although the
sun really heated up the capsule. I went to the 4d experience
afterwards, which was basically a 4-minute 3d promotional video of
some of the buildings around the London Eye, while you get sprayed with
water in the theater while Coldplay is blasting on the speakers. Yes,
totally cheesy, but I'm all for cheese.
Afterwards since I was already in the
area, I went back to Westminster Abbey... and actually got inside!
Thank you, Rick Steves! Afternoon is definitely the right time to
visit. There was no line at all so I was afraid it was closed but 3
p.m. seems to be the perfect time. Anyways, no pictures or videos
allowed obviously. In the end I'm glad they don't allow that because
people would be stopping all over the place, clogging up areas and
probably trying to do stupid stuff in front of the tombs. But I'm
sure you all saw at least pictures of the Royal Wedding so you have
an idea what it's like. It is massive though, something that doesn't
get conveyed that well on the television. Ceilings are incredibly
high (made possible through the use of flying buttresses per Rick Steves), and you
don't get the feel for how old the church is until you actually walk
inside. As far as just the experience of exploring, I preferred St.
Paul's since it's not as crowded and you aren't funneled through the
church like it's a Disney ride.
After Westminster I decided to take a
lot of detours and spend a lot of time walking so I could get to
Millennium Bridge... so I could walk across it. The bridge design is
interesting and it's nice to have a pedestrian-only bridge, but I
don't know if it's a trip highlight. I made my first stop to one of
London's public toilets on the way, where you have to pay 20 pence
and the whole booth flushes and sanitizes after you leave. It's
better than a port-a-potty but I had this irrational fear I was going
to be trapped inside while it desanitized since the doors work
automatically.
Finally I decided to cap off the day
with a visit to Harrod's – the gigantic department store. I've
never felt so underdressed visiting a department store in my life.
And I was wearing my nicer clothes today. The layout is definitely
not something I got used to; rooms lead to other rooms which lead to
other rooms. It's like the video game Gauntlet (for you geeks out
there). I wound up eating dinner there too at the Pizzeria. You
just sit down at the counter and they make your pizza in front of you
with the wood-fired oven. There were 2 girls sitting next to me who
shared a pizza, so I felt like a pig for ordering a whole calzone for
myself. But I couldn't get any smaller portions unless I wanted a
salad. Yeah, who's going to order a salad as a meal on a vacation?
I couldn't finish the whole thing, but maybe that's because I also
had ordered this expensive fruity lemonade fizzy drink, which was
also excellent. Then right at the dot at 7 p.m. they started
blasting Michael Jackson music; I haven't used my iPod at all during
this trip, but hearing all of Michael Jackson's greatest hits while
shopping in London felt strangely appropriate.
I have no idea what I'm doing tomorrow.
I just checked the forecast and it looks like rain for the rest of
the time I am here, which stinks, but that means I'll be able to
spend a lot of times at the museums. I've been getting tired walking
around, and I am using great self-control not to take the lazy route
and hop into Starbucks every time I need a drink (a sweet, delicious
drink), and it's only my 3rd day in London. I had to make
a special effort to pass 2 Starbucks today so I could order a green
tea fruit smoothie at a place called Tea – which I don't even know
if it's British - but I have to try new things here!
