London

Upon arrival at the airport in London I got my luggage and walked to the underground train station in the airport. I took the Heathrow Express to central London, which was a 15 minute comfortable ride. At the train station I found the taxi line and got a cab. I had 2 pieces of rolling luggage a bag around my shoulder and a laptop bag. The cab driver told me to put my luggage in the car and he stayed in the car while I struggled to load everything. I don't know if that is normal for London cab drivers or if he was being rude. After a very long $30 cab ride I was at the hotel. I got a room on the 12th floor, but the elevator only went to the 11th floor so I had to carry all my bags up a flight of stairs by myself.

The room was a little larger than what you would expect to get on a cruise ship. It had two twin beds, a small desk, a TV in the corner, very little walking room, and a shower with no tub. There was no AC, but I opened the window which cooled down the room. After watching a little TV, I was able to go right to sleep.

Day 1
I bought a two day pass for a hop-on hop-off tour bus. There was a stop near my hotel, but my ticket said that when you first board the tour you need to board at one of three locations. I took London's underground subway (tube) to the tour start nearest my hotel. I had to change trains and was a little worried about getting lost, but I got to Piccadilly Circle with no problems. Piccadilly Circle is like a small version of Time Square. After wandering around for 30 minutes I finally found the tour bus stop. I stand there for 45 minutes before the bus finally comes. Come to find out that they changed the start of their tour and I could have walked one block over to board the long line of buses with no waiting. I am a little frustrated, but mostly relieved to no longer be alone in an unfamiliar city.

I go to the top level of the double decker bus which is open air. The tour guide is great and London has so much to see. I knew the main things I wanted to see and am glad that I have two days to try and do it all.

First stop is Buckingham Palace where I get there just as the changing of the guard has started. There are people everywhere and even with standing on my toes I can't see much of anything over all the people. I did get the gist of it. Guards march around or ride in on horses a royal band plays music and the whole things lasts an hour. After about 20 minutes I was ready to get back on the bus. I get to the bus stop just as the bus drives away, darn. 15 minutes later the next bus is there.

Next stop is Trafalgar's Square which has some nice monuments, fountains, and the National Gallery. The National Gallery is England's art gallery, which is phenomenal. I saw Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and "Chair". They also had Monet's and other famous painters' work.

Lunch is at a restaurant called "The Texas Embassy" where they have Texas license plates and stickers all over the walls. The food is Tex-Mex and is terrible, but it was fun to see what England's version of Texas food is.

Next, I take a tour of the Tower Bridge. The London bridge is actually just a boring looking bridge (and it has come down and been rebuilt several times), the Tower Bridge is the big, beautiful bridge that raises and lowers for large ships. At the top of the bridge is a walkway with really good views, underneath the bridge you can tour how the bridge used to raise and lower (which has since been modernized and is done at the press of a button).

The Tower Bridge is next to the Tower of London which is where the crown jewels are displayed. I walk over and buy a ticket which is almost $20. What I didn't realize is the tower of London is like a fort with lots of buildings inside. Each building is a museum, and seeing everything would take almost a whole day. I go to see the crown jewels, which are very nice and tour one of the museums. It is a lot of walking and climbing spiral stairs that seem to never end. I know I don't have time to see anything else, which is to bad. I did see a raven on the grounds. The myth goes that if the ravens ever leave the tower, London will fall. So they clipped the wings of the ravens to ensure this would not happen.

After taking the tour bus back to Piccadilly Circus and see the theater where Equis, the new play with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is showing. The show had rave reviews so I figured it was sold out, but I decided to try. They had a few tickets left and I bought one. I couldn't believe I was going to she the show I had heard about on the Today show. I find a little pizza shop to eat some dinner before the show and go back to the theater. The show was really good, and the acting was superior.

I take the tube back to the hotel and I am exhausted but I can't fall asleep right away. First I watch last week's American Idol and then I watch a live game show that shows a word puzzle and callers call in to try and solve it for lots of money. It is ridiculous because there are hundreds of possible answers but the winner has to guess the one answer the show had predetermined as correct. After an hour of people guessing, still no one has guessed the answer correctly and I fall asleep.

Day 2
I get up early to try and find the tour bus stop next to my hotel. This is a disaster too as it is very hidden and I find it after an hour of walking around. Finally, the bus comes and I go to the London Eye. This is a fairly new attraction in London over the Thames River. It is like a huge ferris wheel with large clear bubble shaped cars for 20+ passengers per car. The views from the Eye are very good and it is great for pictures. After a brief snack of a fresh sugared waffle with whipped cream (super yummy) I walk across the bridge to the other side of the Thames to go on a river tour. I am almost there when I see two people running to the doc and the Big Ben clock is chiming. I realize the cruise must leave on the hour and I am about to miss it so I start running. I board the boat and it pulls away. I feel like all my waiting at the bus stops has now evened out because I was so lucky to make that boat. The guided tour is great and I see things like where Shakespeare and Daniel Radcliffe went to school.

I've now done everything I wanted to do and seen everything else on the tour bus. I go to the start of the tour near Piccadilly Circus to look around at the shops and for something to eat. I still haven't eaten fish and chips or drunken tea so I need to do that for dinner. I see a half price ticket booth and ask about Avenue Q, a play I have wanted to see for a while. It is a show with puppets that has adult humor and I had heard good things. They still have tickets for tonight's show, and I have to get one. I end up getting 9th row center and am thrilled.

The show starts in less than two hours so I decide to find somewhere to eat, find the theater, and shop. I find a little pub that has great fish and chips and friendly service. I order a tea and they bring it with a side of milk. I have never heard of milk in tea, but I decided to try it. I thought is tasted terrible, maybe that is an acquired taste. The theater is a 10 minute walk away, but takes me 15 minutes because I get a little lost.

Avenue Q was hilarious and really well done. I sat next to a really nice couple from Missouri who saw Avenue Q on Broadway with the original cast and said this show was just as good. I want the soundtrack, the songs are so funny.

After doing the bus tour for two days I realize that my hotel is fairly close to Piccadilly Circus, so I decide to be brave and walk back. I took one wrong turn which I quickly corrected, but other than that there was no problem. It was a 15-20 minute walk back to the hotel. I packed up my stuff a little and went right to bed.

I was very blessed to have cool weather with no rain, since it is winter there and it rains a lot. Both days I was there the weather was lovely and the lines at attractions were short. In the summer, the lines are very long.

Some Interesting Things About London

• They call restrooms "Toilets", lines "Queues", elevators "Lifts", and trash "Rubbish" (apparently trash is an American word).
• They drink their tea with milk.
  
• The street signs are on the buildings at the corner.
  
• There are no shoulders in the road and a lot of one way roads.
  
• When a red light is about to turn green the yellow and red light are both illuminated.
  
• Pedestrians do not have the right of way.
  
• It is a very expensive city, especially for Americans where everything is twice the price due to the low value of the dollar compared to the pound.
  
• Restaurants are not allowed to cook with salt, but salt is provided on the table.
  
• You can take a super-fast train and be in Paris in three hours, but it is cheaper to fly.
  
• It is a very safe and pedestrian friendly city.