Cavendish Apartments London

... again.. I'm starving..
I had my plan for the day but needed a little transportation help. I went tot he Concierge at the hotel and after 1/2 hr of waiting and briefly speaking tot he concierge.. we determined she had no idea how to get to buckingham Palace (shocking.. I know!-you think that would be a top 5 of things to know in London)
She kept trying to get me to take the tube but I wanted to take the bus.. both because i was nervous about the tube and because I ...

... including lots of double-decker buses and black cabs clogged the streets, and pedestrians clogged the sidewalks.
Jessie started talking about how she planned to move to London and buy baby-blue motor scooter. During the course of the day she related quite an elaborate plan about how she would pursuade one of her friends to come with her, and get a job and a flat here. She's quite a planner.
We walked around Soho ...

Well after 2 years in London, it's a sad farewell and I leave with a heavy heart. Goodbye Big Ben!

However on the brighter note, I have a huge adventure around Europe and possibly around the world! Where the road takes me I do not know, but travel and exploration is my middle name.....so my mission is to see the world and have unique experiences!

... to start reading my second book, The Patron Saint of Liars.

Shuttle was good; I met two Canadian couples that reminded me of my grandparents. Once I said I was from the US, they immediately asked what I thought of Barack Obama and whether I thought he was doing a good job. Made me laugh a bit. Shuttle driver said, because of the Tube strike, it took him over 2 hours to get back to Heathrow from central London ...

... of those that weren't in attendance. In the end, I was very glad that I went. ** Providing a presentation about the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its recent arrest warrant for Sudanese President al-Bashir to my Global Governance class. It was an assignment that had consumed me for weeks (please refer to entry titled "What I've Forgot to Mention: I'm a ...

... of languages. And even though I am surrounded by people my age, they are not necessarily friendly and open to conversation. Matt and Amy, I think you guys were an exception to the rule of hostel peoples! Anyway, I spent pretty much this whole damn day in transit. Buses to waiting in airport foreeeever, to plane, to airport to another damn bus to the Tube, which had closed down the one line ...

... Eye (one of the many tourist traps erected in honor of the millenium year by the British) so he knew a thing or two about showing a tourist around the city. It was great to establish some human contact after hours and hours of lonesome walking with no direction or knowledge of the area. He showed me all the sights along the South Bank of the River Thames (pronounced Tems), and he chuckled a bit when I said, "Is that really Big Ben?" I just wanted ...

... found the nearest Starbucks and had two shots of espresso. There is no time for sleeping yet! I set out to the West End to find something to do. Live theater is a huge here with a dozen shows at different venues. I managed to get a cheap ticket for Mamma Mia!, a show which was written by two members of ABBA and features their music. The show was a lot of fun... lots of singing, clapping along ...

... to go to a super old pub there. We walked on and finally found Trafalgar which is huge and surrounded by castle like old buildings. After a little wandering we ended up in Leicester Square which is a great nightlife district and went into a Scottish pub and then eventually downstairs into a dance place called Dune. This was a great people watching lounge with excellent music and we sat and watched people dance wildly at only 9pm ...

... towards what could be the journey a lifetime. Along with 130 other cars, aged between 1907 and 1961, we were to drive a 12,000 km route overland from Beijing to Paris, through China, Mongolia, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and finally France.  The start on May 27th 2007 seemed a long way off, lots of time, we thought.   Whilst having a coffee with Dean Butler, I had already decided my DB6 would not be up to the trip as we were expected to have to run on ...