London Sights
Trip Start
Jul 09, 2008
1
11
44
Trip End
Aug 22, 2008
London,
United Kingdom
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Today was my big tourist day. I did a walk along the south bank of the River Thames and saw the Tower of London (from the outside, as the queue was humongous), Tower Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe (I tried to get into a show, but it was all sold out, so Justen was a sad panda), and went inside the Tate Museum. I even went on a guided tour of one of the exhibits. It definitely solidified for me that art, while nifty, is certainly not my thing
Tower of London
. Thumbs up for free admission, though!! I finished the afternoon off with a trip on the London Eye. It was another expensive activity (£15.50), but I'd heard it was worth it. After being on the Eye, I'd agree. I'm sure the pictures will prove it.London is so much busier than Dublin. It's also so spread out and, with all the recent news about stabbings in the U.K., that does make me a little more nervous to go walking around. When I was in Dublin, I was coming back to the hostel, wandering through the streets at 3.00 and felt perfectly safe. That's not exactly the case here, but it's far from feeling nervous. Also, the Underground rocks. Seriously. It is so well-spread and simple to use! Congrats to the engineers, designers, and planners who made that happen. Pay attention, Edmonton! Well, all of Canada, really.
After spending all my time with Bryan, Sean, and Jana in Dublin, then hanging out with Jan last night, it's kind of weird thinking I'll be on my own again. Though, provided everything goes according to plan, I'll be hanging out with Nick and Jonathan on Friday and Saturday, so I'm excited for that! I may venture out to a pub or something on Old Compton tomorrow night to pass the evening. Since I've finished both of the books I bought (in 3 days, no less!), I need to find some way to relax before I begin to re-read them
Tower of London
. As much as I'd love to buy another, I don't think I'd enjoy lugging it around.Junk food from other countries always intrigues me. I've been good so far, but I think once I visit the Tesco, I'll be giving in and trying a couple new things. No harm in a treat or two, I'm sure.
The strange part is, because I've been looking forward to London so much, it feels almost as though this is the end of my trip, when really I have 7 more cities to go! I'm only about 1/6 of the way through! I don't quite know how I'll react once the length of this journey really hits me. Granted, 6 weeks is absolutely nothing compared to many, many other people's trips.
I also learned today that I'm very much a taste-tester sort of sightseeing. Sightseeing really hasn't grabbed me whatsoever, and I don't think it will, so when I have been going out to view a city's attractions, I haven't really been going inside. More often, I take a look at the outside, get a quick view of it, then move on to the next. Perhaps it's because there's so much to see and so little time (and money).
-Justen
