Día Dos en Londres

(A view of Piccadilly Circus in London, England)

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Today I woke up nice and early and stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. Unfortunately, the hostel didn't have any towels to rent (as they had run out the day before) so I decided that a shower was rather unnecessary, especially because I was by myself and who would even know?

So I got changed and went downstairs for breakfast. I was still unsure of what time it was, as my watch and cell phone now displayed two different times and I wasn't sure which was correct. But breakfast was there (just cereal and toast) and I sat down at a table with three girls - two Brazilians and one Australian. We were chatting for a while and the Australian, stereotypically enough, started looking around for some Vegemite. Surprisingly, she found some and started making herself toast. I was curious and she suggested that I should try some, too. She said that it was important to have an Australian make you toast with Vegemite, because foreigners put too much on and then don't like the taste. So I had my toast with Vegemite and actually liked it quite a bit - I even had another slice.

So I headed out for my fun-filled day with my plastic bag purse in hand. I walked to the Underground Station and bought an Oyster Card (the as-you-go metro pass) and then hopped on the train heading to Embankment. I left the station, and was shivering within seconds - London is just freezing (and no one else seemed to be noticing this)! Apparently, the weather in Madrid has spoiled me. I made my way towards the Thames and through the Victoria Tower Garden, which is right next to the Houses of Parliament. After taking pictures of the Emancipation Monument, which is displayed in the Garden, I then crossed the Lambeth Road bridge to the East side of the Thames. There are nice walkways along this side of the Thames, so I looped back around and started down the other side. There were plenty of oppotunities for great pictures of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and also the garbage cans which say neither "Garbage" nor "Trash," but "Litter." Even the British garbage cans speak with an accent. I crossed the Thames again on the Westminster Bridge and made my way North to Trafalgar Square, (which is one of the main plazas in London). I walked past the National Portrait Museum and an art display - the Ice Bear. This display is a bear's skeleton that had been covered by ice, essentially making a huge ice sculpture. Parts of the ice had melted, creating a really bizzare piece of art.

I had planned to go to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace that morning, (which takes place at 11:30 am on odd numbered days) and wanted to be there by about 10:30 (I heard the crowds can start building up early). I had some time to kill before I needed to be there and I didn't want to wait around in the freezing cold weather for more time than necessary, so I kept walking North towards Oxford Street. I passed Piccadilly Circus on the way, which is kind of like London's Times Square (and gave some people directions - they asked me, I didn't suggest my services. . .). After that, I just wandered through some of the neighborhoods in London. There were lots of old winding streets (very Diagon Alley-esque) and I ended up walking all the way to Oxford Street (which is the big shopping street in London) and stopped in a big department store to warm up. I wandered through the Christmas decoration area and then made my way to the kitchen gadgets department before heading back outside. It was now time to start walking back towards Buckingham Palace, so I headed down North Audley Street and passed lots of old buildings (which looked as if they were right out of Oliver). The neighborhoods must have been London's old factory districts.

I had almost reached Buckingham Palace when I realized that I needed to cross Piccadilly Street. This is one of the huge highways in London and there were many cars (driving in the wrong directions) that were standing between me and the other side of the street. I walked up and down the street for quite a ways before I found a cross-walk and passed this one group of construction workers several times before I managed to cross the street. Right on the other side of Piccadilly Street was Green Park, a huge park that leads right up to Buckingham Palace. Different from most other city parks I've been to, there wasn't a lot of landscaping or benches. This park was pretty much just a rolling plot of grass with a sprinkling of trees. I walked to the other side of the park and stopped at a coffee stand for hot chocolate before heading over to the Buckingham gates. After only a few minutes my hot chocolate was iced chocolate and I considered going back for another, but I didn't want to loose my place near the gates, as there were already quite a few people waiting. So I waited for an hour, oddly enough, with a group of Spaniards - I was quite proud of myself for understanding their conversation. But it was freezing. Absolutely frigid. My gloves were doing nothing (and neither was my coat for that matter) and that hour just crawled by.

At 11:30, the Changing of the Guard started with a calvary parade that circled the plaza. Then the official guards came out and started their marching procession. At one point during the procession, the head guard went around and tugged on all of the other guards' hats, testing to see if they were on correctly. Some of them weren't, and those guards had to embarrassingly fix their hats in front of the hundreds of people watching. The guards also did this weird shuffling move as part of the procession that was one of my favorite parts - it was like a sideways moon-walk. Then the marching band came out and gave a short performance, surprising everyone with a medley of ABBA songs.

After everything was finished, I was so cold that I was legitimately having trouble walking, (I think my knees had frozen). I walked over to the Queen Victoria Monument (which faces the Palace) and after taking some pictures, decided that my next stop would be the Saint James' Palace, which a tourbook at the hostel had said was open for tours. So I wandered over towards the Palace and looped around the building that looked the most promising (again, I was using my map which only labeled what it felt like labeling). I walked all the way around the building (which was tricky because this involved crossing several roads) and didn't see anything that looked like a door. I did another loop and this time noticed a door that was blocked by Royal Guards, who seemed to be keeping people out, not letting people in. So I figured that maybe I had the wrong building. I wandered a little bit further away, yet none of the other buildings seemed to resemble a Palace. I asked one woman (and she was legit - she had a British accent and everything) where Saint James' Palace was, but she seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. I passed this tiny little alleyway, where I stopped inside a cafe just to reheat my fingers, and then again faced the cold, giving the neighborhood one more loop before giving up.

Still no door, and after having wandered around in the freezing cold for an hour after having stood in the freezing cold for two hours, I was getting pretty cranky. I had wanted to fit in one more thing before lunch, but now all my plans were messed up, because it was not quite lunch time, but there was nothing I could finish before I was starving. I decided to head back to Westminster Abbey, (which I had originally planned on skipping) and walked along Horse Guards' Road, passing the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms (and a sign which informed me that Saint James' Palace was closed to the public - that explained that). As I was walking along the border of Green Park, I also saw a nice view of the gardens and Buckingham Palace in the background. As I was stopped to take pictures, I saw a weird bird swimming around in the pond. I'm pretty sure it was a pelican, but I didn't think that pelicans liked sitting in freezing water all day, so I took a picture to prove to myself that I wasn't hallucinating from heat deprivation. As I was walking, I also noticed a remarkable number of joggers, who were out for their afternoon runs in shorts and t-shirts. Ridiculous. I could barely walk because I was so cold, and there they were, wearing next to nothing and exercising. Runners.

I got to Westminster Abbey and almost didn't go in, as it was 12 pounds ($25) admission. But I was so cold by this point that I couldn't walk another step, so I paid and went in. I got an audio guide with my admission which had about 25 stops around the cathedral and abbey. The tour was probably meant to be about 1.5 - 2 hours, but I was there for almost 3 hours and enjoyed it quite a bit. I first just sat and listened to the organist practicing all the Christmas music and then looped around looking at some of the chapels where all the famous monarchs are buried. Westminster Abbey is also where all the coronations occur and on display in the museum were the Coronation Chair (in which most of the English monarchs have sat) and the huge diamond sceptor used during the ceremonies. In addition to the actual cathedral, you can tour parts of the abbey where the monks still live. One of the stops included the gardens which are some of the oldest cultivated gardens in London. Also wandering around the abbey was a crazy woman who liked to demonstrate her singing skills. She actually had quite a nice voice, but after a while, the security guards escorted her away. I then walked back to the cathedral where the boys choir had started practicing, so I sat and listened to them for a while. These boys are selected from all over London and even attend a special school together. They are one of the most recognized choirs in the world. I then headed to the gift store, which was really nice. They had all sorts of souvenirs, from pencils to tea to lemon cheese (don't ask me what that is) and awesome umbrellas (with the lyrics from Singing in the Rain - how clever) which I would have bought had they not been almost $40.

I still had not eaten by this point and it was almost dinner time, but there didn't seem to be any restaurants nearby, so I headed back towards the Thames and strolled North to Covent Garden. Covent Garden ended up being my favorite neighborhood in London. It is a neighborhood of all these interconnected winding streets and while it is the theatre district, it is also filled with restaurants, cafes, and shopping. As I was searching for a restaurant, I passed the theatre for the Lion King, and decided to stop in and ask how much tickets were. For that night they were pretty expensive - about 40 pounds but for the next day, the cheapest tickets were only 20 pounds. So I whipped my wallet out of my plastic bag and bought tickets for the next night. I was excited - theatre in London! The best part was that the theatre would be heated.

So I headed back outside and continued the search for dinner. I saw a sign for a cafe that seemed to be a chain in London, but as I walked in, I realized I had entered the door to the sketchy cafe next-door that was completely empty except for the owner. Well, I couldn't very well leave now! I warily wandred over to the counter and ordered what looked like a decent tuna fish sandwich on a bagel. While the owner was heating up my dinner, I asked if he had a bathroom. He pointed me downstairs and I found one of the most sketchy bathrooms I have ever seen (outside of Morocco, that is). The place could have been out of a horror movie, but everything was functional (including this sink which had a temperature dial on the wall instead of faucets). I went back upstairs, got my food, and sat down at one of the tables. The owner was sitting right there and I felt awkward pulling out my book, but before I could decide what to do, the owner started a conversation. Turns out he is from Morocco (coincidental, I know) so we talked about that for a while and after a bit, another guy named Danny walked in and sat down (he was from Spain - this was quite the coincidental restaurant). We chatted for about an hour and by the time I left, the owner was offering me a job in his restaurant. I've always pictured myself working at a larger and somewhat less-sketchy job, but I told him if I ever found myself in London again, I would come visit. Being friendly never hurt anyone.

I spent the next couple hours shopping in Covent Garden. Lots of the stores are familiar (the Gap and H&M) but there were lots of new places to look at, too. I loved the fashions in London - very classy, and I would have dropped a lot of money if I had had a lot of money to drop. But seeing as I am a poor college student, I only bought myself a hat (which served the dual purpose of keeping my head warm and making me look famous). Yay! I passed the Royal Opera House along the way and ended up walking back to Oxford Street and scouting out some of the stores near there and looking at all of the big Christmas light displays. I found a kind of shopping mall that I spent a good deal of time at and visited the store, Accesories, which I now love, and a bookstore, (where one of the first books I picked up quoted a BC professor - go figure). I walked back towards Piccadilly Circus through some really nice neighborhoods and headed in and out of some souvenir shops, (at one point they were playing the version of "winter Wonderland" that was in The Holiday. I felt like Kate Winslet - especially in my new celebrity hat. I passed another Christmas festival that was set up in a square near Piccadilly Circus and after checking that out, walked back to the Piccadilly Circus Underground station and took the train back to the hostel.

Back at the hostel, I spent some quality time with the computer planning the next day and checking my e-mails. I also found out that I had been accepted into Alpha Sigma Nu, the national honor society for Jesuit universities, so I was pretty excited about that. I then went upstairs to bed and after I asked these two German girls what time it was, (they had no idea what I was saying) I fell fast asleep, happy to be warm in my bed.

Día Uno en Londres

(The Natural History Museum in London, England)

Well, I have gotten a bit behind on my blogging - about four weeks. Oops. So I'll start with London!

Monday, December 14, 2009

After I had gotten through Madrid's airport security with about an hour to spare, I wandered over to my gate and grabbed a seat. I pulled out my book to occupy some time, but the next thing I remember is one of the airline workers shaking me and saying, "Are you planning on going to London? The plane is about to leave." I tripped over my bag getting up so fast and hobbled to the plane, as my leg was still asleep. Morning Gigi strikes again!

As the plane was taking off, I saw that it was starting to snow outside - the first snow I had seen this winter. I must not have been that impressed because I fell asleep almost immediately and didn't wake up until the plane landed at Stansted Airport. As I had forgotten to check whether the was a time difference between Madrid and London, I wasn't sure whether or not I was late for the shuttle to London, so I ran through all the security lines, got my passport stamped (by a woman who was my first sample of a British accent - I had no idea what she was saying), and flew over the where the buses pick travelers up. On my way, I stopped to withdraw pounds, (which are really expensive) and then bought myself breakfast - orange juice and a wonderful sort of granola bar as well as a treacle tart for later. How British.

But once I got outside, I froze to the spot. It is rather chilly in London. I had expected it to be cold but Madrid had spoiled me weather-wise. It was that type of cold where your knees get stiff and your eyes get squinty and the wind goes right up the sleeves of your coat. I shuffled over to where I was to meet the bus, and luckily, it showed up right away, before my orange juice turned into an orange flavored ice cube. The bus ride was quite nice, as it was heated and they had a Christmas station playing on the radio. And even though everything was in English, I had no idea what the advertisements were actually advertising (they seemed like random sentences threaded together). But all the announcers had accents, which always brightens my mood. Then they announced the weather - London: 40 degrees. ¡Qué! Madrid must have really spoiled me, because I thought it was at least -5 degrees!

After about an hour and a half, the bus got to central London and I asked the bus driver where the Metro was. He replied that the Metro was in Paris, but that the Underground was around the corner. Those Brits. I walked to the Victoria Street Station and got in line for a one-way ticket. It cost me 4 pounds, (which is about 7 dollars)! I decided then that I would be doing an awful lot of walking. I took the Underground to Gloucester Road, which was where my hostel was (without getting lost, I might add) and managed to walk to my hostel, only having to turn around once as I had walked too far down the street. Unfortunately on this walk, the strap of my purse broke, rendering the whole bag unusable. So for the rest of my London trip, I carried by belongings around in a plastic bag. This made me feel a little bit homeless and museum security looked at me oddly, but the plastic bag method seemed to suffice.

After dropping my backpack in the luggage room and asking the person at the front desk for tourist suggestions, I was off. I wandered the neighborhood (Kensington) a bit first, and passed the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Academy of Music before making my way to the Natural History Museum. I had planned to spend only a couple of hours at the Museum, but I ended up staying for almost 5 hours. It was a very cool museum and had displays on everything from the human body and perception, to earthquakes and oceans (and it was all in English). I had lunch at the Museum's cafe (an egg and cress sandwich with grapes) and also visited the new Darwin center. After watching a documentary about David Attenborough in the new Attenborough Studio and taking pictures of the museum's library (in which a file exists for every plant or animal ever discovered), I headed to Hyde Park.

It was already dark, so I stayed along the outer rims of the park and eventually found the Winter Wonderland - one of London's annual Christmas fairs. Although I was damp and freezing, the fair was still fun to walk around, especially because everyone had a British accent, even the little kids! England is fun that way.

Then, at Julia's suggestion, I was off to find Harrods - London's big department store. Unfortunately, the map given to me by the hostel wasn't very good and didn't include all the streets. Therefore, I had to wander around until I found a street that was important enough to be on my map - this is a very inefficient way of traveling around, especially when it's so dark you can hardly see the map anyway. Furthermore, cars in London drive on the wrong side of the street. I knew this when I got to London, but I didn't make the connection that when I was crossing the street, I would have to look the other way. Also, it seems to me that cars in London have the right of way, not pedestrians. This led to a few terrifyingly near-death experiences on my part, and even after I remembered to stop and look in the right direction, there were too many cars coming from too many directions for my frozen brain to sort out. The method I developed included prayer and running across streets with my eyes closed. Anyway, as I was walking I saw a store which looked really warm and well-lit, and since my joints were freezing over by this point, I stopped in to get warm. It turned out to be a grocery store - I had not even planned that. I suppose I am just drawn to them - it must be fate.

So after touring the aisles of the supermarket, I again faced the cold, and this time, actually found Harrods. Their Christmas decorations included advertisements for theater's Wicked, so the first thing I saw were the two giant feet of the Wicked Witch of the East sticking out from under the building. I entered the store and it was packed. I felt a little out of place because Harrods turns out to be a luxury items store (I should have figured - Julia told me about it) and I was walking around with my belongings in a plastic bag. The store can be compared to Macy's in NYC. There were seven floors filled with everything from pots and pans to riding equipment, but the most exciting part were the cafes. It is officially a supermarket, but the sections are all separate and have their own counters. It was very busy and very expensive so after a few minutes, I headed back out into the rainy freezing-ness to walk back to the hostel.

It was a longer walk than I had anticipated, but I saw a lot of London's shopping district. I stopped for dinner at a Thai restaurant near my hostel, which was quite good. I got a chicken and vegetable stir fry with rice and lemonade and they also gave me these Asian rice-crackers, which were probably my favorite part. I asked what they were, but they have a Thai name, and I therefore had no idea what the waitress said, but I will be looking for them if I ever see a Thai supermarket. I decided that I do not like eating alone, but fortunately for me, there was no one in the restaurant to judge me except for the waitress - who was having her dinner at the next table over. No worries.

I stopped at the supermarket next door to the hostel to look for an umbrella (unsuccessfully) and then headed back to the hostel, where I checked in and brought my stuff up to my room. The room was big and had 10 beds and two bathrooms down the hall. Not all the spaces were taken up so there was plenty of room to spread out. I then went back downstairs to the lounge to plan out the next day. I circled everything on my map that I wanted to do (which was pretty much everything) and must have looked like a wreck (my neck was barely supporting my head by this point) because the boy sitting next to me asked if I needed advice. So we started talking (he was from Holland) and then the two kids on the other couch joined in, too (one from Chicago and one from LA). They all were talking about what they had already done and still wanted to do, so from their advice, I made myself a plan for the next day. I was practically asleep by this point, but I dragged myself up to bed and passed out.