I had some unforeseen circumstances in which my flight to Hamburg did not happen on the 18th. This is why I so desperately needed to get ahold of Matt and Kelly. Once I was able to contact them (thank you Elayna for calling their vonage phone for me :]) I was much relieved although still a little stressed, wondering how I was going to spend my next few days in London. I went back to my room and slept for a few more hours to try and better my sleep schedule (I don't plan on being up at 5:30 every morning :p) and I slept until about 9 AM. I got ready and went downstairs, ate my continental breakfast and stole a few crescent rolls and oranges to go. Like I said, I wasn't for sure what my plans would entail for the next few days :P
I was staying at a hotel near the Stansted airport, but Stansted is on the outskirts of the city, plus I can't afford a hotel room by myself for 3ish nights. So I checked into a hostel on the Thame River in Victoria, Central London. I'm now flying out onMonday morning to Hamburg, so I'll spend a few days in central London. I'm not going to complain about being in London, although I think it's fair to complain about my bank account :p It's all an adventure, right?
--Side note--I've been writing my posts during transportation (airplane,walking, bus, etc) so I can keep up with posting. I think it'd be harder to keep up with posting if I didn't do this. I apologize if my tenses don't make sense, since I'm writing everything as it happened, but adding stuff at the end as well--
Anwayyyy, as I pulled into the city, it was raining pretty heavily. When I got off the bus, it was bright and shiny, so I didn't hesitate to find someone to ask for help with directions. I found a police officer and he got out his map and chatted with me for awhile. I find that some English people just really really hate Americans... Where others are intrigued by my accent and ask where I'm from and what I'm doing. The ones who talk to you are soooo friendly. So I started on foot with my 50 lb luggage, carry-on and huge purse... It was only about a 1 mile walk, but it was on cobblestone roads, which was just so lovely for dragging luggage. (Julie, you warned us about this :p) When I felt like I was getting nowhere near close to the river after about a mile of walking, I found myself in a commercial area and stopped in a wine shop to ask for directions. The man was very nice and got online and printed a google maps route for me. At this point I was about 2 miles away... And it started pouring. I took cover for awhile for it to subside and I started again. I had to have looked absolutely ridiculous, drenched in rain, dragging these suitcases, holding a wet map in front of my face, like "WHERE THE HELL AM I GOING!?" But I arrived at the hostel at 2:00, perfect timing for check in. Turns out, I booked my stay for the 19th... Which was fine, because I neededit for that night too, but a hostel on a Saturday night in London is almost straight impossible to find an open room. I think the man could tell I was a little exhausted and "rained out" and he told me just to take a seat and got me a diet coke. He said he'd call around to other hostels to check availability.. He also said there may be cancellations and I could possibly get a bed. In the meantime, I got on the free internet access and talked to some people online (my momma on skype, grandma Jillie on facebook) and checked my email, etc. He later approached me to tell me a cancellation was made in a male room.. Or I could stay in the basement linen closet, which has an extra bed. I asked an American worker here what she thought about it and she said definitely stay in the boys' room.. It's not sketchy. And I had no problem at all... It was just smelly. :p
As it was my first time staying in a hostel, I was a tad skeptical, however the atmosphere this one has specifically, is really cool. So many international students and people just so friendly and helpful. The downstairs is a pub, so you can just hang out in awesome leather chairs, sitting around antique tables, doing whatever! There is free wifi and free drinks (coffee, tea, water, soft drinks, milk, juice) to guests. I thought there was free food as well, but there is only a restaurant available within the pub, which is fairly inexpensive. As I was sitting there, two guys about my age were sitting at couches next to the table where I was sitting. Conversation got started after the dog that stays here at the hostel, snapped at me while I was trying to plug my computer in near him. Ralphie is a rude, rude, old pup.
Meet Gavin and Tony.
Gavin is from Melbourne, Australia, is almost a spitting image of Zach Galifinakes (and almost as funny too!) and has been traveling in Europe for 3 months. He hates being called "Allen" and "fat jesus" so naturally, I took stabs whenever I can. :P Tony is from New Zealand and has been traveling for a few weeks. They have both mainly been "camping out" in London and traveling to other cities when they could. The two met in Dublin one weekend, realized they were both from "down unduh" and had both been staying in London. Their birthdays are one day apart and they were both leaving to go home on the exact same day; Today, the 19th. They were absolutely best friends, meant to be. They sat and chatted with me about everything under the sun and we got a few drinks along with Steph, a girl my age from Germany who works at the hostel. We made plans to venture to Piccidilly for dinner and to possibly go out. Gavin and Tony were hilarious, mocking my accent, talking about how our government sucks and saying how worthless of a sport American football is with all of the protective gear. Rugby is the way to go, I guess?
Anyway, we walked down the the Thames and saw some sights along the way. I took a photo in the traditional London phone booth... I think someone had been using it as a toilet.
I got to see Westminster Abbey, the Parliament building, Big Ben and a couple other sights.
They wanted to eat at Angus Steakhouse... Really? I didn't come to London to eat at an American chain restaurant. Sillies. After dinner, we ventured down to a bar where they were selling shots for 1 GBP. Straight, no chaser, horrible whiskey. A man gave us free entry tickets to a club called Bar Rumba... It was normally 10 GBP! We got in the club and it was actually soooo much fun! Europe loves Gaga, so I love Europe even more. The club played all of the pop/hip hop music I know and the atmosphere was just really cool. We walked back, down the Thame and returned to our hostel for bed around 2 AM.
Here it is 6:45 AM now. I woke up again at 5:30 after going to bed around 2 AM. This rhythm I'm in has got to stop. Today, I plan to venture into Victoria again to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and maybe sneak a picture with one of the guards. ;D I don't know what other plans I have except to walk around with Gavin and Tony again.. Their flights are at 10:30 PM so we have all day. I have pictures to post as soon as I get a camera cord, so check back!
Xoxo
Paige
Meet Gavin and Tony.
Gavin is from Melbourne, Australia, is almost a spitting image of Zach Galifinakes (and almost as funny too!) and has been traveling in Europe for 3 months. He hates being called "Allen" and "fat jesus" so naturally, I took stabs whenever I can. :P Tony is from New Zealand and has been traveling for a few weeks. They have both mainly been "camping out" in London and traveling to other cities when they could. The two met in Dublin one weekend, realized they were both from "down unduh" and had both been staying in London. Their birthdays are one day apart and they were both leaving to go home on the exact same day; Today, the 19th. They were absolutely best friends, meant to be. They sat and chatted with me about everything under the sun and we got a few drinks along with Steph, a girl my age from Germany who works at the hostel. We made plans to venture to Piccidilly for dinner and to possibly go out. Gavin and Tony were hilarious, mocking my accent, talking about how our government sucks and saying how worthless of a sport American football is with all of the protective gear. Rugby is the way to go, I guess?
Anyway, we walked down the the Thames and saw some sights along the way. I took a photo in the traditional London phone booth... I think someone had been using it as a toilet.
I got to see Westminster Abbey, the Parliament building, Big Ben and a couple other sights.
They wanted to eat at Angus Steakhouse... Really? I didn't come to London to eat at an American chain restaurant. Sillies. After dinner, we ventured down to a bar where they were selling shots for 1 GBP. Straight, no chaser, horrible whiskey. A man gave us free entry tickets to a club called Bar Rumba... It was normally 10 GBP! We got in the club and it was actually soooo much fun! Europe loves Gaga, so I love Europe even more. The club played all of the pop/hip hop music I know and the atmosphere was just really cool. We walked back, down the Thame and returned to our hostel for bed around 2 AM.
Here it is 6:45 AM now. I woke up again at 5:30 after going to bed around 2 AM. This rhythm I'm in has got to stop. Today, I plan to venture into Victoria again to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and maybe sneak a picture with one of the guards. ;D I don't know what other plans I have except to walk around with Gavin and Tony again.. Their flights are at 10:30 PM so we have all day. I have pictures to post as soon as I get a camera cord, so check back!
This is me this morning... 6:45 AM. It's about 55 degrees outside. BRR!
Xoxo
Paige
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