Say Cheese... Now Smile!

Home sweet home... sorta. I don't have my luggage because while in Rome, my flight was delayed 45 minutes... which wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that I had to catch my plane in London to LAX around 4... so we were really cutting it close. So close in fact that the group of us who had the same flight plan got personally escorted around Heathrow through security and ticketing... OoOoO. So I got on the flight, but my bags didn't. Boo. But I'm happy to be back... but at the same time I didn't want to leave. Its a different story if you're having a miserable time, and mine was far far from from that. Although I'm glad to be sleeping in my own bed... not to mention not having to lug a 50 pound suitcase and goodies up flights of stairs and taking showers only to find your bathroom flooded afterwards... I still totally LOVED the experience.

No pictures yet. I didn't bring my digi so I have 24 rolls (I sold one roll to my awesome roomie Keila in Sorrento for 2 euro) that need to be developed and I imagine I'll be spending many an hour scanning them... so when I have them ready, I'll be sharing.

LONDON

Oh how I love this city...

The traffic is CRAZY. Oh my first day, I was crossing the street, and in the crosswalk, they had a little red man light lite up... so of course I assumed that meant "stop" but then again the people around me just kept on walking. So I assumed that meant "go" and America was just completely opposite. But nope, it was right before and everyone just doesn't care. So if you have the chance, just RUN.

At the hotel, I've been surrounded by Aussies. My roomies are Aussies,and one night, Lenora explained to me the games of RUGBY and CRICKET... which was competely great because the next night at a Pub with Laura, they had a rugby game showing and I totally knew what was going on. Well sorta. We also a group of Danish men who invaded our table and we all attempted to have a "german-broken english" conversation. Hilarity ensues. Apparently now I have a danish boyfriend...

Breakdown of London:
Thursday: Arrive 7am. Settle in after walking around IN THE RAIN with Elinore and Eric, 2 contiki folks that I met in the shuttle. We decided we needed to eat, so when in London, you go to a pub! Go watch PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with Elinore since we have free tickets and need to stay up as long as we can to avoid jet lag... although during the end of the show, we're nodding away in our very last row/top balcony seats. Still, we declare ourselves AWESOME after figuring out the underground system and successfully taking it to Picadilly Circus and not dying.

Friday: Wake up at 4am. Damn you jetlag. I decided to take my BATH/STONEHENGE tour today which was absoluletly perfect cause the weather was wonderful. While on the coach, I found myself sitting next to couple of folks from California so I didn't feel all too lonley. Our tourguide's name was Trudy... how English is that!? Stonehenge was quite a sight and it was pretty exciting to be standing there in front of it, as opposed to seeing it in pictures. Bath was just adorable. Went to a roman bathouse there... and lucky for me while visiting they were having a Jane Austen festival, so along with seeing some folks in the garb, I went to the Jane Austen house.

Saturday: Wake up to find London freezing cold... so I bundled up in layers for my Open top double decker bus tour! When in England, do the bus. While on it, I meet another contiki girl from Australia, Neyda. Together, we decided to go check out some sights... then around 12, I'd head over to Buckingham Palace to meet up with Laura. Or so that was what we thought.

At the Parliament tour office:
Neyda: So what tour do your reccomend? The Parliament or Westminister abbey?
Ticketguy: Well, here at the Parliament you get a better tour.
Me: What's at Westminister Abbey?
Ticketguy: Dead people.

With that being said, The Parliament tour ran WAAAAY longer than we originally thought but at least we saw where Tony Blair sits in the house of Commons ("Its like that SNL skit!") by the time we made our way to the Palace, it was already 12:45... and I can't find Laura. To make things worse, there are NO PHONES NEAR BUCKINGHAM PALACE. So panicking a bit, not to mention a bit wet because now its raining, we walk another 20 minutes to Trafalgar square to find a phone... and pizza. We were starving! Anyways after another hour of playing phone tag, I go back to the hotel to finally meet up with Laura and her friend Lynn. YAY! That night we went Leister square/Soho to a pub where as mentioned aboved met some crazy Danish men who kept on taking our pictures and calling us their girlfriends in German...

Listening in on the Danish:
Lynn: I think they're speaking German... but I'm not sure.
Danish guy: something something sauerkraut..
Lynn: Yeah.. its german.

...as well as some New Zealanders, one of which, Rodney, was VERY EXCITED to talk to us about American food. Serious. He ranted on and on about how much he loved American "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and you should have seen his face when Laura and I told him about Roscoes... he was in heaven. Aw those New Zealanders are too cute.

Sunday: Woke up early and went with Laura and Lynn on the last day of the Buckingham palace tour. We only got to see the Queen's state rooms, so no William or Harry... boo. But the pidgeons there were seriously the FATTEST PIGDEGONS EVER! Chubby winged things I tell you. How they fly... it makes me wonder. We also saw a portion of the changing of the guards cause it was CROWDED as hell... but at least its better seeing some of it than nothing at least. After the Palace, Laura and Lynn had to go back so Caimbrige, so I decided to take a mini to Cruise on Thames where I got to see London Brige, the Tower Brige, the globe theater, the Tower of London and some other great eye candies. Afterwards, I walked to Wesminister Abbey because I decided that seeing dead people wouldn't be too bad... especially if that dead person was Shakespeare, but couldn't get it since it was a Sunday it no tourist were allowed. Boo. So I just took some pictures and walked to the underground (I'm a pro!) to go back to the hotel and have a goodbye dinner of fish and chips with my dear Aussie roomie Lenora.

Monday: I woke up around 4 to take a cab to Victoria station so that I can catch the first train to Gatwick... then it was off to ITALY!

... more on that later. ;)

All in all, 4 days is definitely not enough for London... but still I loved it. I need to go back and stay longer, thats for sure. The guys there are the cutest... and their teeth aren't all gross. ;)