LONDON - Part 2

---

DAY 3

The Swiss girls went on their way to enjoy the rest of their holiday. I headed off for more sightseeing on an absolutely gorgeous clear day. I guess I was quite lucky as the weather is typically otherwise during this time of year. My first stop was to the Parliament & Big Ben for a more upclose view, Westminster Abbey next door, then my last stop at Buckingham Palace and the impressive changing of the guards. Make sure you watch the video in my playlist. 😊

After a long day of walking I was pooped and starving. On my way back to Shah's I decided to make dinner for us. My first thought was to bust out my mad filipino skills and make chicken adobo, but by the time I got
back to Camden, the Asian market was closed and I couldn't find soy sauce for the life of me at the grocery store. So I settled for pasta with vegetables instead. After we finished dinner, Shah and I were still alive so I guess I managed to do okay. Later in the evening, we headed out to a bar called Potion's to attend a UCL European Society social gathering, which is a club Shah belongs to.

DAY 4

My last day in London, I decided to spend the day museum hopping: Museum of London, Museum of Science, & the Natural History Museum, all for free by the way. Off I went looking forward in taking my time to spend the day enriching my mind, but that idea was short lived. When I arrived at the main entrance of the Museum of London, I was blasted by the sight of school children about 8-9 years old dressed so proper in their pressed uniforms with their teachers yelling over their heads trying to make chaos into order before entering. Crap. Did I really want to go in now? I sucked it up and quickly threw my head phones on my ears and turned up the volume on my iPod. That only helped for so long as my head phone strategy was defeated by the kids overbearing yelps like their parents had never taken them anywhere before. Bloody hell.

With my tolerance level at an all time low, I was hoping I'd have better luck at the other museums so off I went. I made my way to the Tube but only to find myself stuck waiting and waiting and waiting until finally advised that the train broke down the stop just before. My next option was the bus, but that too proved no good as I waited and waited and waited some more, along with 30 more people waiting with me. Transportation was a ridiculous mess come to find out that some of the bus drivers went on strike that day. How convenient.After walking several blocks, I tried another Tube line and with some luck finally made it across town. But by the time I got there it was already past 4pm, museums were closing soon, and I didn't want to rush my way through. So I threw in the towel and decided to chill out at Kensington Park to enjoy what was left of my day.

Well just like Regent Park, Kensington Park was right up there is size. I stopped and snapped some photos of Kensington Palace - the last home of Princess Diana. I wrapped the afternoon meeting a friend of a friend, George, for drinks at place called the 12th Hour in the Notting Hill area. George walked up in a suit, with a tired disposition like he had a long day at work, but with a friendly warm smile on his face. We quickly became acquainted and I soon learned that he is originally from Greece, but lives in London now working for the Greek Embassy as a Press Secretary. His job is a bit impressive as it involves foreign relations between London & Greece. He discussed how he was knee deep in preparing for the arrival of the Prime Minister of Greece and his entourage of 30-press personnel that travel with him. I appreciated the time he took out of his busy day to meet me. We enjoyed good conversation over some beers and sweet potato fries. Our time was short but sweet. (Thanks Louise).

I wrapped up my last night in London meeting the London Couchsuring group at a bar called Citte of York where they were celebrating the birthday of a fellow CSer. I met a handful of cool people who were local Londoners, many who are originally from other parts of the world like Anaud from Australia, Omar from Morroco, Victor from Hungary, Stephanie from France, Andrea from Italy, etc. The highlight was meeting Vishal, a young man of Indian decent but born and raised in the the UK. I immediately had the urge to probe him in conversation about evolution and super human powers as he shared an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Mohinder Suresh (a TV charachter on Heros for all you non Heros-viewers)...I digress. So anyway, I was telling him my story of being unemployed and backpacking through Europe come to find out he too would soon do the same within a weeks time quitting his job as a dentist to embark on a 6-month travel adventure through Australia. Ahhh, finally someone to bond with in my aimless wandering! It was a fun night closing the bar swapping travel and life stories and making new friends in London. Cheerio!

Four days and four nights in London. My first stop on my trip and it was an amazing time spent to kick off my grand tour. Shah was a wonderful host giving me a great first impression of my first international couch surfing experience. More couches to surf, more things to see, more people to meet. The best is yet to come....Next stop....Paris, France.
For more pictures, click here --->London Part 2

LONDON

TID BITS

Drinking: Legal age is 18
School: Brits have the option of fininshing school at 16, at the 10th grade level, as long as they pass their GSCE (General Certifcate of Standard Education). After that it is off into the real world to find a job -or- they can choose to go to University, but in order to do so, they must attend and pass another two years of school called "A-Level" that consist of cirriculum equivalent to the US college standards for General Education classes. So by the time one completes "A-Level" at 18 and is accepted into college, they immediately take their major courses, and most finish at 21. Hmmm....
Driving: Hardly anyone has a car in London, unless your loaded with cash. Parking on the streets cost up 8 British Pounds per day ($13+ USD).

---

Photos

There it is kids....
Big Ben, Parliament

London Couchsurfers
Shah, Andrea, Stephanie, Anaud, & Vishal

Comments

[Lilly]

What would you do for a Klondike Bar?
Okay, if I was at the changing of the guards, I would've whipped out a Klondike Bar. Like it would even faze them because to be quite honest with you, I remember the guards being quite scary. It would be a pretty funny ad commercial though. ;) How are you Lynn? It sounds like you are having a great time thus far. Thanks so much for including me in your distant travels. I feel as if I'm right right there with you! *muah* ~Lil PS- Dr Mohinder Suresh is hot! *kool-aid smile*