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Published: January 16th 2006
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Today we went to London. I start the day excited… we’re going to London, we’re going to go to a club for my birthday, we’re going to have a GREAT time. Let me tell you… London? Not that impressive… sorry. I don’t know whether it was the weather, the crowds, the people, or the fact that our tour guide DEFINITELY failed out of the National Tour Guide Academy but today was far more intense than it needed to be. So we get there okay and the National British Museum is pretty awesome. They have really cool exhibits and a lot of things that really just make you go “Woooooooow” as your jaw drags on the floor. The way it’s set up is also just amazing the way they coordinate their exhibits.
So from there we go down to this center thing that should seriously have a sign posted out front that says: ‘Warning: be prepared to deal with rude people and extravagant over-pricing”. So at this point most of the group is starving and desperate for somewhere to sit and eat. We end up at this restaurant where we sit down and ask to order from the “express menu” where
all the entrees are a decent price. When we order, they don’t put the artichokes in pasta, the chicken is dry, and the other entrees are overpriced. Not to mention while we’re freezing at our table trying to get artichokes or the bill our waitress is just chatting it up on the side under the big heating lanp.
Finally we leave the restaurant and go walk around the marketplace for a while but there are just so many people and the weather is bad that all you can do is look for a hole in the crowd to get through. We end up just walking around the center for a little while and shopping a bit before we meet up wth our tour guide… and THUS the adventure begins!
So she takes us on a walking tour of London but doesn’t actually bother to tell us anything. She just kind of walks and points and walks and points and doesn’t really bother to stop anywhere. Not to mention she must have won a gold medal in the Olympics for speed walking in a former life because if you try to stop and take a single photo you will
turn around and have to run full speed to catch up to her.,,, which would be somewhat okay if she ever bothered to make sure the group was all with her but she never even turned around. There would be one or two stragglers left behind and she wouldn’t even notice.
When we get to the Parliament building, Emily, I, and a few other of the kids get stopped at a stop light and it quite possibly was the longest stoplight OF MY LIFE. Not only that but did our tour guide notice? Not in the least bit. While the group of us are stopped at the light she jets ahead and by the time we are able to cross the rest of the group is no where to be seen. We all whip out our cell phones in attempts to get a hold of her but our efforts are futile as we can’t seem to get a hold of her and we are now left to fend for ourselves. We have halfway across downtown London to get in a half an hour and thanks to a couple kind souls along the way and the beauty and power of
the street map we were able to collectively find our way back before the rain picked up and we were stranded in London.
When we finally return to the bus we aren’t welcomed by apologies or questions of our mental health, security, and well being... Oh no… instead she kind of laughs it off and the other adult we were with blamed US for separating ourselves from the group. All I can say is the next guided tour should come with some release statements saying that although this tour is school sponsored… you’re on your own.
The evening was much better. We all got dressed and went to this swanky little lounge called “Kiss” where they played some music and had a small seating area. It was right next to the club, “Park End” where we were waiting for the doors to open. We got there really early but it was lucky that we did because by the time we were tired and ready to leave there was still a huge line outside and it was too crowded to even move. I think we all had a great time and I was glad to celebrate the big 20
with a night on the town.
The best news of the night: We got a really great bus driver on the way home and this time when we took the 24-hour ride, we actually MADE IT HOME! That’s right, in one piece, in one direction, in a reasonable amount of time, and in a sane state of mind.
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Marie
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!