[I couldn't find Penny Lane anywhere, darnit]

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Hey all!

Oy, what a day. I hopped on a bus at 7am, got to London at 9 and walked around all day. Got to see all the big stuff; Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Big Ben, Parliament buildings, Westminister Abbey, the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Tate Museum of Modern Art, and then everything in between. By 7pm I called it quits, it was dark and I was getting really cold, and I actually bruised my collarbone from my backpack (full hiking pack). I just waited in the coach station for the rest of the evening, sent a couple emails but just rested.

Despite the after-effects, it was in retrospect a phenomenal day. As far as adventures go this was my first one truly solo, no friends to help me out. It was fun being all on my own but I think I would have liked to have shared the experience with someone, it's hard to explain but it's a different experience when you're by yourself. That said, I'm not sure if one is better than the other, I just think I would have prefered having someone around today.

Food was superb today! I had a proper British breakfast with toast, beans and everything. Lunch came with a really wierd salad, lettuce, red cabbage, pickled beets, cucumber, dill pickle, and some grated carrot. Very good, but different. And a big slice of apple crumble with custard, sooooo good. Mmmm custard.

The coach ride wasn't bad, I think I got 2 two-hour chunks of sleep, and a shorter nap in there too. A drunk guy got kicked off the bus at around 2am, made quite a scene about it too. The bus took just under 9 hours altogether. Got to Glasgow okay, waited in the station til about 8am, then walked to a Starbucks downtown where I met up with my mom and dad's friends, the Macphersons. They're letting me stay with them for a few days! They live about 20 mins from the downtown, and theres enough buses that it should be easy to get around. Keith and Sally have a daughter named Beverley, even spelled the right way, and a son, Iain. They love Monty Python and Keith reads all the Douglas Adams books, and there's every calvin and hobbes book printed here. We're going to get along just fine.

Tomorrow I'm going to Edinburgh for the day, going to check out a bunch of museums, shops, and a castle! There'll definitely be pictures. I hear it's a really beautiful city; everyone I've talked to who knows anything about Scotland has insisted that I absolutely HAVE to go if at all possible. It's only about 30-45 mins by train. Here in Glasgow there's a huge mall, I might wander around it on Saturday morning, before it gets too busy. For you Namanolians it's about twice the size of Woodgrove Mall. It even has a skating rink in it! Crazy Scottish folk.

We're going to go play some cards, so I will upload some photos from England later. Take care everyone! I miss you all lots!

refusing to bring haggis back to Holland for the house,
~Bev

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Photos

My favorite statue
I really liked this statue, I'm not sure what about it was so special but I just really liked it.

To St James Park
Right beside the palace

Beautiful Trees
in St James park

Duke of Buckingham
This picture is for Dad - y'know, he probably could be an actual Duke! Of the squirrel parliament and everything

St James Park
That's the London Eye in the distance. I didn't get to go on it this trip, maybe next time.

Big Ben
My first view of Big Ben, peeking down the street

Parliament Flag
This flag means that Parliament is in session

Parliament Square
An anti-war display at Parliament Square

Big Ben Closeup
from parliament square

Trafalgar Square
View from the National Gallery

Rooftop
Somewhere along parliament road. I thought it was neat.

London eye in twilight
Big Ben's hiding there too

Cityscape
From the bridge

Cityscape Twilight
Either from the same bridge, facing other direction, or from the bridge in the previous photo

Cityscape at Night
Same bridge as twilight photo

"LOOK RIGHT, DUMMY"
I thought these were great! They probably saved me from being run over more than once. It's very confusing, as not only do people drive on the other side of the road but there are many one way streets. I find the traffic absolutely baffling at times.

Comments

[amanda]

HEY!
isn't big ben short! i was amazed when i saw it...anywho, i forgot to give you peice of advice...when you go to edinburgh, if you're staying in a hostel...stay at the castle rock!!! it's the best. http://www.hostel-scotland.co.uk/hostels/index.asp?ID=21....glad to see that you're having fun!!!

[Matt]

Penny Lane
You needed to visit Liverpool!! There's also a Beatles museum there too. If you come back in a few years you could even stay at a Beatles themed hotel...