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Published: April 15th 2005
Hey guys,
Just so you know im pretty sure ive been getting all of your messages.
Well the other night after I posted and went back to my room but since I hadn't met anyone it was a little lonely to be honest. So I went to a backpackers bar down the street called "The Midas Touch" I sat around for about 10 minutes and recognized some people from the hostel earlier that day so I jsut went over and asked if they minded if I joined them. Of course they didnt so we all hung out at the bar until it closed at 12:00!!! I dont know what is up with that but the bars have to close at 12 unless you go to a nightclub which is open until whenever apparently theres a loophole or something.
Anyways, I met 3 guys there, on American from Wisconsin (Ken) who came by himself for a week, an Aussie (john) who's here indefinately looking for work and an Irish guy doing the same thing. I tried a few of the local beers (Worthingtons and Carling) but of course had a few Guiness Extra Colds. After that we went looking for food and got the worst pizza ive ever had. It was so soggy you could pick it up and had to just kinda push it off the plate. Anyways it was so bad that when we finished it we went back to get another slice...haha. Once we got back to the hostel we met 2 French girls, one (sophie) studies English so it was perfect and the other learned it for a couple years but had a harder time. We got back and of course the Irish guy wanted to find some more alcohol but there was none to be bought at this hour. Someone else there took out a bottle of vodka and mixed it with some Orange soda and gave it out to a few people there. It tasted pretty nasty, actually all the soda here tastes like rubbish. Its not sweet at all. I wound up talking with Sophie for a couple hours and talked about quite a bit, politics, each other and we got to learn quite a bit about each other so that was fun. She swears that the French dont hate Americans and actually the older generations love America for helping in WWII and that her grandmother loves America because of the washing machine...lol.
I stayed up until about 3:30 and went back to the room but had a hard time falling asleep because I was still of schedule and one of my roommates snored really really really loudly, even my earplugs were powerless.
I woke up the next morning feeling like crap, a mix of being out late and jet lag. I woke up at 11 but had to sleep until about 1 and still woke up with a really bad headache but I didnt want to waste anymroe of the day so I just left the hostel and went walking with no real plan. I walked through Soho which is kinda artsy like Greenwich Village.
Then I headed south across the Thames once again and got some nice shots of the House of Parliament once again, it really is gorgeous. So I kept on walking and went to a local grocery store and bought a few things to keep on me for late at night or when I first get up. I kept to brands I didnt know. I bought some Cadbury Breakfast Bars, some Gooseberry Yogurt, some chocolate drink that I think was called Frijj. That too was not sweet at all.
I found out where I was on the map and apparently took a wrong turn and walked a half hour in the wrong direction before I asked and found out the right way. Actually one guy was so helpful when I asked what street I was on he said, "Go find a sign mate." So that was nice...
Once I made it back to the Thames the sun had FINALLY broken out and warmed up a bit. I decided to go on the London Eye for a ridiculous £12. But it was worth it and you could see for miles and once again my favorite building, The House of Parliament ;-) It was about a 30 minute ride, i dont remember how high it went but I was way up there. i lucked out because I walked right on and some people I met said the wait was over an hour.
After that I belive I came back to the hostel where I saw the people that I met the night before. They were heading back to the bar but I still didnt have dinner. I got some Fish and chips but not from a real English place, I think its their fast food version, Harry Ramsdens. Whatever though it was across the street so it would have to do.
After that I went back to the Midas Touch but we were all tired from the night before and I had walked for hours so I was pretty tired too. Unfortunately it was Ken, Sophie and her sisters last night. I stayed up close to 3am again since the guy who works for the hostel has a guitar he breaks out and people take turns playing and teaching each other so that was fun. Even drunks coming from the pubs stop by to play which is always entertaining.
After kinda wasting yesterday I got an early start today getting up around 930 and heading out towards the tower of london. It was a faaaarrrrr walk but I got to pass St. Pauls Cathedral and the Royal Courts of Justice which was beautiful as well, you'll all get to see all my boring pictures when I get bakc dont worry. So I finally made it to the Tower of London which was a fort built in 1066 by William the Conquerer so that was really impressive, and its near the Tower Bridge which was really cool also. The London Bridge is basically nothing worth mentioning. Anyway while I was waiting for the tour to start I met a cool Canadian girl from Toronto (Marie) who was staying in London for 2 days before her 14 day Contiki tour around Europe. We took the tour together, spent time seeing the Crown Jewels and basically explored it for nearly 3 hours.
Afte this we went to Englands oldest pub which was rebuilt around 1650 after the Great London Fire, however the wood benches and walls and everything is the original!! When I sat down I noticed a plaque that said I was sitting in Charles Dickins favorite seat!! Apparently he used to go to that restaurant and sit in the corner to write so that was really cool. I got the Grilled Lamb which was delicious. Finally a decent meal in London.
After that she had a meeting for her tour group so she walked me to the British Museum which happened to be right near her hotel. There nothing British in it actually, everything is Asian, Egyptian, Sumerian etc. But this was awesome too because there was actual plaques, stratues, mummies from almost 4000 years ago. Also there is the Rosetta Stone which was really cool to see also. Unfortunately after an hour I was too tired to keep going so I left and came back here to the hostel. The transience is a bit strange. Some people are just there for the night, you meet people and they go on with their own plans. But usually you get their email or something. If I wind up going to Paris, Sophie lives about an hour north I believe so she said she would come into Paris, so that would be cool to have a native show you around, not to mention make things a bit easier.
Well I just found out the hostel in Dubrovnik is completely full...so I gotta figure something out now.
Well I think this may be long enough of an entry.
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anonymous
non-member comment
Fun
Well I am glad to hear you are having such a great time and meeting a lot of nice and interesting people. I accidentally hit the button to contact you so I don't know if you're getting those also. Good luck finding another place in whatever that place was. You are doing something that 90% of people only dream about, so have a blast. Look forward to reading more of your updates. - Chris