Blogs from London City, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 109

So, it is my last day in London...for now. I'm sure I'll find a way to come back again. Michael and I saw a fair bit today for only having one full day in the city. We started with watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace - very cool - we couldn't actually go into the Palace because it is closed until July 30 :-( After the changing of the guard, we went to the Royal Mews (no, not a place for cats - it's her Majesty's stables). This, too, was interesting. A good place to go if you want something that doesn't take hours to visit, but still has a lot of history. Then it was off to the Tower of London, which is actually a series of castles upon more castles than ... read more

So far we're just getting acquainted with the idiosyncracies of being oversees. I almost blew up my hair dryer this morning trying to sort out the voltage adapters (nothing like have smoke blow out of the motor to wake you up)! Then we had our first introduction of paying to go to the bathroom when we arrived at Waterloo Station to start our day of touring the sights. Rode the double decker bus and saw all the notable landmarks en route. Big Ben is our fave! This is not just any clock - it's gorgeous. There is so much history here its amazing! Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Westminster Cathedral, Picadilly Circus, Scotland Yard just to name a few. BUT the highlight so far was at The Olde Kings Head pub where I had bangers and mash ... read more

Greatest. Concert. Ever. I don't think it is possible to see anything of such magnitude ever again. Even though they said something like that in 1985, Live 8 was easily the greatest live event ever, and it will probably never be able to matched up to again. It's really hard to write about how awesome it was to experience it. I wasn't in Hyde Park itself, since it was impossible to get tickets, but after trying really hard to see through the trees to get a glimpse of the big screens (imagine that, trees in a park), or trying to peak around or over fences, or just hear the music over the busy streets sorrounding the park, we then headed over to Regent's Park nearby, where they had set up a big screen to watch the ... read more

As I drove away from the rockies for the last time I realized how much I loved and was going to miss living there... the nearly 5months had gone by way too fast and I can definately see myself going back there sooner or later. Since I got back from CR I spent my last week chilling out with Kim in Calgary, and also got a couple of days in the Bow Valley to party up with what was left of the crew, and do some white-water rafting which was awesome! Then after a sad old goodbye with Kim at the airport,(miss you Kimmy) I turned up at Paul Harts flat in London and since then have had a huge week involving catching up with too many people to name which has been fantastic, seeing the ... read more

Dan here. Friday was an eventful day for London and for us, bookended by events that together marked it as a day of transition: a set of major morning transport snarls both caused and exacerbated by the heat, and, as the sun retreated for the evening, a cool, thundery rainstorm. Weather I don't know if we've harped on this point much, but it has been HOT in London this past week. Highs have been in the low but humid 90's in a city not really equipped for it: air-conditioning is rare and the "cold" drinks are generally lukewarm from overworked refrigerators. It has been a week of long, still sweats and small, fleeting pleasures. The pleasures have mostly involved the chance moments when the Tube conjures a strong wind: the push of an approaching train as ... read more