Blogs from Piccadilly, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

Today is to be a bit more relaxed in terms of sightseeing as we have booked tickets for Phantom of the Opera at Her Majestys theatre.It is the last major show of our generation that we havent seen live on stage and our chance to do it at the theatre that has been playing it continuosly for the last 23 years is too great to resist. Without wanting to sound boring the day has dawned gloriously fine again and high 20's expected again today. So its shorts and short sleeve shirt again and its great being able to go out without the need for a jacket just in case.Thats how confident we are of this fine sunny weather continuing during the day. The underground was a little busier this morning but no so much that there ... read more

Hello all! I am now in London. It is raining, but that's not going to stop be from going out on an adventure tonight! I bought a ticket for Spring Awakening. I got floor seats for £20 off! So excited! The rest of my day will therefore be spent 1. finding the theatre; 2. finding a place to eat and 3. remembering how to get back afterwards. There are two really nice people from Brazil in my room. One of them is even taking law in Portugal right now. I had my first misstep. When meeting them I didn't do the 'besos' thing, leaving them hanging. The plane ride here was uneventful. If uneventful means I actually slept the entire way here! (Well almost...) I'm still tired, but I have too much to do! The hostel ... read more

I freakin' love the Piccadilly area. Even in the freezing cold, it seems romantic with all the lights and beautiful architecture. I'm at a semi-posh bar called Digress, where there is supposed to be a party of American expats. I've met only one other American here: that chick from Knoxville, Tennessee, whom I met on inauguration day a month ago. Still, I'm making the rounds, chatting with people. I meet two different Bangladeshi men who both stare at me as if I'm naked or something. I converse in Spanish with a handsome flight attendant from Uruguay. I meet a couple of young English guys. So young, in fact, I wonder if they're of legal drinking age. They're terribly shy, so I flirt with them a little bit, just to make them feel good. It works a ... read more

Victoria Westcott, the author of Guide to Teaching in London: A Survival Guide for Canadians and founder of the teacher recruitment agency Classroom Canada, scheduled an appointment for me at her office in Oxford Circus. I freakin' love Oxford Circus! It's so busy and huge and colorful. The shopping Mecca of London. Everyone is happy on Oxford Street. Deon, Victoria's colleague, greets me warmly and has me fill out the registration forms. They photocopy my passport, current visa, university degree, and Tennessee teaching license. Then Deon says, "So Victoria told me about you and your story. I know you've been placed somewhere where you never wanted to be, and you're really unhappy." "That's right. I want to be in London. That's the whole reason why I moved to England in the first place." "OK, there are ... read more

I'm using the internet at Pret a Menger in Picadilly in London right now! My host so far, my old middle school girlfriend Kimberly Harrenstein, doesn't have internet at her place, so my access has been highly limited. I'll just offer a short update: I got back from Bulgaria on Saturday and was in Istanbul for less than 12 hours before I flew out to London. Getting here was a bit of a nightmare, but since it's been awesome. Tonight I'm celebrating the inauguration with my friend Kate and her boyfriend Joe--earlier Kate and I went to Madame Tussaud's, which was free today for Americans since they were debuting their Barack Obama figure. Sweeeeet. Next Tuesday I fly out to Athens where I'll hopefully have time to go out to Delphi and see all the shit ... read more