Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe - page 3008

Arose early for our complimentary breakfast, which was fantastic for a complimentary continental breakfast in a city that's known for fried fish and potatoes. We talked to this guy whose daughter went to Duke... too bad for her. We then trucked through the cold rain to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We stood there with a swarm of japanese tourists and other westerners and europeans taking pictures of the most random things. I think my camera focused in more on the raindrops in the air and on the lens, sadly. Then we headed to the Worrell House and met up with the other Wake Law students, who had just finished their last class. After a refreshing visit with familiar faces, Mike and I grabbed a bite to eat and returned to the ... read more

We woke up about 3 am North Carolina time to get ready for the day. We had a pretty good breakfast with croussiants, pastries, cereal and I even tried some carrot juice. All were pretty good, but breakfast will be better tomorrow, sans carrot juice ;-). We got up with the Wake Forest kiddies at the Worrell House yesterday, so we decided we pay them a visit after they were done with class at around noon so we had a little bit of time to kill. . It was about 9, so we headed to the tube station to buy our 3 day passes. It ended up costing around 10 bucks a day, which isn't too terribly bad for such an expensive city. We then took the train for Hyde Park Corner to head down to ... read more

Okay, I've got a little catching up to do since I've been in two countries in Europe already. I flew into London on June 10 and spend my two full days there just exploring central London. There are tons of historical buildings and monuments and squares to see, so a few more days would have been nice, but London is a little too rich for this guy. London has a great underground system so I took the tube to get around. I kept looking the wrong way when I was crossing the street and I almost stepped in front of a few cars. These cars are so small that they probably wouldn't hurt me anyway ;). Anyway, some of the major sites that I saw: House of representatives Big Ben Horse Guards St. Paul's Park London ... read more

It's our second day and London, and it's been drizzly since morning. A typical London weather I heard. We did all the possible tourist thing. Big Ben, St. Paul, the museums, The Tower Bridge, etc, etc. I think it's wonderful that all London museums are free, the way museums need to be. The only admission we've paid so far was for the Queen's Gallery, which for the price, was pretty disappointing. We walked a lot. And I mean a lot. Even getting from the underground (what they call the subway here) entrance to the train sometimes requires a lot of walking, up the stairs, and more walk. No wonder I haven't seen any gyms around here. I also haven't seen any thing equivalent to Subway, or any decent supermarket for that matter. Kinda makes eating on ... read more

This will be brief, one because I'm working on a French keyboard, and two, because this entry is backdated (I couldn't get internet access last night). A note on the hostel I stayed at: in general, it's good value. However, the showers are of the variety that you have to keep pusching a nob to get water, and the sinks all have 2 taps - freezing cold and boiling hot. I didn't really mind that. What I did mind was experiencing a level of snoring I didn't think humanly possible. Suffice it to say that my alarm was not needed since I was awake at 5am. The day then started with pouring rain. I was kind of embarrased: me, the consumate Vancouverite, lacking an umbrella in a place who's weather is described as identical. An umbrella ... read more