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My day May 21, 2009- Thursday
So Thursday didn’t go exactly as I had originally planned. I had wanted to go see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace with a “London walks” group. Remember, I had those 3 free walks I could do since I bought the Original Tour Bus pass. However, I didn’t get everything ready/done in time. Not only did I have to get ready, I had to check online to see where the London walks group would meet. I didn’t figure I’d have enough time to walk to McDonald’s to check online, so I was going to use the computers at the hostel. Well, they said the internet wasn’t working at that time, so I realized that I wouldn’t be able to go. So I went to McDonald’s after all and got online for a while.
I then walked down to where (well, one of the places) the tour buses stop. My next plan was going to be taking the Thames (by the way, it’s pronounced “tims”) River cruise to Greenwich (pronounced GREN itch), and I figured I could save some money by taking the now already-paid-for tour bus instead of the tube. I was
a little stressed about the time, because I didn’t know how long it would take the bus to get to the Westminster area (I wanted to catch the riverboat at the Westminster Bridge). Plus, my new clock wasn’t working that well…it seemed to be keeping incorrect time. (I am having the worst luck with alarm clocks, apparently!) So I couldn’t really depend on that. I’m glad I went on the tour bus again, because I learned some stuff. For instance, that’s when I learned that the queen was indeed at Buckingham Palace the day before. On the balcony of St. James’s Palace is where they will announce when the queen has died. We drove past The Dorchester, a famous hotel where Elizabeth Taylor apparently liked to take her honeymoons. 😊 Notice there’s an s.
By the time we arrived at Westminster, I was really thinking I would need to hurry. See, the free cruise was only good for 24 hours. The boat left at certain times, and the one I was trying to catch would be my last acceptable time to leave - at 1:30. I was asking how to get to the pier to catch the boat, and
the lady actually told me wrong. She directed me to the wrong pier, so maybe she didn’t understand that I wanted to go from Westminster Pier, not some other one. Anyway, I was walking down to Waterloo Pier I believe, when I asked a couple of police officers how to get to Westminster Pier. I also asked them what time it was. Turns out, my clock was ahead! Yay. So I actually had like 20 more minutes than I thought.
On my way back in the direction that I came from, I was offered a little can of Pepsi Raw, a new soda that is a natural sort of Pepsi. It has some sort of natural plant in it, and it uses sugar. Anyway, it was a cute little can, and I was happy to try it. Now was not the time to open it, however. I stopped in a busy McDonald’s on my way (right by the London Aquarium I believe) and got a hamburger. I was going to get a bag of fruit as well, but they were out. When I was in McDonald’s, I asked a lady who worked there if she “had the time”, which
side of Buckingham Palace
where visitors enter, I thinkis what I always ask people here! It sounds too American to say, “Do you know what time it is?” Anyway, she did something I didn’t even think to do! She looked to the left, out a window, at Big Ben! Yep, that’s a good way to keep track of the time.
When I got to the correct pier, there were a lot of people waiting to get on the boat, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to sit on the top of the boat like I wanted. Fortunately, I was able to, but I couldn’t get a seat at the end, closest to the water. I then started eating my burger and drinking my little sample of Pepsi Raw (it’s new, and on the can it had a website where you could go to rate it). Eww. Yeah, it was not good. It had a bitter taste, and I didn’t even want to finish it. I can taste it right now…it tasted like a fountain drink that is running out of syrup. Have you ever tasted that? It’s nasty.
So we made our way over to Greenwich, with a stop along the way if
people wanted to get off sooner. Our guide was good. He was an older man who was born and raised in Greenwich, and he had a love for the town. He told us we should visit it, even if only for a little while. He knew the buildings surrounding the Thames River, and told us about them and their history.
It took us a little over an hour to get to Greenwich, and all we had to do to get into town was walk straight ahead from the pier. The first place I visited was the meridian line. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it’s where Greenwich time is kept, and it’s where you’re at 0 degrees longitude and 0 latitude I believe. It was up at the top of a hill. It was quite a hill to climb…very steep. Naturally, there was a trail. It was kind of hard to figure out which way you were supposed to walk up the hill, but I ended up following an older couple who didn’t really appear to know where they were going either, and it worked out fine. Once we reached the top of the hill and
were about go through a gate, I realized that the older couple and another couple were taking each other’s pictures. I looked, and it was the meridian line! I nearly missed it! So I got my picture taken, standing on two different hemispheres. The view was really nice from the top of the hill- lots of green grass and a view of different buildings. One young person was trying to roll down the hill. I took a picture for this Asian couple (they had a little girl, too), and they took one for me. There was also an astronomy museum there, and I looked around a little. If I had had more time, I might have looked around longer. I knew that places, such as the Maritime Museum, were going to be closing soon. I made me way back down the hill and hurried into the museum. I had to see the Titanic stuff! When I walked in, I asked a lady who worked there if she could direct me to anything Titanic-related. Oddly enough, I still had to collect a ticket at the desk, even though the museum was free.
They had a small little Titanic exhibit inside
a glass case, and I stood there for a good while looking at the objects and reading the descriptions. That was the only reason I was at the Maritime Museum in the first place! They had some slippers, a ticket, a watch that had stopped at the exact time of the sinking, and a few other items. I don’t guess I actually took a picture of them…maybe I was unsure if I could. I had learned from the boat guide that the clothes Nelson was wearing when he got shot were on display. You could see the bullet hole at his left shoulder, and there was blood on the clothes. They also had locks of his hair on display…
Afterwards, I checked on Greenwich Park for a few minutes. As with pretty much all the parks I’ve seen, people were sitting on the grass, relaxing. I sat down as well and took pictures of my surroundings. I then went to a little shop that was labeled as “The first shop in the world!” because of the latitude and longitude, and I bought 2 postcards there.
Then it was pretty much time to head back to the pier, which
was not a long walk. I was barely able to catch the next to last boat. I’m glad it worked out that way, because I didn’t really have anything else to do in Greenwich. This time I was able to sit nearest the water and on the top of the boat again. It gets cold in the evenings here, and it was pretty chilly on the boat. Luckily, I brought 1 scarf with me for this whole trip. Joyce, it’s the one I got from Magen actually!
On the way back, it was a younger guy who was our guide, and he didn’t start talking to us til we were probably at least half-way back. They collect tips as well. I tipped the first man. Oh yeah, and on the way to Greenwich, I wanted to go to the bottom of the boat and buy a bottle of water. I was hoping I wouldn’t lose my seat, but I made my way down the steps and waited in line for a little while. Wouldn’t you know it, as I was waiting I could hear him ask all the Americans to raise their hands. I didn’t want to wait any
longer for a bottle of water (it seemed as if someone was asking for directions or something), so I went back upstairs.
I had wanted to check out this café near my hostel, called Café Diana, after Princess Diana. I had seen it one day when I was walking. Actually, I’ll bet it was on my first day when I was wandering around Bayswater Road. Anyway, after I took the tube back toward my hostel, I went to Café Diana and ordered fish and chips (aka French fries). I also ordered some sort of almond cake. The place was filled with pictures of Diana, and even pictures of her inside the restaurant, with the owners. There were a few letters from her, too. Apparently, the owner had sent her a birthday card, and she had replied with a “thank you.” On the menu, there was a section of dishes labeled “Diana’s”, and I asked the employee if these were ones that Diana had liked. She didn’t understand my question, though, obviously.
When I had first gotten there and was looking at the menu on the wall, I had to look past the employee, as she was standing like
right in front of me, looking at me and waiting for me to order. Luckily, after a minute or so she handed me a menu. After paying and waiting for a few minutes, she sat a brown bag down. I grabbed it and began walking toward the door. I looked inside the bag because I was skeptical if everything was actually in there. Then she caught me and told me that the fish and chips weren’t ready.
That was the first time (and only time, so far) that I had gotten the famous British meal “fish and chips.” It was ok. They didn’t provide me with any ketchup, though. I’m not sure what they eat French fries with here. There was a little serving of creamy peas as well. The fish was fine until I started noticing the skin of the fish still on some pieces. That made me start to lose my appetite a little bit, and soon I was done with the fish. The cake was really dry…it had just enough moist ingredients in it to hold it together until you placed a fork through it. So, if I go back there, I will not get the
the London Eye
It's like a ferris wheel, and it has a great view of London. same items. Actually, where I ate my meal was in the basement of the hostel…in the dining room/kitchen area. They have this huge room with a whole lot of chairs and tables! The kitchen is right beside the dining room, and it has a sink, a refrigerator, and a couple of stoves.
I ended up sitting in the hall right outside my hostel room door again, working on the computer. Arsim, my little Eastern European roommate, came by and sat down. I showed him some pictures I had taken. He asked if I had any of Texas, and I really didn’t, except for the ones where the whole backyard is covered with snow. He talked about maybe me coming to watch the game (some important game) with him at an Australian bar on the next Wednesday night. I told him I’d be getting back from Liverpool that day, so it was kind of up in the air. I mean, I wasn’t going to go, but to him it was up in the air. At one point recently, he had asked me if I was going to give him my email address before I left (the hostel). I told him
that I don’t chat online as much as I used to, which is true.
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Joyce
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Abe Lincoln --- in England?
Hi, Courtney! I was surprised to see a statue of Abe Lincoln over there - how interesting. Joyce