Day 2: A Much Better Experience

I woke up this morning at quarter after five, because I'd been sleeping since noon the day before (with a couple breaks). I felt better, was in a better mood, and decided to go for a run. I put my new running clothes on, got my iPod in it's arm holder, and set off into the darkness that was London. I had a pretty good run; I went from my hostel to the edge of Hyde Park and back, stopping in the middle of Kensington Gardens to look at a huge memorial to Prince Albert, who died because of... something. It's a really big tower, with golden statues and cement sculptures. I'll post pics of it eventually.

After my run, I came back and took a shower, wrote in my journal, and ate some free breakfast. I decided to stay in this same hostel, and in London, tomorrow rather than brutally rush myself through and try to see more of England, like I had planned. I grabbed my day pack and headed out, stopping at the first telephone booth I saw to call the airport and see if they had found my camera. Long story short.... I wasted 2 or 3 hours on a wild goose chase going back to the airport only to find they didn't really have my camera, just another silver Canon Powershot. Damn. So I went back to London, found a PC World, and bought a new one... the selection was limited, but I managed to find one that's OK. It's an Olympus. I also bought a case and a memory card. I went back to the hostel to check into my new bed, and found out that I bought the wrong kind of memory card. Damn.

Fortunately, that was the end of my headaches (well metaphorically; literally I've had one all day). By this time it was around three in the afternoon, so I only had a few hours until places started closing and it got dark. I took the London Underground (the Tube) to Westminster, and saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey (where the rulers are crowned and royal weddings held; it closed at three so I'm going back tomorrow), The Methodist Church (where the first UN meeting was held; it was cool inside), the War Cabinet Room (where Churchill conducted WWII; I didn't go inside though) and the National Gallery. I spent the most time at the Gallery - about an hour - looking at the paintings from about 1600 to 1900. I saw some Monet, Rousseau, Da Vinci... and others that I can't remember. Finally, I went up to... um... well I can't remember the name, but it was a shopping center, on the street, with a whole bunch of pubs and cafes, some of which were open air.

I was struck by the level of grandiosity that was portrayed by all of the major buildings in downtown London. It always seems to me that we like to make ourselves seem more important than we are; although when I was in the Methodist Church, I sort of understood it. I thought that perhaps we design such grand buildings to try and convey a human emotion, like humility or pride or grace. Still, it's an awful lot of effort to get a little pomp and circumstance. Still, they looked pretty cool.

Now I'm going to eat, read, and sleep. It's only 7, but I'm really tired and would like to stay on this schedule for the next two days so that I don't miss the Eurostar at 7 AM Thursday. I've wasted enough money without having to buy a 90 dollar ticket again. Oh and that's another thing; everything's so expensive here! In pounds, it's not bad, but it takes a little under two dollars to make a pound, so everything is effectively doubled!! Ugh. This is part of the reason I'm not staying in Britain very long - the Euro isn't as bad.

All in all, it was a pretty good day, although I wish I'd have spent more time sightseeing and less time running errands while on vacation. I'll try and finish up London tomorrow, and then it's off to Paris on Thursday. I probably won't post here till Thursday at the soonest - it's expensive and time-consuming.

Oh and thanks for the words of encouragement, they helped.

-Swag

P.S. : I'm fine, Mom.