Playing Tourist

Today was the day I would be playing tourist. I only had my starting destination planned. After that, it was all up in the air.

Starting Destination: Starbucks. Headed out the door at 10AM sharp and went straight to the nearest Starbucks for my daily caffeine fix. Was charged 5£ for a latte. What a ripoff. It was good, though.

Walked to the nearest Tube station (London Underground) and decided to hop on the Central line to Jubliee, only to find that the Jubliee was closed (which I didn’t realized until after I got off the train). Hopped back on the next one and ended up at the Westminster station. I wandered out of the station to see Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye (never actually made it on the ride), and Westminster Abbey all within blocks of each other. There were loads of tourists. Loads and loads of tourists. I fit right in!

Walked through St. James Park where several pigeons almost hit me. Not with their poo but with their bodies. Apparently the 500£ fine doesn’t deter the pidgeon feeders. At the far end of the park lay Buckingham Palace. There was no changing of the guard today, but maybe I’ll stop by tomorrow. Very cool. The palace seemed like just another big old building… But with guards. I think I need to take the tour. See all the rooms and gifts and jewels and other pretty things. The Queen Victoria Memorial was kinda cool, too. Nine million people needed their picture in front of it, though.

Took the train from the Duke of Wellington arch to Piccadilly Circus where there were teenage girls wearing medical masks. I wonder if they were afraid of getting infected or infecting others. Piccadilly Circus reminds me of Times Square just a little bit – theatres, lots of lights, big tv screens on top of buildings, crazy intersection, lots of people, lots of tourist shops trying to get your money.

In an attempt to find lunch, I accidentally walked through Chinatown, which is maybe a block long. On the other end of the block, found Pret a Manger and had a super duper good take away salad. Like Panera and D’Brians but much much better. Or maybe I was just hungry.

After lunch, I hit the Natural History Museum which was exceptionally cool. Lots of learning going on in that place. Great place for kids if you are ever in London on a field trip. Coolest thing was the ginormous sequoia tree trunk slice.

I headed across town in an attempt to hit the Tower of London (holds the Crown Jewels). I missed it by about 3 minutes (saved myself 17£) but did get to see Tower Bridge and London Bridge (which is really nothing special).

Headed up to St Paul’s Cathedral where I sat in on the first church service I’d been to in a very very a long time. The cathedral is massive. Jaw dropping ceilings. Very gorgeous building.

After a short rest back at the hotel (feet about to fall off), I headed back out around 9:30PM to shoot the London city lights at night. Armed with my (very worn out) city map, tube map, and camera, I found Big Ben, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey.