It is really silly to see that my last post was on December 31st, when in fact I updated at 4am January 1st, London time. This time difference is part amusing, part pain in the ass. I hate coming onto the computer for my 5 minutes of internet glory, only to log onto AIM or facebook and wonder why the hell nobody's online. Then I quickly do a bit of math in my head and realize it's 4am in Massachusetts. Which wouldn't be an issue if people back home followed the same sleep schedule I do and stay up all night, but we can't all be as cool as I, I s'pose.
Another pain in the ass thing about London is the speed of the escalators. Seems like a really silly thing to be concerned about, yes, but you have no idea...the escalators here are like, sped up to twice the speed of our typical Massachusetts escalators. This wouldn't be a problem if I had any sort of sense of balance at all. Seeing as I don't, I just sort of awkwardly hop and wobble onto the speeding steps, and cling onto the rails for dear life. Meanwhile I have someone lecturing to me about the amount of germs a study found on the rails of escalators and he's lucky I have to concentrate on being able to stand up, cause I would have given him an unpolite response to that information.
Also, I've almost been run over approximately 239487238947 times. Drivers here don't stop when you go to cross the road (even at a crosswalk), they just honk loudly and speed up. It's worse than any city I've ever been to....with Montreal as an exception... And it certainly doesn't help that they're driving on the left side of the road, so I look to my left as I walk into the street and they're speeding at me from the right!
Considering those are my only huuuge complaints about this city, we're doing well so far. Other complaints about the city include their food (honestly, it's hit or miss around here...), their drinks (i haven't had one decent alcoholic beverage since we left the plane, seriously. not even the wine or beer tasted good!), and the fact that they freaking close everything by 11pm. The shops close around 5pm, the restaurants stop serving food as early as 8 or 9pm, and you can't sell drinks at pubs after 11pm. So lame.
Haha in other news, I'm enjoying this city so much it hurts. I've walked around the city for the mostpart of the last couple of days, and it's been brilliant. Probably 25+ miles so far, if not more. So my legs are sore, but that's so good...such a change from sitting around at home.
The buildings are so gorgeous. The streets are lovely. Everythings just so much nicer looking than back home. It's truly the most stunningly beautiful city I've ever seen in my life. I'm completely in love with it. I can't wait to discover more about it.
I swear I'll update on a more positive note next time. It's just I cannot even find the words to describe how fantastic this city is....I guess I could try a little bit right now...
The accents. This one is obvious. I could sit and listen to British conversation forever, I swear. And I pretty much have been...
The Underground. The tube here is so much more efficient and faster and amazing than the T could ever be. Truly the best public transportation I have ever seen. You don't wait hardly at all for a train and you can get virtually anywhere with ease. I absolutely adore it and I'll despise going back to Boston after this experience.
The chocolate. As a woman experiencing London for her first time...with her period...it's been lovely having so much Cadbury chocolate around. All the British chocolate I've experienced has been just so much better than home's. There are different kinds of candy bars and everything, including some weird kind that says "not for girls" or something to that effect on the wrapper. Odd and funny.
The architecture. Oh my. Take a look at my picture albums linked below. The buildings are stunningly beautiful and we can't get enough of them. It is truly breathtaking.
The history. I am hoping that speaks for itself. We went to the National Portrait Museum today and looked at all of these incredible paintings of people from so far back in history...and I learned so much just by looking at the mini-bio's of the people in the paintings as well as their portrayal and expressions. People seemed restless being there (mainly because everyone's been exhausted), but it was a really great and fascinating place. Got to love King Henry VIII and all the other royal figures...
Just learning about theatre in London is incredible. I can't believe I'm experiencing this. And I still have two weeks to experience so much more here. My pictures really show and tell so much abotu the trip thus far, so I hope you look through them and enjoy them.
The New Years shots are few, but fun. We actually came across these two British people, Nichola and Tom, when they asked us to take their picture for them. We ended up conversing, and Tom and I were essentially chatting each other up, joking and basically entertaining our friends. Apparently we're two fo the same person, and I took that to mean we were "obnoxious little shits." No one disagreed ;) We met their friends, Ashley ( a male, who goes by Benjamin or Horatio or anything else other than his actual name), Helen, and Aaron. They were really great and we had a good time talking and whatnot. Tom made fun of American politics and then I learned some cockney. Good times.
I got to experience New Years on the Waterloo bridge overlooking the Thames, with fireworks going off above The London Eye and the London skyline (with Big Ben, Westminster, etc) in the background. Absolutely gorgeous. An experience I will never forget.
Then we nearly went off with the Brits, following them in a chain of the bunch of us, holding hands and trying to make our way through tens of thousands of people in central London. We eventually got to the train station, where we parted ways and the Westfield State crew hopped on a train home to our hotel.
Oh what a night...
Anyway...the pictures I have posted thus far, viewable in public facebook albums (you don't have to be on facebook to view these pictures):
I hope you enjoy the pictures, some of them are of really fantastic places, and my pictures dont' really do them justice.
Anyway, it's 3:51pm London time (nearly 11am MA time??) and I should go nap.
Please leave comments and love and I miss y'all :)
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