London Trip Update!

Ok, now that I got a good 8+ hours of sleep last night, I'm awake and ready to write about my trip to London!

So let's begin on Friday....

So as of Friday afternoon, I still had no idea what was going on trip wise. I'm the type of person who likes to clean up my room and have everything done and clean before I go away, so I don't have to return to a cluttered room, or I don't have to think about all the stuff I have to do when I get back. So, I decided I needed to do laundry before I left. So I went to village reception Friday afternoon at around 1. No one there. A sign on the door said, sorry for the inconvenience, be back at 14:00. So 2pm. So I went back home, killed an hour, and then went back at 2:15, just to give them some cushion. Nothing. Went back at 3, still no one. Finally at around 4 I went back and got some tokens for my wash. I came back to the apartment and asked Jeremie when we were leaving. He said 6:30, the bus picks us up at the Stables pub on campus. So I threw my wash in. However, I got back and checked online. The bus to the airport left Limerick City at 6:30. The next one didn't come until like 7:20 or something. Our tickets said the gates closed at 9:15 for our flight. So I was like, dude, we have to leave earlier. So I had to rush doing my laundry. We decided to meet at the bus stop at 5:40. I didn't get my stuff out of the dryer until about 5:30. As I have mentioned before, you need two drys to make sure your stuff isn't damp. I said screw it, ran back to my room, laid everything out all over my room and ran to meet them at the bus stop. So we got on the bus, but it took forever to get into the city. It stopped for everyone, and then there were people searching for change or paying with bills. It was a pain. So we got into the city at like 6:20, and had to walk across town because the bus went to the other side of the city, not the center like it always does. We hauled to the station, got there, bought our tickets, ran out to the bus and literally got there as it was about to pull out. We no sooner sat down and he left to go to the airport. So thank God we made it.

Once we got to the airport, we got our tickets stamped and went upstairs to clear security. Of course, my bag is the one that gets checked. We were the only 5 people there at the time, and they pick my bag. Then, they proceed to throw out my acne medicine, hair wax I've had for about 7 years now (still 3/4 full), toothpaste and my Old Spice body spray. I was pissed. Not so much at the toothpaste and body spray, but that was my favorite hair gel. And now it's gone, forever. My bathroom sink looks so bare without it. So after my terrible encounter with security, I bought a cheeseburger from the bar and we sat around and waited for about an hour. Then we went downstairs and boarded the plane. We took a Ryan Air flight. They are known for their cheap flights all over Europe. It was weird not boarding right into the plane. You had to walk out onto the tarmac, around the plane, and then walk up the stairs into the plane. I've never done that before, since it was only my second time boarding a plane. So when I reached the top of the stairs, I turned around, gave a peace sign with both hands and walked in. True Nixon style baby. The flight itself was pretty good. We sat at the emergency exit isle. More leg room all the way baby. It was a clear night so I could see all the lights from the cities. Unlike my first flight, this plane flew lower the entire time, so I had a nice view. However, because it flew lower the pressure killed my ears. I still don't think my left ear has popped since I boarded that flight.

So eventually I look out the window and I see this huge mass of lights stretching for what seems like miles. In the middle of this mass there are some very uniformed patterns, some very bright rows. Then I realized, Westminster Abbey. So we were flying over London. We then landed at Stansted airport. Us Americans cleared customs before Jeremie did. They looked at our passport and that was it. They didn't take our identity cards that we filled out on the plane. Nothing. Just let us go through. And they didn't stamp our passports either, which sucked. But whatever. So I immediately found a Spar, and bought some hair gel. So I was happy. We also had to switch everything over to pounds, and that was a pain because the pound is currently raping the American dollar. So we knew it was going to be an expensive trip, but it was London, and who knows when we'll get back there. So we took the hour long bus, which was packed, into the city.

First reaction of London, DC. I don't know why everything reminds me of DC, but it does. Probably because of the general lack of skyscrapers and nice old homes and buildings everywhere. It was dark, so I didn't see much, and it was a bus station, so that wasn't too impressive either. So we got off the bus, and had no idea how to get to our hostel. So we walked down the street, asked in a bar, and they directed us toward the train station. So we went into the underground/train station and a guy there told us trains were done running. So like the rest of Europe,things close early in Britain too. Shocking. It was like midnight. The metro in DC ran until 2/2:30. How else are the drunks supposed to get home? So we walked around this train station for awhile, got to see the train yard. I wish I would have taken a picture. It was all inside, and it was very impressive. It was a gigantic old building, with columns and awesome intricate architecture all over the place. The ceiling was curved and there was mustard yellow and blue tiling all over the place. It was a site. But I didn't have my camera out because we were basically lost. So some guy told us to take a bus to this one stop, and then take a cab the rest of the way. So, we got to take a double decker bus! It was pretty cool. They aren't old school anymore. Ya know, with the car like front and then the bus in the back. Now they are like regular city buses, completely flat, but two stories and red. So Jess and I sat up top, and now I can say I've been on a double decker bus in London. So that was cool. Bus drivers in London drive like maniacs though. And the buses get packed. So we got off at our stop, elephant and castle. We tried for about 10 minutes to get a taxi, and we couldn't get any. We were on the left side of the street, saw a ton of taxis drive by on the other side, so we crossed the street, and then they stopped driving by. Just our luck. Eventually, a big pink taxi drove by and we flagged him down. He gave us a 6 pound cab ride to our Hostel, and we crashed for the night.

Our hostel wasn't bad. We paid 47 pounds for 3 nights. We were just a few blocks away from the London Eye and Big Ben. So we were in a good location. We stayed at the London Eye Hostel. The room was probably the worst I've been in so far. It was a decent sized room. But there were 7 bunk beds along the walls. The bunk beds were triple stacked, so it was a room of 21. There was nowhere to put your stuff, so I had to sleep with it against the wall. However, the beds had blinds on all sides of them, so you had privacy while sleeping and what not. We didn't spend much time in the room so it wasn't too bad. They also had lockers for when you went out for the day. So I paid the 5 pounds to store my book bag, and then once you claimed it and gave back the key, you got your 5 pounds back.

So Saturday we woke up and left by 10. We asked some really nice old lady where to go, and she pointed us in the right direction. She also remarked on how nice the weather was, which became a common theme throughout the day. According to my friend living in London right now, Danielle Fitzgeorge, Shout out, Saturday was the nicest day since she's been there in January. So we were very blessed and fortunate. It was like 50 degrees, sunny, and decently warm. Literally the perfect day out in London.
So Jess, Jeremie, Kara, Katie and I walked toward the bridge the lady told us to. As we turned the corner of this one street, there in the distance, across the bridge, stood Big Ben. Holy shit, I was actually in London. So we made our way toward the London Eye since it was on our side of the river. It was enormous. It was a ferris wheel on steroids. Once we were done taking a thousand pictures of parliament and Big Ben from across the river, we crossed and walked up to them. The parliament building is so amazing. Just the detail of the architecture all over it, it's beautiful. And Big Ben is also really cool. All I could think about was European Vacation with Chevy Chase, "Hey Kids, there's Big Ben."



So we walked around looking at parliament for a little while, and then we met up with Jess's friend John who is currently studying in London through PSU. He was basically our tour guide for the weekend. Very nice guy, lots of fun, loves THON. Just an all around good addition to our group. So he took us through St. James Park, which was awesome. Tons of exotic looking birds all over the place. It was like walking through the national mall, if the national mall had a big river and was more shady. So finally, we arrived at Buckingham Palace. The place was buzzing with people. It wasn't as majestic as I thought it was going to be, but it was still cool nonetheless. I touched the gate so I could say I got as close as I could. It was pretty cool though. Although, I was disappointed that the guards aren't wearing their red uniforms right now. They are wearing their boring blueish/gray garb. Still neat to watch them on patrol though.

After saying goodbye to the Queen, we hopped onto the underground and went to Picadilly Circus. It's basically just the British version of Times Square. Tons of shops, huge crowds, all these theatres for plays and shows everywhere, big souvenir shops, China Town, and an intersection full of people and cars, with gigantic screens wrapped around a few buildings. It was pretty neat. We decided to eat at some Chinese place. It was buffet style, but all the food was homemade. It was pretty good. We got to sit down and relax for a little while. Everything just seemed expensive though. I hated spending money because I was like, "Shit, this is a lot of dollars."

But we pressed on. After dinner we got back on the underground and went to Covent Garden. The name is misleading. It's just another big shopping district woven through a few city blocks. Tons of street performers, tons of people. It was a really cool place. Here is where I met up with Danielle!!! I was so excited to see her! Someone from home! A familiar face, abroad! Ah, it was refreshing. So we talked as we walked around, and then I decided to go back to her apartment and meet her friends. She lives in Chelsea, so across town from the London Eye. The Chelsea section is the most expensive district in London. Million pound houses everywhere. We walked down a street of homes that cost 27 million pounds and up. We also walked by a London Lamborghini dealership, and Hugh Grant's London house. Which I of course got a picture in front of. We also stopped at a Pret A Manger, which is a small Pinera like chain shop located all around London. I got a bangin turkey club there. We got to Danielle's apartment and went right to her floor. She lives on the 9th floor, so her view is amazing. You get into her room and you are looking out over London. You can see clear down to the London Eye towering over the city. It is amazing. So I got to meet her roomate Jayne, who is from Austin. I was pumped to talk to her about Texas. She said San Antonio is beautiful, and very cool, but nothing holds a flame to Austin. I don't doubt that. But I'm not too upset, because TFA doesn't have a program in Austin so it's not like I could have went there. But it's only an hour from Santone so I can hop over anytime I want. So I hung out with Danielle for a little and some of her friends. We made birthday party decorations for her friend Eric's 21st birthday that night. The party was to be held in the kitchen on their floor, and it was a surprise. Eric went out to dinner with some friends, and they were gonna call when they were getting back. However, he somehow got away from them, no one bothered calling, and he walked in nonchalaunt while we were still getting stuff ready. So, surprise ruined. It was a good time though once the "party" started. It was just 10 of us in this small kitchen listening to some music and talking. I had some alcoholic cider because apparently that's the big thing in London. It was a good time though. I left early though because I was meeting my friends at John's apartment, right downstairs on floor 8. So I went downstairs to find everyone really drunk, I spilled vodka all over the floor somehow, and then we left to go to the bar/club thing.

So we walked down the street causing a riot. Just yelling and what not. I was literally finishing a canned cider while walking down the street. But I didn't care. I honestly saw no police all day in London. It's like their police force is non-existent. No wonder it was so easy to blow up all those buses a few years back. So we jumped around down the street, sang the 2008 THON linedance a bunch of times, and then got on the underground. As we were on the underground, being mostly loud, American and drunk, I asked John where we were getting off at. He looked back at me and said smirking, "Ok, I'm 90 percent sure it's Leister Square. Ninety percent sure." I thought it was the funniest thing I ever heard. He was our guide, and in the tone of his voice I could tell he thought it was a much lower percentage. It was great. So we got off a Leister Square, and we exited. Turns out, he was wrong. Haha, go figure. We walked around for like 10 minutes, and then realized we were at Picadilly circle. So we found our destination, The Zoo Bar. It was hoppin. The line was ridiculously long. Thank God we were on the guest list, so we didn't have to wait as long, and we didn't have to pay cover. We got in, the place is crazy. People all over the place. The bathrooms have the dude in there who gives you a towel and suggest cologne to you from a selection of like 20 different types sitting on the counter. It was pretty cool. So upstairs they have really good music, it's just a good place to hang out and dance around or talk. However, down stairs it's like a different world. It's a grind on each other and try to make a baby dance club. I got out of their as soon as I could. It was a nut house. You couldn't walk anywhere, people constantly bumping into you, guys rubbing up on you walking by, random people stepping on your feet dancing, and awful remixed music. It was just not good. So thankfully we all decided to go back upstairs, and I had a good night just chilling and socializing. We left the club at like 1:30, and then decided to walk home rather than take a taxi because we could see Big Ben from the bar. However, first we stopped to get the most delicious piece of pizza I've ever had. It was from some Italian pizza place on the corner. The shop was situated on the corner of a fork in the road walking path. There was no kitchen or anything. The entire shop was open on all three sides, you just walked up and ordered right there, and boom pizza done in a minute or two. I got a slice of Hawaiian. It was awesome. And for 2 pounds, couldn't beat that. Picadilly was great at night. Everything still open, a ton of people everywhere. It was like Temple Bar. Although I think I liked Temple Bar district better. Although Temple bar was more spread out. So after our pizza we walked down the road, down through Trafalgar Square, almost to Big Ben. Then we decided to hop a cab back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next day, it was a different story. We left out hostel at 11 to a rainy and misty day in London. Back to the usual I suppose. We met up with John again, and we decided to do the London Eye while we were there. It was like 18 pounds, but again, when am I getting back to London? So we went on this ferris wheel on steroids, and it didn't disappoint. I'm afraid of heights so I thought I'd hate it. But it was great. The cars didn't rock as they were fastened in place, and they views were incredible. Don't miss it if you ever go to London. You could see for miles through the city.

After the London Eye, we decided to go get some food. So we went to some random stop, I have no idea what it was called, and we ate at a Ruby Tuesday/Friendly's like place. They had a deal that was a burger and beer for 4.85. So we had burgers and beeer, and then set out to the Tower of London.

So we went to the Tower of London, which is the castle that the Queens used to live in. It is also where the Royal Crown Jewels are kept. However, we missed the last tour by the time we got there, so we decided to save our money and go find the Globe Theater. But, in order to do that, we had to walk over the Tower London bridge. This is the amazing bridge you see in all the pictures. Usually confused as the London Bridge. However, that is false. It's the Tower London. The London Bridge is actually a very small bridge right next to this bridge. It's actually very boring and nothing special to look at. So we got to walk across this amazing bridge, and then we set off down the river to find the Globe Theater. It was a pretty good trek. Took us probably an hour or so, but we made it there. We didn't get to go in, but we at least got to see it. It was pretty cool to be standing in the spot where the most famous playwright of all time showcased his works. As the sun set, we walked across the bridge and got a quick glimpse of St. Paul's Cathedral. The famous cathedral seen in Mary Poppins "Feed the Birds" scene.



After walking past the Cathedral, we decided to go back to Picadilly Circus. There we just stopped in some stores, and then ate at a Mexican restaurant. After that we just said by to John and went back to the hostel. We watched the final half hour of THON live online, so that was really cool and had us excited! Then for the rest of the night Jess, Katie and I stayed up and talked to some of Katie's who were staying in the same hostel.

Our plane left at 6:35 in the morning Monday, so Jess, Katie and I just decided to pull an all nighter since we had to leave the hostel by 2:15. So we sat around, talked, and watched the first two periods of the USA vs. Canada hockey game. I didn't find out what the final result was until yesterday when I got back to my apartment. So at 2:15, a taxi came and picked us up, and we got a ride to the bus station. We waited in the rain for like 20 minutes, and then our bus finally came. I got a little bit of sleep on the ride, but next thing I knew we were at the airport. So we got off, chilled out for an hour, and then got in line to have our tickets stamped. Once we got our tickets stamped, we went to the security checkpoint. there were so many security lines. Probably upwards of 20. So I went through mine. I thought I had everything out of my pockets, belt off, shoes off. So I stepped through the metal detector. It goes off. The guy pats my chest and arms, anything sharp, any weapons, etc. I said no, it was just my Ipod I left in my pocket. So he let me walk back through and put it in a new bin. So I walked back through the second time and it went off again. I left some change in my pocket. So, I now had to be patted down, sexually, by this dude in the airport, in front of everyone. I found it hilarious, I was laughing my ass off. Then he took out this bomb wand, has a metal detector or sensor on it, and scanned me up and down with that. It was great. Gotta love airports. So after getting molested by security, we had to wait for Jess. Apparently they decided to randomly test her carry on toiletries. That took like 15 minutes. In the meantime, so girl who was also being searched next to Jess had been cleared and left. However, she left her phone in a bin. So I ran her down and gave it to her. Nothing important, but it happened. After we got cleared, we just chilled out on some of the benches, and then took the underground mini train to our gate. We got on our plane and made the hour long trip back to Shannon. I didn't sleep at all on the plane. But the view was pretty great anyway. I got to see the mountains in Ireland rising over the clouds, it was beautiful.

Eventually we landed, and I was all but deaf in both my ears. Terrible pressure. We stood around and waited for our bus, and it began to flurry and snow a little. I couldn't believe it. I wanted snow 2 or 3 weeks ago. But since then, we've had some gorgious days, and now I'm in Spring mode. So this was a damper on a great weekend. After waiting in the depressing weather, we took the hour long bus ride back and arrived back on campus around 9. I decided to skip my 9 am and 11 am. I tried to get some sleep, but I was so tired I couldn't fall asleep. It was weird. So I just went to my afternoon class that I blogged about yesterday, and then I went to my 5 pm. class too. Then last night I just hung out, made chicken, and then went to bed around midnight. Woke up today at 9 feeling great. My cold is all but gone, I still have a stuffy nose and I'm coughing because it feels like I have a tickle in my throat, but I feel 100%. I just had class all day, then went to the gym. Tonight it freaking snowed again. I'm getting sick of this already. I hope it's done now.

Also, tonight I received a care package from home! It was great! It was full of birthday cards, homemade snicker doodles and choco chip cookies, 2 bags of regular Utz chips (because of Olivia, props), an ice tray because there is no such thing as a cold drink here, and peanut M&M's. I also got some Kit Kats, Twizlers, Reese's peanut butter cups, Hershey's pot of gold, and kisses all straight from the factory thanks to my Aunt Beth. It was literally the greatest present I've ever received. I got not just a little taste of home, but a big one. It's so hard to find something to snack on for desert here, but I have that covered now for awhile! Thanks everyone at home who pitched into the package! I love you guys!

Right now I'm just hanging out, watching a live stream of American Idol. I don't have class until 11 tomorrow so it's all good.

That's it for now, I'll talk to everyone later!

Goodnight.