Killing Time in London Rambles
As I keep writing these entries and then looking back or thinking I keep wishing I had inserted things. So since I am trying to kill time at the moment between now and my plane (I got a ticket for a musical too so thats in about 3 hours) Im just going to ramble and see what will come of it. To catch you up first of all, I left Cambridge on a much less packed train back to London. One thing I forgot to mention last was that I had left from Kings Cross station to Cambridge. Its the station that is supposedly the Harry Potter station. The thing is though (from what Ashley tells me) that when writing it Rowling was thinking of a different station. Because, as I was thinking while getting to my train at the time, platform 9 and 10 are completely separated in the station. Why I even bothered to notice this was the fact that I was slightly freaking out that I was going to miss my train. My last ticket on the trip was this one and unlike the others it didn't have the platform or time written on the ticket. So walking through the station and taking a signs word, I walked all the way to a certain platform (at the time I can't remember what number it was) but walking through that station one platform could be a whole 10 minute walk from another, and their pretty much all broken up. Platform 9 could be on a different side with platform 6 five minutes between it and 10.
Anywho, on my way back to London I first sat next to a bunch of rowdyish high school, or as they call it here, college kids. They seemed to be on the older end of the spectrum but it didn't stop them from goofing off (not that I blame them in the least). The fun part of that was to, well one eavesdrop on them, but also to see the dynamics of the group. They all pretty much got on together except one kid arrived a couple minutes later on the same stop, but they each departed at different stations, so I got to hear their insights on the different people. Though it definitely made me slightly miss high school where we had a group much like it and was pretty at ease. They all got off about half way through the trip and what was replaced them seemed to be a quick look into the future for the boys of the group. It was a couple guys who seemed about around my age or a year younger with a giant box of bottles of Budweiser. That was definitely a weird change. That nobody gave a care that these kids were downing these beers on the public transportation. Okay maybe not so much a change but that it was an everyday notion. They also picked up buddies on different stations every so often. Considerably less rowdy then the college kids but it was crazy how fast they downed those beers. After about a 20 minutes ride they left leaving a pile of about 4 beer bottles each.
So now I'm back in London. It looks about the same. I went to the Museum of London. It is very different going to a museum alone. Incredibly faster, but also a bit more enjoyable. I will admit it was a tad more interesting then I thought it could be but it was still a bore, I was just able to glance at the things I was interested and read it and then move on rather then wait. It was cool though, they had a couple guys dressed up, and one was talking to a group of young school boys with each of them covered in a little prison outfit. It was amusing to listen in and realize that the guy probably tweaked what he said if there were a group of all girls. The cool thing to was to see a museum all about London and see the same time periods as in the Wisconsin museum but realize what it was like in London at the time. It was pretty much the same in most cases, just more interesting, as well as going back further to start civilization and whatnot. Next I really wanted to get the British Museum for stuff like the Rosetta stone. I knew exactly where I needed to be and pretty much where it was in relation to where I began. The only problem was what direction it was. I managed to run into the St.Pauls Cathedral and cheapside which was kind of interesting to see. But as time passed I kept finding that I was further and further away from where I wanted to go. Eventually my main goal began to be to find a bus headed to my destination and experience the double decker. Problem was no matter how many of them I had seen I could never seem to find the bus stop that actually serviced the numbered bus I needed. I can understand their bus system I just think the system in the states is way better. After about an hour of wandering and trying to follow the bus that I needed to its stop I gave up and just got on the tube, as it ended up I had wandered a long way in the other direction then my destination. So by the time I got to it the museum had already closed. Of course I know this through my guidebook since I promptly got lost upon trying to actually get to the museum. So I ended up buying a ticket at the theater outside the underground and am now in Cafe Rouge eating. Luckily the hostel I stayed at gave me a map of London (which youd think would have helped me getting lost but of course me staring at it got me more lost) that gives me 20% off certain places, i.e. here. The waiter was quite perplexed when I handed it to him but came back happily nodding that they would accept it.
I just realized that I skipped last night when I mentioned the hostel. Not that it was interesting in the least but I did watch my first fut ball match (I can't remember the exact spelling). It pretty much consisted of me sitting alone at the bar eating my quesadillas and sipping a Fosters all night, while sneaking glances around trying to find the right group to approach or find somebody like me. As it was I came up empty handed and my last gulp was of disgusting, by then, stale beer and I went back to the hostel. Of course on the one night I know ahead of time that I wont be able to catch a wink the next night so I should sleep deep, I couldn't sleep at all. The bars around the hostel all died down around 1 so it had nothing to do with the noise but it was just frustrating in all.
As Im sitting here with my empty soda glass, I remember the other interesting tidbit Ashley pointed out to me that I didn't notice before. There are no free refills, even at fast food places. The concept alludes the english. All the soda stations are behind the counter and the waiters will just ignore your glass. In the end it turns into if you feel your thirsty you better get a large. Luckily the cost is not as high for an upgrade over here... actually as I'm writing that I translate the exchange rate and realize its exactly the same cost, bugger those pounds. The other day I got laughed at when I was standing at the counter trying to count out 70p and had to inspect each coin to see what it was worth. Thinking back it would have been smarter to just hand her the handful and to pull what she needed.
As a shout out to my mother and a little side comment to any women reading this my shellac (spelled wrong guarantee) nails have gotten a couple compliments. Mainly that they must be fake nails. They have stayed on amazingly well, except a rectangular corner out of one came off the top so it looks kind of odd. They are french tipped so I am actually able to see how long my nails have grown from the bottom, its weird. But thank you to my mum for making me do them before I left. Oh and as another shout out with another Harry reference, I know that if I was here with Meredith (who I thank for leaving as many comments as you do, love reading them) that we would have bought the book I found and go to all the places they filmed Harry Potter and the references in the book. It will be a future trip for when we are old how about. The last shout out will have to be written for my next post after the musical for I don't have internet access at the moment to reread the long questioning post from Keane. Alright back with internet so quickly before I post this post I will answer his questions (especially since pretty much anybody reading this isn't up yet). I have been mostly alone except for.. actually half these questions are already answered in all my posts. I met people only the first few days of the trip and havn't yet, though I hope that will change now. The nutella and peanut butter was only encountered at Ashley's house for either (so yes she did have peanut butter, though it was kosher nutella..). I did in fact get a library card in london, gotta say that was a pretty proud moment, though I couldn't check anything out without proof of address, just print. Everywhere in London they have giant countdowns to the games and pretty much most of the stuff will have either the crown on it or sponsored by the Olympic or paralympic games. Alright I think that sums it up. And funny to put this here but since Im posting both at the same time and going back to this one, I will write more about Spain, quick insight though my entire blog is now in Spanish. So Im glad I checked it enough previous that I know what it is supposed to say.
Anywho, on my way back to London I first sat next to a bunch of rowdyish high school, or as they call it here, college kids. They seemed to be on the older end of the spectrum but it didn't stop them from goofing off (not that I blame them in the least). The fun part of that was to, well one eavesdrop on them, but also to see the dynamics of the group. They all pretty much got on together except one kid arrived a couple minutes later on the same stop, but they each departed at different stations, so I got to hear their insights on the different people. Though it definitely made me slightly miss high school where we had a group much like it and was pretty at ease. They all got off about half way through the trip and what was replaced them seemed to be a quick look into the future for the boys of the group. It was a couple guys who seemed about around my age or a year younger with a giant box of bottles of Budweiser. That was definitely a weird change. That nobody gave a care that these kids were downing these beers on the public transportation. Okay maybe not so much a change but that it was an everyday notion. They also picked up buddies on different stations every so often. Considerably less rowdy then the college kids but it was crazy how fast they downed those beers. After about a 20 minutes ride they left leaving a pile of about 4 beer bottles each.
So now I'm back in London. It looks about the same. I went to the Museum of London. It is very different going to a museum alone. Incredibly faster, but also a bit more enjoyable. I will admit it was a tad more interesting then I thought it could be but it was still a bore, I was just able to glance at the things I was interested and read it and then move on rather then wait. It was cool though, they had a couple guys dressed up, and one was talking to a group of young school boys with each of them covered in a little prison outfit. It was amusing to listen in and realize that the guy probably tweaked what he said if there were a group of all girls. The cool thing to was to see a museum all about London and see the same time periods as in the Wisconsin museum but realize what it was like in London at the time. It was pretty much the same in most cases, just more interesting, as well as going back further to start civilization and whatnot. Next I really wanted to get the British Museum for stuff like the Rosetta stone. I knew exactly where I needed to be and pretty much where it was in relation to where I began. The only problem was what direction it was. I managed to run into the St.Pauls Cathedral and cheapside which was kind of interesting to see. But as time passed I kept finding that I was further and further away from where I wanted to go. Eventually my main goal began to be to find a bus headed to my destination and experience the double decker. Problem was no matter how many of them I had seen I could never seem to find the bus stop that actually serviced the numbered bus I needed. I can understand their bus system I just think the system in the states is way better. After about an hour of wandering and trying to follow the bus that I needed to its stop I gave up and just got on the tube, as it ended up I had wandered a long way in the other direction then my destination. So by the time I got to it the museum had already closed. Of course I know this through my guidebook since I promptly got lost upon trying to actually get to the museum. So I ended up buying a ticket at the theater outside the underground and am now in Cafe Rouge eating. Luckily the hostel I stayed at gave me a map of London (which youd think would have helped me getting lost but of course me staring at it got me more lost) that gives me 20% off certain places, i.e. here. The waiter was quite perplexed when I handed it to him but came back happily nodding that they would accept it.
I just realized that I skipped last night when I mentioned the hostel. Not that it was interesting in the least but I did watch my first fut ball match (I can't remember the exact spelling). It pretty much consisted of me sitting alone at the bar eating my quesadillas and sipping a Fosters all night, while sneaking glances around trying to find the right group to approach or find somebody like me. As it was I came up empty handed and my last gulp was of disgusting, by then, stale beer and I went back to the hostel. Of course on the one night I know ahead of time that I wont be able to catch a wink the next night so I should sleep deep, I couldn't sleep at all. The bars around the hostel all died down around 1 so it had nothing to do with the noise but it was just frustrating in all.
As Im sitting here with my empty soda glass, I remember the other interesting tidbit Ashley pointed out to me that I didn't notice before. There are no free refills, even at fast food places. The concept alludes the english. All the soda stations are behind the counter and the waiters will just ignore your glass. In the end it turns into if you feel your thirsty you better get a large. Luckily the cost is not as high for an upgrade over here... actually as I'm writing that I translate the exchange rate and realize its exactly the same cost, bugger those pounds. The other day I got laughed at when I was standing at the counter trying to count out 70p and had to inspect each coin to see what it was worth. Thinking back it would have been smarter to just hand her the handful and to pull what she needed.
As a shout out to my mother and a little side comment to any women reading this my shellac (spelled wrong guarantee) nails have gotten a couple compliments. Mainly that they must be fake nails. They have stayed on amazingly well, except a rectangular corner out of one came off the top so it looks kind of odd. They are french tipped so I am actually able to see how long my nails have grown from the bottom, its weird. But thank you to my mum for making me do them before I left. Oh and as another shout out with another Harry reference, I know that if I was here with Meredith (who I thank for leaving as many comments as you do, love reading them) that we would have bought the book I found and go to all the places they filmed Harry Potter and the references in the book. It will be a future trip for when we are old how about. The last shout out will have to be written for my next post after the musical for I don't have internet access at the moment to reread the long questioning post from Keane. Alright back with internet so quickly before I post this post I will answer his questions (especially since pretty much anybody reading this isn't up yet). I have been mostly alone except for.. actually half these questions are already answered in all my posts. I met people only the first few days of the trip and havn't yet, though I hope that will change now. The nutella and peanut butter was only encountered at Ashley's house for either (so yes she did have peanut butter, though it was kosher nutella..). I did in fact get a library card in london, gotta say that was a pretty proud moment, though I couldn't check anything out without proof of address, just print. Everywhere in London they have giant countdowns to the games and pretty much most of the stuff will have either the crown on it or sponsored by the Olympic or paralympic games. Alright I think that sums it up. And funny to put this here but since Im posting both at the same time and going back to this one, I will write more about Spain, quick insight though my entire blog is now in Spanish. So Im glad I checked it enough previous that I know what it is supposed to say.
Kosher nutella?
ReplyDeletegoing it alone certainly makes things different - but allows a different perspective - one to be cherished.
hoping Spain will be warm and friendly!
Love your blogs and insights
I WOULD LOVE TO GO ON A HARRY POTTER SIGHT SEEING TOUR WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That sounds fascinating! I was super excited when you mentioned Kings Cross, I wanna go to platform 9 and 3/4! Good to hear that you're having fun. That whole beer thing was kinda weird though, with the kids on the bus. <3
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