There is a mouse in our hostel room. But, oh well, I guess you have to sacrifice a little for really cheap room & board.
The third day, we attempted, again, to see the Changing of the Guards, but when we got there, we learned that it was cancelled for the day... oops. Failed twice at that so far.
We made our way over to the Tate Museum of modern art after that, and I really enjoyed that. I was surprised by how much information I retained from Mickelson and Cunnally's classes, but that was good because I had a much better idea of what I was looking at. I wish I could have seen the Futurism exhibit as well, but we didn't really have too much time for that, and it was a little expensive. I did like seeing the Warhols, and I was excited that they had a Joseph Cornell box.
After the Tate, we walked across the Millennium Bridge. I felt a little bit like an idiot that at first, I couldn't remember the name of the bridge, but more that I recognized it from the Harry Potter movie.... oops. At least now I remember the name? Anyway, I read that it was the first new bridge in London in over a hundred years.. and shortly after they opened it, they had to close it and stabilize it since it swayed when people walked on it.
We took a look at St. Paul's Cathedral, then found some sandwiches. It seems like there are a lot of places around that have pre-made sandwiches for take-away, and they all look fresh and delicious... wish there was more of that around back home.
After the Cathedral, we headed back over to the British Museum. It seemed like everyone but Andrew and I was tired and not too interested, but Andrew and I squeezed in as much more important things as we could.. the Rosetta Stone, Easter Island Statue, Sculpture of Ramses (II?), the oldest object in the museum, the biggest chunk of things from the Parthenon we could see without actually being there, and a few more things. I think I could spend a really long time in that museum.. there's so much to see.
For the evening, we went out to a bar, checked out Chinatown, then went to a really old British Pub.
Aug 29, 2009
Aug 27, 2009
LONDON: Days one and two
The first day was LONG, but good. We arrived in London, then took a train and taxi to our hostel to store our stuff, then went out walking. We found a little place to get some breakfast. I had no idea what it was that I ordered, and I still don't know. It was some sort of fruit coffee-cakey type thing. Decent, though.
After that, we started walking around, we started out aiming to catch the Changing of the Guards, but we got horribly lost, walking in the wrong direction. We tried to follow the way that the taxis took, and thought we were recognizing things, but turns out it was just a lot of the same places. Cafe Nerro is like the Starbucks of London. There's also some places called Pret and Eat. that are everywhere.
Once we got back on track, it was too late for that, but we walked through Trafalgar Square, then on down to Buckingham Palace and some of the gardens around there. Apparently it costs money to sit in the lawn chairs there.. and we met some guy that was absolutely not amused that we interrupted his breakfast and sat with him.
Later in the afternoon, we checked in to the hostel and showered, it felt really nice to be able to clean, even if we still didn't have sleep at this point.
We ate at a Punjabi restaurant for dinner, which was pretty good, I had some sort of pumpkin dish. Tasty.
Our hostel was advertising some bar crawl, so we decided to go, but got lost again trying to find the bar. We did eventually find it, just barely before they left for the next one. It was a little ridiculous, they gave us free "shots," which really just tasted like cough syrup. We met some people from Brazil and a couple other places, though.
Then, finally, SLEEP.
The second day, we got going a little later in the day, after breakfast in the hostel. We took a bus out to the London Bridge, and spend most of the afternoon walking around London Bridge, then over to Tower Bridge and the London Tower. There were lots of neat little places by the river, and we went back for Fish 'n' Chips for a late lunch. Andrew and I split an order of fish 'n' chips and an order of sausage and mash just to get all our bland British food in at once. Huy asked the waiter for hot sauce, who replied, "What's hot sauce?" He was not amused.
After eating, we took a boat over to Big Ben and Parliament and Westmister Abbey, then a double decker bus back to the hostel.
Andrew and I checked out a little bit of the British Museum before it closed. Walking in was amazing, I loved the big open central area with the glass roof, it was gorgeous. We saw a little bit of the Egyptian stuff, and saw some stuff about Roman-style paintings on mummies, which I really haven't learned anything about before.
Not sure what the plan is for tonight, but maybe snacky dinner from the grocery store? Two more days in London, then heading to Paris.
After that, we started walking around, we started out aiming to catch the Changing of the Guards, but we got horribly lost, walking in the wrong direction. We tried to follow the way that the taxis took, and thought we were recognizing things, but turns out it was just a lot of the same places. Cafe Nerro is like the Starbucks of London. There's also some places called Pret and Eat. that are everywhere.
Once we got back on track, it was too late for that, but we walked through Trafalgar Square, then on down to Buckingham Palace and some of the gardens around there. Apparently it costs money to sit in the lawn chairs there.. and we met some guy that was absolutely not amused that we interrupted his breakfast and sat with him.
Later in the afternoon, we checked in to the hostel and showered, it felt really nice to be able to clean, even if we still didn't have sleep at this point.
We ate at a Punjabi restaurant for dinner, which was pretty good, I had some sort of pumpkin dish. Tasty.
Our hostel was advertising some bar crawl, so we decided to go, but got lost again trying to find the bar. We did eventually find it, just barely before they left for the next one. It was a little ridiculous, they gave us free "shots," which really just tasted like cough syrup. We met some people from Brazil and a couple other places, though.
Then, finally, SLEEP.
The second day, we got going a little later in the day, after breakfast in the hostel. We took a bus out to the London Bridge, and spend most of the afternoon walking around London Bridge, then over to Tower Bridge and the London Tower. There were lots of neat little places by the river, and we went back for Fish 'n' Chips for a late lunch. Andrew and I split an order of fish 'n' chips and an order of sausage and mash just to get all our bland British food in at once. Huy asked the waiter for hot sauce, who replied, "What's hot sauce?" He was not amused.
After eating, we took a boat over to Big Ben and Parliament and Westmister Abbey, then a double decker bus back to the hostel.
Andrew and I checked out a little bit of the British Museum before it closed. Walking in was amazing, I loved the big open central area with the glass roof, it was gorgeous. We saw a little bit of the Egyptian stuff, and saw some stuff about Roman-style paintings on mummies, which I really haven't learned anything about before.
Not sure what the plan is for tonight, but maybe snacky dinner from the grocery store? Two more days in London, then heading to Paris.
Aug 26, 2009
Airtravel Airtravel Airtravel
It's definitely not any fun getting up before the paperboy comes, before it even starts to get light. But, that is how travel began.
It started pouring a few minutes before leaving home, and because of this, my flight out of Minneapolis was delayed about 45 minutes. When I was headed to my gate, I swore I saw a girl I just met in Ames this past weekend, but I couldn't remember her name, and she wasn't facing me, so I didn't say anything. Strange coincidence now.
A couple hours layover in Chicago, met up with Ying, Paula, Melissa, Huy, and Andrew.
Uneventful flight to Atlanta, read about London and Amsterdam.
A couple hours layover in Atlanta.
Really LONG flight to London, couldn't sleep at all really. I tried for three hours, but maybe only got like 20 minutes, and only in the most ridiculous positions that could be possibly squished into the space of one small seat. Ying, however, managed to sleep the ENTIRE flight. I only wish I could have been near a window, it would have been really nice to see the sun rise and set.
Then, arrival in London, stored some stuff in the hostel this morning and started walking around. Now, feets are tired and I haven't really slept much for the last 29 hours or so. But, it's only 4pm, and so still have to last a while until sleeps time... photos and more details later.
It started pouring a few minutes before leaving home, and because of this, my flight out of Minneapolis was delayed about 45 minutes. When I was headed to my gate, I swore I saw a girl I just met in Ames this past weekend, but I couldn't remember her name, and she wasn't facing me, so I didn't say anything. Strange coincidence now.
A couple hours layover in Chicago, met up with Ying, Paula, Melissa, Huy, and Andrew.
Uneventful flight to Atlanta, read about London and Amsterdam.
A couple hours layover in Atlanta.
Really LONG flight to London, couldn't sleep at all really. I tried for three hours, but maybe only got like 20 minutes, and only in the most ridiculous positions that could be possibly squished into the space of one small seat. Ying, however, managed to sleep the ENTIRE flight. I only wish I could have been near a window, it would have been really nice to see the sun rise and set.
Then, arrival in London, stored some stuff in the hostel this morning and started walking around. Now, feets are tired and I haven't really slept much for the last 29 hours or so. But, it's only 4pm, and so still have to last a while until sleeps time... photos and more details later.
Aug 25, 2009
Darling Ames
Thank you for a funky time...
I was glad I got the chance to go down to Ames and see people before I left.
Some of the awesome parts of this past week:
-The Cafe (twice)
-Stomping Grounds (three times...)
-Olde Main Beers
-Two Man Gentlemen Band
-Cooking/Baking adventures/failures with the girls
-Seeing Karl for the first time in 8 months
-Picnics and Crazy Walks
-Makin' faces with Daniel
-Seeing everyone I missed all summer
-Being able to walk everywhere
Now, tomorrow: major travel day. Leaving home at 5:30 am, full day of flights and transfers and layovers, then arriving in London at 7:00am, oh boy! The plan is to be in London until the 30th, then take a train to Paris, and flying from Paris to Rome on September 1st.
I was glad I got the chance to go down to Ames and see people before I left.
Some of the awesome parts of this past week:
-The Cafe (twice)
-Stomping Grounds (three times...)
-Olde Main Beers
-Two Man Gentlemen Band
-Cooking/Baking adventures/failures with the girls
-Seeing Karl for the first time in 8 months
-Picnics and Crazy Walks
-Makin' faces with Daniel
-Seeing everyone I missed all summer
-Being able to walk everywhere
Now, tomorrow: major travel day. Leaving home at 5:30 am, full day of flights and transfers and layovers, then arriving in London at 7:00am, oh boy! The plan is to be in London until the 30th, then take a train to Paris, and flying from Paris to Rome on September 1st.
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