London Calling

Feb. 15/09

I'm now on the Underground in London heading to the stop called Piccadilly Circus which is where all - or most - of the big tourist sites are.

The Underground kind of smells, but the seats are comfy and it's rather clean.

There is an oddly large number of advertisements for Canada. Specifically Alberta.

I'm at the airport now. Once again with far too much time to waste. I'm proud to say that even with the shortage of touring time, the utter lack of knowledge of London, the rain, and being alone, I got a lot accomplished and had tonnes of fun.

I got off at Piccadilly Circus and ended up walking the wrong way from - literally - just about everything.

So typical.

I didn't really clue into my going the wrong way until after I'd walked for maybe 25 minutes. And yes, I did have a map - but in my defense, a map is useless if you don't even know where you're starting out.

Eventually, I turned myself around and found St James Park with Buckingham Palace next to it - honestly, that bit was kind of boring. I don't remember Buckingham Palace being that... I dunno... plain. Which makes me wonder if it was actually Buckingham Palace I was looking at. According to my very close analysis of the map, it was. But that's really not saying much, considering I walked in the wrong direction for nearly half an hour.

My camera battery died right before I got to Buckingham Palace. I did, however, get some shots on my phone.

I saw and took many pictures of the Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Westminster Cathedral, Wellington Arch, Westminster Bridge (I was too far away from London Bridge, unfortunately) and the Thames River.

I walked through St James Square, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square.

I watched part of a cavalry show at the Horse Guards Parade Ground.

One thing I would LOVE to live in London for: their libraries. They have so many of them! All over the place! If I had only a week to get a better dose of London, I would spend at least 3 days devoted to exploring the various libraries.

On the way back from my day of vigorous sightseeing and getting lost, I actually managed to find the correct route back to the airport, and I think this fact alone makes me eligible to live in London - there are 14 different routes, and in Central London they all merge and crisscross.

So you all need to know that I'm a truly amazing person, just for that fact alone.