Today was not what I would call the most pleasant of days. After our flight finally got in (two hours later than originally planned) we set about the nearly impossible task of getting the entire family through the airport and onto the train. I swear it was like herding cats. Cranky, sleep-deprived cats. We finally made it, however, wandered around Victoria Station for a while (where I discovered that there are literally no trash bins; when I asked the guys at the information desk where I could toss my apple core, I was instructed to leave it on the floor near a wall for one of the cleaning crew to retrieve. Seriously.) and then eventually made our way out into the streets. At this point Jenny O and her amazing Map Skills took over, and I guided us to our hotel (one of my most impressive Map Skills is the fact that I tend to carry one. You’d be shocked at how effective it is…). We paid the £5 to check in early (ie, dump our stuff) and trooped up to our respective closets.
And I do mean closets. The room that Nathan and I have is literally the size of Ben and Heather’s walk-in closet at their new place. Now, this in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing (we aren’t planning on spending a lot of time here, after all) but we’ve discovered that we definitely made a mistake by not opting for a room with a window, because right now the circulation appears to be non-existent. It wouldn’t be so bad if there were mirrors to give it the illusion of more space, but there aren’t, and that combined with the lack of air flow has me dangerously close to a full-on claustrophobic fit. I dread turning out the lights… (note: as it turns out there was a comforting night-light once the lights are off, and the air did eventually kick in, so it wasn't so bad.)
We were all pretty much zombies, but we’d made the decision to stick it out until 2100, so back out we went. Originally Nathan and I had wanted to cruise down the Thames to the Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory, but all the delays threw a serious monkey wrench in that plan, so instead the six of us (Curt, Alana, and Eel having elected to nap) decided to take a stroll down to Buckingham Palace. First, however, we needed food, so we stopped off at St. George’s Tavern, where I finally got to try Welsh rarebit (which I’d been dying to try since reading about it on NPR) and Nathan had a truly scrumptious wild boar and apple sausage with mashed potatoes (bangers and mash!). This was also the point where we discovered that I’d somewhere, somehow managed to sit in gum, and had a giant gum smear right on the back seam of my pants (note: never did get that crap off, which means I was down to just one pair of pants for the entire trip). Yeah. Awesome. So Jeff walked me back to the hotel so I could change into my other pair of pants, and then we all headed out to the Palace.
(I peek through the keyhole)
(I peek through the keyhole)During all of this we got some firsthand experience with the insanity that is London weather. It would literally go from drizzling to blindingly sunny within the space of five minutes. That was alright, however, since at the beginning of the trip certain males had mocked me for brining my sunglasses, but then I got to mock them in return while they were squinting in the sun…
(flowers in a private garden down the street from our hotel)We probably didn’t appreciate the palace as much as we might have- as I mentioned, we were tired, sore, cranky zombies. By the time we got back to the hotel (around six) I was fairly certain there was no way in hell we were going to make it until nine.
But then crisis struck.
We were hanging out in Jeff and Elizabeth’s room (they had a window, and that combined with an open door made it seem downright spacious), snacking on bread, cheese, and fruit while playing with Eel, when Alana rushed in, face contorted in anguish, and said words to chill any traveler’s soul;
“I lost my money belt!”
The best she could figure was that it had gotten snagged and fallen off somewhere between the hotel and the tavern (she and Curt had taken Eel there after we recommended it to them). Nate and I immediately sprang up and went looking for it in the streets and at the tavern, while everyone else helped them tear apart their room. No one was able to find it, however, which meant they were down £400, her credit cards, and both her and Eel’s passports. Ouch. Fortunately, however, she is a smart woman who had copies of everything, so they talked to the embassy and will be going to replace things in the morning. In the meantime, however, a certain pall has been cast over our adventures.
I’m sure things will look better in the morning. (note: they did)
Great start to the trip. Other than the lost money belt, does sound like you all had a great start. I really do want to visit this country someday, just need to find my money tree first.
ReplyDelete