London, oh my!

July 17; 5:20 p.m.

got up this morning and journeyed to London. Susanne went with me to Zug where i then left her, changed trains, went to Zurich, changed trains, and finally flew to London. once in the London airport i had to find the train to Victoria Station. i'd already paid for my ticket, so i went and found the train, got on, and was sitting there thinking about how lovely i'd done when the ticket guy came around. i showed him my ticket and he says, "oh, but this isn't the Gatwick Express."

*sigh*

he let it go though ... i nice older "bloke" who was understanding and didn't bother collecting more money from me. i was quite embarrassed and just couldn't figure out how i'd messed that up. i looked at the signs numerous times to make sure i was getting on the right one, but no, i screwed it up.

got off the train and realized you had to pass your ticket through the turnstile ... well, that posed a problem with the guy manning it, since i had the wrong ticket. he let me know that he wasn't happy with me, but let me pass anyways saying, "don't get on the wrong train again, it's very bad!" i passed through and went to tackle the next thing with hopeful confidence.

found the Tube station, bought a day-pass, found the right train, found my hotel, checked in, went to my room, found my roommate's bag there (a girl from Australia), dropped off my stuff and headed out.

eventually decided on food. it's hard, cuz there are TONS of choices. and people here move SO fast and SO with a purpose ... i feel so stupid just stopping to take a picture of something that they pass by 100s of times w/o noticing. anyways, i ate dinner at a place called "Hamburger Union". i was needing some meat and potatoes. *L* they had a cute little place with wood seats (no backs) and Beatles music blaring. it was quite lovely, actually. somehow seemed British enough for my first day. i paid 10 pounds, which is over $20, for a burger, fries (chips), and a soda. OUCH!

traffic is insane ... besides the fact you have to look the opposite way you normally would, there are cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. moving constantly. it's just crazy.

after dinner i walked. and walked. and walked some more. i found Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, all by accident! i was so excited when i saw it all, i just couldn't believe it. there it was, in person, bigger than i'd ever thought it would be. so very cool. along the way i saw so many building looking so "British" and royal. i even saw an official guard! there he was, dressed in his red uniform and black hat. he was a short man and moved his head around to look at the people standing around taking pictures of him, but he never said anything. he just stood there trying to be official. *L* this one asian guy actually stood next to him and took a picture of the both of them together. it was quite funny, but i'm sure those guys think all day long, "these idiot tourists" or something of the sort.

found the London Eye (the big ferris wheel thing) and bought a ticket for tomorrow. then i strolled along some more gazing at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament with such awe. that's a HUGE building and very royal looking. it's really beautiful.

finally i decided i needed to head towards the hotel. the sun was setting and i was getting tired of walking. i Tubed back toward where i'd had dinner, cuz i saw a sign for cheap internet cafe. found it really easily, used it for an hour or so (only cost me a little over a pound) to blog about Switzerland, then went back to the hotel.

the streets are so much easier to manage at night time ... so many less people and traffic, only problem is you miss out on the seeing part of your walk! :-)