where do i begin?

July 20

roommate came home after midnight and left at 6. i didn't meet her. i was sleeping, or at least trying to. it rained during the night and when i woke up it was nothing but clouds, rain, wind, and slightly cold. i thought, "oh, that figures, the day i plan to do a lot of walking!" oh well. me and my rain jacket went discovering anyways.

first stop, the Imperial Hotel to check in. for whatever reason i had to change hotels for one night. i knew this, but had forgotten until last night as i was walking home from dinner. dropped off my bag in my room and hit the Tube.

second stop, Horse Guard change. i was running late, or so i thought, and was frustrated with the lateness and the rain and the cold ... but then i looked ahead and saw horses coming down the street! wow, what great timing! it was so cool to have them right there beside me, walking down the same street, basically to myself. there were hardly any people around. they made their way to the building they guard (the name i can't remember right this minute) where they met up with the "red" guards who were already there and standing in place.

the black guards rode in and got in line opposite the red. then five black guards rode off thru the arch to the opposite side. i stood there for a while to see what would happen, but nothing. and then it started raining a bit more, so i decided to go into the arch and to the other side to check it out (or at least hide for cover). good thinking on my part, cuz i got a first-hand view of the actual changing of the horse guard, which everyone else missed because they were busy watching the rest of the horse guards stand out back. wow, talk about a site. i mean, these guards in their beautiful uniforms on these gorgeous, big, black horses, riding so astutely and taking their position so seriously, moving only on command, and the horses doing exactly what they were born to do (these particular horses i mean). it was simply amazing. really.

so there i was, taking pictures of the horse guard standing in his arch when two red guards and a guard on foot coming walking out of the side of the building. the two horse guards line up behind each black one while the man on foot walks through the main gate and into the street. at his one swift command, the two black guards walk out of the archway, turn into each other, and then face the gate side by side. as soon as they moved out, the red guards moved into their arches and stopped still. then, on the foot guard's command, the black guards walked through the main gate with the foot guard following behind and off to the right through a doorway. a bit later they all three rode out, met up with their troop out back, then the red guards rode off (going to Buckingham Palace) and the black guards went back into the back of the building. it was over. and i saw it. i was right in the middle when they changed. the one horse guard actually walked around me to get to his position. i could have touched the horse i was so close. and there were only about five people around who saw it. it was the coolest thing i think i've seen as far as royalty and ritual goes.

ok, enough of that...

then i went to Westminster Abbey to go to St. Margaret's Chapel (it's next to Westminster and is free, but i didn't do it the other day), but today there was a service when i got there so i couldn't go in. but i saw it from the front door and it looked pretty, just as so many other churches do. :-)

got on the Tube and rode toward Kensington Palace. when i got up to the street it was REALLY raining, so i pulled up my hood and took off walking, hoping i was going in the right direction. came across Kensington Gardens and walked through. rain stopped. took pics of the Palace. pretty, but nothing spectactular. red brick. square. the gates were actually prettier than the house itself. but still, it's famous, so.... walked on towards Notting Hill. just cuz. mostly cuz i enjoyed the movie so much and wanted to see if it looked like it did in the movie. but it didn't. *L*

got back on the Tube and rode towards Harrods. this is THE place to shop and THE place to spend the most money. it's amazing. for some reason the inside kinda reminded me of something you'd find in Vegas. not sure why, still processing that. but the stores themselves. they were all run together, kinda like all one store (well, i guess it kinda is ... HARRODS). the clerks are all dressed prim and proper in their suits, the merchandise is set up just so, the price tags are all printed with high numbers. *L* you can buy anything you need or want here. from the finest of wine from France, the best chocolate, the best suit, or a toothbrush. grapes were 5 pounds per kilo. the most expensive slab of meat i saw was 35 pounds per kilo and that was on sale! i bought two little pieces of chocolate (truffles) for 99 pence. they were delicious. :-)

got back on the Tube and rode to Waterloo, the train station. wanted to see if i could buy a ticket to the airport ahead of time for when i'm on my way home so i didn't waste more time that morning. but i couldn't figure it out and didn't want to stand in line at the person-to-person ticket sales. i'll just deal with it later i guess.

Tubed up to my internet hang out area and ate lunch/dinner at Pizza Hut (mom, is that a surprise? *L*). it's good and cheaper than regular places, and nearby, so why not? i got four slices of garlic bread, a personal pan pizza, dessert, and unliminted soda for 8.75 pounds. that's a pretty good deal, lemme tell ya.

checked my e-mail. then Tubed to the hotel for the tour meeting at 6. that took about 20 minutes of my time. i was early and sat at a table with four chairs and took out my book. i'm such a hermit. no one sat next to me. whatever. when that was over i went to the bank and changed my money to Euros. for whatever reason they changed it to Pounds first, then to Euros. i don't know if this was just the way it's done or if it's because of the kind of service they are ... but my $700 turned out to be only $430 euros. OUCH!

came back to the internet cafe to blog the rest of my London trip and to say bye for now. i don't know if i'll be back online before i get home or not, since i don't really know how this tour will work. so, if you don't see anything beyond this post, fear not, you will upon my arrival back to the States. ;-)

BTW ... the Prius cars are popular here. :-D