Waving from Holland: London! Day One

October 26-29, 2012

From Edinburgh, I bid farewell to the Horner-Devines at the airport, and caught a flight to London, where I stayed with friends and fully embraced being a tourist. I basically walked around the city for three days straight, in shoes apparently not meant for walking, and hit almost all of the major sights in the city. After the first day, my feet were sore, covered with blisters and bleeding from cuts, rendering me to a limping tourist the entire time. So I made sure to use the tube (underground light rail) to my full advantage. The more that I travel and use other city's advanced transportation, it really puts Seattle's Department of Transportation to shame. Shame. Seattle's public transportation is appalling unpredictable, inconvenient, and downright embarrassing. I often end up walking to my destination if it's within 2 miles because it's faster than waiting for the bus to arrive. Anywhere else it seems offers an efficient rail system that comes every 2 minutes and is seen as a practical way to get around. Is Seattle just too young of a city to have advanced its transportation system? Could it be Seattle's lack of science and technology, or progressive thinkers?

Portobello Market

The first day I took the tube to Notting Hill and strolled through the bustling absurdness of Portobello Road - one of the most famous street markets in the world and on a Saturday, the streets are crowded for two miles. I didn't know any of this upon my arrival on a Saturday afternoon, and soon found myself disgruntled and trying to hurry through the endless wall of people (I hate crowds, so I become a bit of a wet blanket at fun amusements like festivals, special events, Disneyland...). To add to my crotchety demeanor I ended up walking for nearly in an hour in the wrong direction, thus creating blisters one and two. Eventually, I made it down through Hyde Park and met Ryan at Harrod's, Europe's largest department store (I didn't know this little fact either before agreeing to meet Ryan there). This store fills of 5 acres of land, over one million square feet, and is comprised of 330 departments! It too was over crowded, and I felt completely out of place and overwhelmed. But it was fascinating. It felt like I was in a casino or huge cruise ship that offered everything, as long as it was luxurious. I think that someone was even singing opera from a balcony, over looking the golden escalators.

Harrod's Food Hall, where I walked
out with 1/2 of a pound of baklava

Green Park

From there we wondered through Green Park, stopping at Buckingham Palace. Because Ryan was on a very important phone call for 20 or so minutes, when we stopped at the palace and Ryan whispered to me, "I'll stay right here and you can have a look around," I had no idea that we were actually at Buckingham Palace. I kind of indiscriminately snapped pictures of monuments, fancy gates, flags - things that looked like they were of some importance. It wasn't until I got a little closer to the palace when I read a sign about the changing of the guards, and began to recognize the face of the palace. "Wait a second, is this where Will and Kate kissed on the balcony after getting married?!" It was a bit underwhelming, but fun to have seen.

Continuing on our walk, we made it to Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abby, and the houses of Parliament Covent Gardens, and by the time Ryan was pointing out to me Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives and works, I was feeling crippled by my aching feet, needing to pee, and the freezing cold. It was dark and raining, and I was starving. When Christie was able to meet up with us, she made haste to find a place to eat dinner. Sushi and a bottle of wine helped mend my ailments :) After a night cap at another trendy bar across town, I was ready for bed.