London

So, we stayed in London from the 29th until the 2nd of May. The day we arrived, it was already fairly late in the evening, so, after finding our hostel (which right off the bat was so so gross, and the people at the desk knew NOTHING!), we decided to go for a traditional meal of Fish and Chips. To date, we had eaten only fish and bread (the Tuna we'd packed, and a loaf of break we'd purchased to eat said Tuna with). So, this was a treat. It was OK. Not fantastic, and I think we could have done better, but decent. Nice to be out anyway. Afterwards, we went for a late evening walk. Getting on the underground, we decided to go to find London Bridge.

We ended up getting off the tube at the parliament buildings, and BIG BEN, which was an awesome first experience of London. As it was night time, most things were closed, which was unfortunate, but the lights and the sights were still around. In fact, as we were photographing ourselves in front of Big Ben like the lame tourists that we know we are, a man approached us. This man was crazy. He had one tooth, and was wearing a shepherds cowboy hat which hid the top of his scraggly long white hair. This man claimed a) to be more British than the queen, as well as b) to know more about Canada than any of us (after hearing where we were from). He proceeded to guess which part of Canada we were from, and after guessing several fairly obscure places, finally asked for the location. Of course, no body knows Alberta, and this massive Canadian genius was no different. We all giggled. The best part of meeting this curious character though was a conversation that he had with Bradley.

Man: Hey "smart guy" (as he affectionately had taken to calling him).

Bradley: yep

Man: Can I ask you a question?

Bradley: sure. go for it

Man: K, I'm gonna ask it now.

Bradley: Ok...I'm ready.

Man: How did you hear about England?!

And then he burst out into uncontrollable laughter and began to nudge me saying "wasn't that a funny one?" "did you like that one?", " it's a good one...it's funny". Of course, We were all suppressing large amounts of laughter - but for very different reasons than what he intended.

After asking him to let us go on our merry ways, The three of us continued to walk down the river's edge. Oh my, how beautiful is London at night?! There are lovely walkways, the water is pristine, the trees are lit up with small white lights, and the restaurants and shops are so lovely. I was so very at peace. We saw people all in their own little worlds, paying us no attention, and I really felt like I was on vacation. We walked, however, for what seemed like hours. And in fact, WAS hours. 2 to be exact. We also were just steps away from our destination, as we had been looking for the infamous London Bridge, and when found, realized that the actual old historic one was called Tower Bridge, and was still a mile or so away...but we were tired at this point, and so we retired for the evening.

Back at the hostel, we got NO sleep whatsoever! None. There was a man in the bed next to me (an 8 person shared dorm), who snored louder than anyone I had ever heard or will ever hear in my life!!! I doubt if anyone else could have this skill. I'll bet that the entire British army all firing at once would not be so loud. Needless to say, none of us slept more than a few moments at a time that night...and we were dreading the final night in the place as well.

The next day, we were tired, but we threw together some hot water and oatmeal packets and went out to find our London pass (the ticket to cheap attractions in many major cities - in case you need a tip!). It obviously took about an hour to find the address, because, doesn't it always? But once we did, we payed and then were about to leave, when we decided, why not see a show too? So, in the same office was a ticket lady. Now, I know a few things about buying inexpensive theatre tickets. I know that I could have found a worse deal... but after finding nothing inexpensive or available for the shows that was wanted to see (Billy Elliot, or Oliver (with Rowan Atkinson)), we looked at the other options. Unfortunately I had never heard of any of them before...but when given the synopsis, we just closed our eyes and picked. Big mistake. We chose a show called La Clique...and I'll tell you more about it in a moment.

First, I'll let you know that we did in fact have a wonderful time throughout the day looking at the Tower of London, Tower bridge, and the Tate modern art museum. I tried to get into the globe, but it seems there was a matinee on, so no tours, and of course, the next day we wouldn't have had the time, bummer. I found London to be a little dirty in some places, but mostly just from wear and tear. I did however find it very impressive how much grassland and tree's they had around (which I found for most of what I saw of England). They really put a lot of money and time into aesthetic appeal, which I totally appreciated. I also love places with history, so the King Henry the 8th exhibit and the debutant exhibit we saw were totally up my ally.

That night, we went ahead and watched this show...La Clique. Well, it turned out to be a low budget vaudeville type show with several different alternating acts. There was the incredible rubber man who was really a contortionist because he was double jointed, and then there was the really bad singing group who couldn't keep time, and the comedian who played the kazoo with her hoo ha! Awkward! Anyway, it was about the worst show I've seen (and I've seen many a fringe show in my day...). So, 45 bucks, or 22.5 pounds down the toilet as we prepared to try again with new goals the next day.

Back at the hostel, snoring man was gone, and we were grateful. We mostly slept alright except for room mates filling in and out at all hours.

Day three in London, we saw successfully the Kensington palace (nothing that awesome), and Hyde Park, and the jewel tower. Everything else was either closed, or we missed the times it was open, or the building was booked for exclusive guests, so we missed out on the Abbey, and Royal Albert's Hall, and Buckingham palace. Lame. I guess I'll have to go back sometime. Perhaps. We did have a killer picnic in the park (which I loved), I got a sunburn, and we enjoyed both the sun, and the beautiful peaches and apple's we'd finally splurged on due to fear of scurvy.

After that, we had to grab our bags, and head to a new hostel for the night...the next day we'd be flying to Ireland, and so we wanted to be a bit closer to the airport. The new hostel was a hotel - and was totally sketchy. We had to walk for like a half hour to find the place, got there, and were told we were at the wrong one (even though it was the correct address) and that our reservation was at a different location. So, another few minutes walk, and then we made it...the beds were nice though, and they did serve free breakfast.

After showering, repacking, and eating our fill of free cooked food, we asked the guy to call a cab. SO odd, this "cab company" guy didn't have a meter, any tags saying he was a cab, or anything else, and on top, we had to pay the man at the hotel desk, and not the cab driver himself. Very odd...it felt like a scam, and was the most expensive ride ever!!! But because we paid ahead, at least we knew he couldn't up the rate.

So, here we are, leaving London, at the check in for Ryan air, and we see that to check a bag is 40 bucks each...so we decide not to check any. Well, Bethany and I both got caught with big bottles of Shampoo, Conditioner, Sunscreen, hair products, and they searched everything. Now, I'm not one to blame...but it was Bradley's idea not to check, and he didn't lose anything, but after about a half hour of searching, Bethany and I are both down several important products, which will need to be replaced...ouch. Next time, we'll try and put all our stuff into one bag and check it...and we'll carry on the non-liquids. Lesson learned.

And then we arrived in Belfast!