First Night in London

The flight to London through EasyJet was different. EasyJet was trying to sell stuff the entire time. They were selling Starbucks Coffee, Booze, Train Tickets, Bus Tickets, Museum Tickets, Travel Insurance, Jewelry, and Legos. I swear! There colors are orange and white/black so as I listen to my iPod full of various British bands from the 60's to get in the mood, I felt like Austin Powers in my Jumbo Jet, "Yeah Baby, Yeah!"

When I arrived I couldn't believe that I left beautiful and clear Austria for overcast and rainy London. Figuring out the train wasn't too bad, but it's harder to understand people in London than it is in German or Austria. Partly, because when you ask a question in English and they answer back in the Queens English they expect that you understand what they are saying because they know you understand English. However, some of the accents are so think and they all seem to be talking gibberish. I asked the information guy how to get to St. Paul's. He says, "Oh, you take the lift down to the plat four and your stop will be Citilackingtonshire, ok, on you go!" I'm like, "Wait, where do I stop?" He says, "St Paul right? Then you take the tube to Huffingtonkingtonshire". I yell, "Wait! That's not what you said the first time!" Now, in with German I'vce found that they don't expect you to understand them the first time becuase many feel their butchering your language so they'll revert to hand motions which can make it easier to understand.

Getting to the hostel was tough because people have no idea how to give directions. The guy at my stop, when I asked for directions to the tourist office, said, "Oh, you go down the main street, cross the St. Pauls Square and it's on the Left. Well, I search and search and search. I can't find it! I find a travel office in the general area (thinking that he might have gotten confused with my question) and they give be different directions. I finally find a map of the city and figure out where I am and where I need to be. Neither of them were remotely close to giving me correct directions. It wouldn't have been too bad if I hadn't forgotten to eat my bologna breakfast in Austria and if it wasn't raining.....because I have no umbrella.

I found the travel office so I could get the location of my hostel. Well, that guy gave me crummy directions too. He pointed to the street that I needed to go down and said, "Go this way and it's number 36 with the black door". Well, he was pointing entirely the wrong way.

When I arrived at "St Paul's Hostel" (set in the former choir school of St Paul's Cathedral) my room wasn't ready so I logged on the computer to figure-out my game-plan for the rest of the day. I talked to Ma on Skype for about 30-minutes and when my room was ready (so I could lock up my bag) I was off to get some food. I was trying to find a really crummy British Pub to get some "pub grub". However, I'm in the financial district and everything is rather posh. But, I did find a nice pub that had a crummy beer garden in the basement. I went up to the bartender and said, "This is my first night in London. What should I drink?" He was very nice and explained the beers, the menu, and how to tip in the UK. We talked for a bit and when my food came I had to sit at a table.....some weird rule. I got fish & chips and a second beer:

Fish & Chips

I'm full!!!

Before leaving I got another beer. I think I'm done with British beer for the trip. I tried 3 different types (Young's, Doom Bar, and Abbot) and they were ok, not the greatest. Plus that warm feeling you get as if goes down only works with Brandy for me. Warm beer is not my thing. It's not so much warm as it is....not cold. It's not like they heat it up or anything.

After dinner I decided that I needed to "walk it off"......it had also stopped raining. So, I decided to see if I could make the walk to Tower Bridge and back. Along the way I walked across the London Bridge.....which isn't all that exciting.....in fact, I think it should fall down because it's kind of an eye-sore.

I kept walking and saw the Tower of London and then Tower Bridge. It was a beautiful night! I walked across Tower Bridge and then I headed back. On the way back I ran into an empty boat dock. I decided to walk around and take a few photos.

Not a horrible first night in London.

St. Pauls

Red "Telly" with Tower Bridge in Bakground

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge