(post title should be sung to the tune of Rock Me Amadeus)
I was a supertourist on Friday and Saturday. Friday we spent all day on a hop-on/hop-off bus tour of London – the pics are already on flickr. We walked around St. Paul’s, across the Millennium Bridge, by the Globe, and right in front of the London Eye. (Haven’t done the London Eye yet, but it’s on our lists.) Bus Tour was fun – we got to see evvvverything. Traci and I ended up staying on the bus for a little bit longer after a few of our friends left, so in total, we were doing this bus tour for a little over 6 hours. SIX. After we had gone around the whole tour about 1.4 times (seriously), we got off at Buckingham Palace, walked the mall road along St. James Park to Trafalgar Square, and took the tube home. Needless to say we were incredibly tired and didn’t do anything that night. Besides, Thursday kind of made up for it. Also, my camera battery unfortunately ran out of juice about ¾ of the way through so I don’t have any pics of Buckingham Palace or Trafalgar Square…but I’m sure we’ll be stopping by those places again!
Saturday morning we took a Boat Tour down the Thames to Greenwich. So great. It was nice to get out of the main city area London, though it’s not like I’m sick of the “city life” or anything. It was just cool to experience a different area. And stand on the Meridian line!! I was standing in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres at the same time, so…there. The official marking is at the Royal Observatory, which stands atop a hill in Greenwich Park. It was so beautiful! We then walked around Astronomy and Maritime Museums, and had lunch in a French café in the city, and walked through a local marketplace. So nice! It was such a great area, I would not be opposed to going back.
Next, we took the boat back to the Tower of London and did all the stuff there. That was one of the things I actually remember doing from the last visit, and it was equally good this time. Seeing the Crown Jewels is definitely worth the price of admission. That’s what she said.
Last night we stayed in, watching the Turkey v. Portugal Euro Cup game and just kinda hanging out. A relaxing night in after another day of walking! I can’t believe we’ve been here for 5 days now! It still feels like we got here yesterday.
Towards the end of yesterday, I developed some cold-like symptoms. I refuse to call it a cold because I will not be stopped. I think I might just not be used to the air here yet. At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself. Everyone is going off in smaller groups today, so my plan is to take it easy and run some errands and maybe hang out in a park or something. I’ve got to wind down and mentally prepare myself to start work tomorrow.
I’m excited about starting work, but nervous. Since being here, you kind of realize that you take your “comfort” at home for granted. Knowing the customs, the slang terms, how to do simple, everyday things, etc. That is all stuff that you learn from birth that you don’t really realize you have knowledge of. Does that make sense? It’s just, it’s an odd feeling to have to figure out how to do these mundane, simple things all over again – even when you’re in a big, English speaking city. It’s fun and exciting, but it can be kind of draining too. Maybe it’s the cold medicine talking, I don’t know. But I think that these kinds of feelings might be exacerbated by the fact that starting tomorrow, I will be surrounded with another aspect of British culture, dealing with it largely on my own (by that I mean, I’m not working with any other Americans). It’s just a little fear I’m experiencing now, but I am 100% confident that it will subside after the first couple of days. This trip is all about getting out there and experiencing it all and pushing fears to the side, yeah? Haha, it sounds like I’m taking a trip to some crazy outlandishly foreign place…maybe I should just get over myself, you think?
Okay, Boots and Carphone Warehouse open in a few minutes so I’m off to get my day going. Cheers! (HA I’m ridiculous! I can only type that…definitely not saying anything British yet)
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4 comments:
1. I'm twelve and completely laughed at the Crown Jewels sentence.
2. Nervousness is natural; especially when there is excitement thrown in. Give yourself a couple of days and you will be DOMINATING your job. Mwah!
Sounds like you're still having a blast. And that's hilarious that the crown jewels are still making people laugh these days.
"You're gonna get some hop-ons"
Man, I'm so jealous of your experience- it sounds like you're having an AWESOME time, friend! And I know you'll be just as awesome at your job. Good luck tomorrow- you're going to do great!!
You'll rock at your job, who couldn't love you? Psssh. No worries.
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