Twenty days overseas! That’s crazy. This morning started just like the previous- relaxed chill morning with the same breakfast in the hotel as always. Today was a free day, so anything was game. Me being me, I could care less how I spent my time, and would just tag along with everyone else once they made a decision on what they wanted to do. Most everyone, like me, is entirely indecisive, and no one decided on one thing to do until after noon or so. I just hung out with my ipod and played solitaire and let everyone else do the planning. We left at 1pm to head to the London Eye, a large famous ferris wheel not far from Big Ben himself. On the way there, we stopped at a little noodle bar for lunch. It was so good. I guess I love Chinese food. You never really realize how much you love something until it’s gone. Isn’t that a famous saying or something? Whatever. We ate, and it was great. Then we set off to experience the London Eye. The ticket was entirely overpriced, and I just wanted to see it, not necessarily go up it. (No, not afraid of heights. That’s stupid. As I said, the ticket was way overpriced. Nearly 18 pounds to stand in a ferris wheel for half an hour- ridiculous.) Though, for the sake of not having to stand alone for half an hour in a foreign country, I spend the money and went on the wheel. I took a few photos, even though being up there and the photos I got have nothing to do with my series aim from this trip. After getting off, we had a few hours until we were going to meet everyone else for our Ghost Tour. So we walked around and did nothing. I hated it. When I know I have something to do or somewhere to be, I can’t really enjoy my time unless I know I’m near my destination or have done what I have to do. It’s kind of like having long breaks between classes at school- I can’t enjoy the time, because I know I still have a class later on. Plus I hated everyone stopping every two seconds to all take twenty photos of the exact same thing. Honestly though, that’s what happens when you have a digital camera and are a tourist. We finally made our way to the underground stop we were supposed to meet at, and while waiting above ground, I spotted a coffee shop, so naturally, I had to grab a latte. So I ventured into this little place called Caffe Nero, having been excited by their signs on the doors that said ‘iced summer drinks’. (If I haven’t made it clear before, iced is like shunned in Europe. More so in France than England though, but I still hate it just as much.) I ordered an iced vanilla latte, typical, and the lady told me that if I could go grab one of the premixed vanilla shakes out of the fridge then she could add ice to it. Once she said that, I said ‘okay I’ll have a regular vanilla latte then. A hot one.’ I didn’t want any of that premixed crap- plus by now I’ve learned that Europeans don’t even come close to understanding how to make an iced drink. Not even the European baristas at the starbucks’ scattered around the country. It’s sad. So blah blah long story short I got my latte (and a pain au chocolat) and went to sit back down with everyone outside.
I sat, I sipped, and I sank. It was incredible. The first latte I had had since the morning I left from KCI, and the first true satisfaction with European coffee since I’d been here. I basically found heaven. I felt like I was home again. Actually, their lattes taste just like those made in the small coffee shop in Aspen, Colorado called ink!. So that’s not exactly home, but it’s in the US. Caffe Nero apparently is the best coffee shop chain in Europe, so if you’re heading to Europe soon and want an excellent latte, I highly recommend Caffe Nero. The employees are kind, decently trained, and fairly consistent in their drink making. MMMM!
Enough about coffee, onto our Ghost Tour. Basically what we did was got shown around the streets of London and were shown famous ghost spots and sightings and stories or whatever. It was entertaining to say the least. Our tour guide was a nice man all dressed up and incredibly knowledgeable- he has been doing all of the research for over ten years now I think he said. It was like a historical ghost lesson tour thing. He showed us where a bunch of people were buried and where certain ghosts haunt and why and where certain people were executed and what not. I actually saw the location of where Sir William Wallace was executed, and got a photo in front of his memorial. (I texted my brother about it immediately.) Also, at one point our tour guide was telling a story about how people were burned at the stake in the olden days, and he was telling us about how, and I quote, they put ‘whicker baskets of small, furry, cuddly, kittens’ at the base of the stake to burn too. When he said kittens, I let out a humungous ‘BAHAHAH!!!’, and quickly covered my mouth realizing that no one else was laughing. Everyone turned and gawked at me, to which I responded by quickly saying ‘sorry, that’s not funny..’. Then, my entire group started laughing at me, and a few other from the tour joined, and our tour guide after that could not continue on with his act because he was laughing so much at my reaction. To explain myself, I thought he was setting up a joke and was going to say something like ‘cute small cuddly RATS!’ or something along those lines. So, when he said ‘kittens’ I died laughing. First, because I was expecting a joke and there was no joke and it was funny, and second, because it really is hilarious that they put kittens in a basket at the base of the victim’s stake. I mean, really? Who’s idea was that. It’s like someone though ‘okay how can we make this even more morbid and intense than burning someone alive?’ ‘I dunno, oh wait we can burn a basket of kittens too.’ Come on. The idea of the thought process is hilarious. And, to add to the humor, later on in the tour some guy got pooped on by a pigeon, which is something that out tour guide warned us of. HAHAHAH!!!
After the tour we ate at a delicious pizza place. I got a genius pizza- they cut out the middle and replaced it with a mini salad! It was so good. And I was proud of myself because I ate my meal in an entirely European fashion: I kept my fork and knife each in one hand throughout the entire meal. Yes, that means I ate my pizza with a fork and knife. It was so difficult, but I had to at least try it being in Europe. Europeans are so funny and proper when they eat. They eat French fries with a fork- they spear the fry, then dip it in ketchup or mayonnaise, and then eat it. They also eat hamburgers with a fork and knife. Now I tried this the previous night at the burger restaurant we ate at, but failed miserably and had to give up. I think the Europeans are afraid of touching food or something. I dunno. They’re weird.
When we got back to the hotel I showered and did laundry in the bathtub, quite a fun feat, and watched some of Hot Rod which was on tv! That definitely made me miss home… no one else here has seen Hot Rod, and didn’t really understand the humor. I miss my family and our humor, because we’re da best. The end.
P.S. Something you will indefinitely hear if you come to London: “Mind the gap!” This is what people announce, and even the subway and train robots announce while you step from a platform onto some sort of transportation device. And it is necessary, because there is usually a good 2.5 to 4 inch gap between the two, and if you’re not paying attention, you could easily seriously injure yourself.
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