London

I wasn't sure what to title this one. I was thinking something along the lines of "One stop", or "'Sir, please stay off the Queen's wall.'", or even giving in to my childish amusement at the "Piccadilly line to Cockfoster" tube ride; but giving that those were somewhat inside-joke-y, I considered general Britishy goodness, such as "Pip pip" and "Blimey. Marmalade." In the end, I was not confident enough to use any of these because I feel only a small handfull of you would be privy to the joke. Cheers.

You came here for London. I'll tell you how brilliant it was. Then I'll tell you the terrible bits. Stick around.



I flew in very late, arriving at about 1 am, where I was able to catch a bus to Baker Street, which was several blocks from Russell Square, where my hostel was located. During normal hours, I would have taken the tube to Russell Square station, but because of the late time the tube no longer ran. Not feeling perky enough to attempt to find a nightbus, I walked.
It took an hour.
The small map I recieved from the bus station had poorly labeled streets, but eventually I discovered groups of rental bikes with maps saying "YOU ARE HERE.", which I thought enormously helpful until I swear each of them told me to go in a different direction than the previous map.

I made it eventually, and was able to be in bed by 2:30. Oh- and, this was my room:

(This is bad, even by hostel standards.)
It was also entirely co-ed, which made going to the (communal) bathroom verrry awkward. Excuse me-- the 'loo'. (see: what I bought at the Queen's Gallery.)

At 7:00 that same morning, I was up again and somewhat ready to walk to Amanda's hostel by 9. Google maps in hand, I set off, only to lose my way somewhere around the time the directions said to continue onto a street, then turn right onto that street, then turn left onto that street, then turn right again. Onto the street I was already on. Baffled, I did my best to eyeball the direction I needed, crossing the river at the London Bridge, which offered this view:

which cheered me up a tish, until it started raining.
Thankfully, that did not last long, but neither did my directional sense, as I failed for 65 minutes to find Jamaica street.
I arrived at the Thameside Hostel a little after ten, where I snuck in their gate behind a real boarder, and immediately requested that we stop for breakfast. (Oh yes-- did I mention I did this all on having not eaten since 5:00 the night before?)

Once I was stuffing a muffin in my mouth we decended into the London tube for some complicated transfers. It was nice to simply follow wherever Amanda and Caroline went and not have to think about the train myself. It was weird that the English make you use your ticket to get OUT of the station as well as in.

As Buckingham Palace (or "Buckminster", as Amanda misquotes) did not change their guard until Sunday, we instead walked a long way for some well-known cupcakes:

and Portobello Road market. (Which would have been amazing if I had 300p to spend on antiques.):




Then we took some pictures of the Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament.



Then we went to an Bella Italiana for dinner, and then I went back to the hostel early because I was so tired. Unfortunately, my new room mates were 8 loud and rowdy Irish lads, who did a lot of odd chanting-like songs and made fun of each other. Loudly.

Sunday continued on with the changing of the guard, which wasn't until 11:30, which was grand as we had some time in the morning. We agreed to meet at 10 at a milkshake shop, which I couldn't find, so I ended up going to the guard by myself. It was cold. I took a lot of pictures.

They're changing the guard at Buckingham Palace
Christopher Robin went down with Alice..



Fortunately I found the milkshake shop later and the girls were theres still. Then we went here:

wait for it..

waiiit..

a-Yep. That's me going to Hogwarts.

And here's the Globe Theater:


And the London Eye! First they made us watch a video, complete with 3D glasses, a fog machine, a bubble machine, a snow machine, and a sprinkly-water machine. It was horrible and hilarious.
Then the ride:


And Amanda volunteered me for this silly photo:


Then dinner at another Italian restaurant. They stuck us in a back alcove. It was oddly romantic. :P

Monday was museum day! (Monday was also Emma-thought-the-bank-froze-her-account day)
The British Museum:




(Look, Cara! An African chicken!)
and the National Gallery, but we couldn't take pictures there. :(
Amanda and Caroline were super late to the BM, and I waited for an hour an a half. At one point, the security guard came up to me and said, "I don't think they're coming."
On the plus side, they had plugs on the walls and I was able to charge my camera battery.

Then we had afternoon tea:

and put me on the train back to Luton Airport! Bye bye London..

...and hello worst 24 hours of my life.


So-- Got back to Dublin at about 11pm. Couldn't find a bus to anywhere near Ballyvaughan, so I hopped on one to Galway, hoping to find something there. At 2 we arrived. I found out that Citylink and Go Bus don't stop at any small towns, but a nice cab driver told me I could probably find one from Bus Eirean, and gave me directions to their bus station. They didn't have a complete timetable posted, and the security guard didn't know anything, and it started raining in the middle of the night in Galway, so I was forced back to the Citylink/Go Bus station where at least I could sit. All night. In 60 and minus temperature. Good thing I had "Her Majesty's Guide to the Queen's English" to keep me entertained. (This is the reference to what I bought at the Queen's Gallery, btdubs. Also, yes, I am a super nerd.)
I have a new sympathy for homeless people.
At 7 am, I walked over to the other station again to see if I could find a bus to Ballyvaughan, which after some looking around and asking I found one that left at 10:30. So I had a couple hours to stand around in the rain. And the ticket machine ate one of my fivers. And I was 3 hours late to school on midterm crits.



so, to recap: London was full of Londony things, like red buses and red phones, and black cabs

and living in the middle of nowhere is horrible when you have to get back by a certain time. Went 34 hours without sleep, 16 without food, and 29 without being warm (5 without being dry).

But, ooooohhh, London was fantastic. <3