Last day in London…

This is pretty long, FYI.

Our last day in London:
Boat tour: we were ferried up and down the Thames with a live commentary about the buildings and history. That was pretty cool.
The London Eye: This is a giant ferris wheel with, instead of cars, it has large glass bubbles. You can see for miles at the top of the wheel in any direction. We got a lot of pictures.
Westminster Abbey: This took us a while to find. After we realized that we were in line for the Parliament building and my mom complained about the lack of signs, we went here. This was very cool and full of gold leaf and carved stone. There were a lot of graves or memorials for famous people. Very cool.
Tower of London: We didn’t get to go on a tour, which was sad. They were going to close in an hour after we got there. You can’t see any tourist trap decently in an hour. So we looked at the little information video and the gift shop and got some souveniers. It was very hard for me to not get a little pencil sharpener in the shape of a man’s police hat there. Those hats are very cool. The female police hats, though, make it very hard to take any female police officer seriously; it looks like she’s going to some sort of checkerboard tea party in a fluorescent yellow vest.

Can you tell I like hats?

Anyway, then we had to find our way back. We had ridden the Tube (the Underground) most of the long distances, and we rode it back to near our hotel. We had to ask directions to the hotel, though. And seeing what looked like a gang just waiting around on their bikes was scary, but we eventually found the hotel. Thank goodness.

We didn’t go see Les Mis, unfortunately. Mom didn’t feel safe, and I agreed. Walking home in broad daylight was scary enough. Maybe if we come back to London, but my mom has already vowed to avoid it. She hates the lack of signs (they’re just different, and we have maps!) and the unsafe parts. Oh well. My dad loves London. Maybe we will come back.

Hilights of London:
The “TO LET” signs. Are they missing a letter? Aren’t they supposed to announce the prescence of a bathroom with the word “TOILET”? No, it means “For Rent.”

Learning that Les Mis has been playing steadily for the past 21 years here. That’s very cool. I wonder if I would recognize any names from the Symphonic recording...

The stay-to-your-left traffic and walking that no one else in our tour group wanted to conform to to make life easier for Londoners (thank goodness we didn’t rent a car) (but we did often walk to the right, causing confused Londoners to go around our giant group on both left and right)

The 15 pound charge for using the internet in the hotel (around $30; that’s why I am waiting for Paris to post this post and the one previous)

The old architecture. In America, old for a building or tradition is maybe 200 years. In Europe, old can be millenia. Wow.

The amount of make-up homework I am having to do. If I can haggle for more time, I will.

The police hats. See above. Those things are cool. Maybe I should have gotten that pencil sharpener.

Walking everywhere and getting cramps in my left foot repeatedly. Or standing for an hour as my mom talks about something on a very unevenly-bricked street.

The cool little TV console in the back of the airplane seats. One channel had a map that showed where the plane was in relation to the USA and England, with a little ribbon showing our route. Actually, there were several maps that rotated like a Powerpoint presentation. Very cool.

Jet lag. I am writing this at 11:09 AM in England, and it is 6:09 AM in America. I’m still tired, after getting used to the schedule.

The tea. Tea is awesome. Tea is everywhere.

The way-too-many-Italian meals I’ve eaten. Two Italian meals in two days. Both were huge and expensive. Pretty good, but expensive.

The fight outside the Bangladeshi restaurant.

The walking at crosswalks that aren’t showing the little green man that means “GO.” Almost every time. Can’t we wait a minute or two so it will be safe?

The few times we have waited for the green sign on the crosswalk, the sign only lasts as far as about halfway through the intersection. Why can’t someone who doesn’t run a marathon every day cross without fearing for her safety?

Tower of London gift shop. Very cool. If I bought everything I wanted from there, I wouldn't have any room left for souveniers.

British money. The coins and bills are huge. They look like play money to me.

The “Look Right” and “Look Left” signs on the ground at the crosswalks, apparently for stupid Americans who look left, right, left, step out onto the road thinking it’s safe, and get killed by an oncoming car.

Hearing nearly as much German spoken on the streets as British English. Unfortunately, I usually only caught a couple of seconds in each conversation, so I didn’t know what they were talking about. Oh well. It was still very cool.

And now we’re on a train ride to Paris. So far, most of the announcements have been in English and French, with a couple in German. The English is very hard to understand (French accent) and I speak a very few phrases of French. If this foreshadows what France will be like... oh boy. Yikes.