Cheers! ... from Jolly ol' England
Aug. 23rd, 2003 06:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kybearfuzzIt's dinner time here in Britain, I'm winding down from a day of sightseeing, typing my journal from, no joke, a McDonalds internet cafe. Can you believe it???
The flight yesterday was lengthy. I have never done an international flight before this one, and it can give you a case of numb hiney, that's for sure. I did get to see "Bringing Down the House" with Steve Martin and "X-Men 2" on the trip, so it was fun to pass the time.
Naturally, being the virgin world-tour guy, the cabbie took immediate advantage of me. No, not that way (ewwww, if you had seen him), but he overcharged me by 20 POUNDS!!! And I even tipped the guy on top of that! @$$hole! Mind you, I'm traveling on the government dime, so it's no money out of my pocket, so I'm chalking this up as a learning experience and moving on .... And I'll wait to kick his rear if I see him at the airport on my trip home.
Slept late (it's a five hour time jump ahead over here), showered, ate quickly, and hit the road. I look like the typical American tourist -- map, camera around my neck, carrying bags of souvenirs, looking lost, etc. If I had black socks and sandals on, I'd look stereotypical. I figured I had two options -- see two or three things up close and thorough, or take a grand tour of them all, but likely only get pictures. It's my first trip, so I elected to take the second option. I took one of those double-decker bus tours of London (how touristy am I?). It was riding with a cool breeze and a beautiful day. It was overcast, but it is London, you know?
On my two hour tour, I saw the works -- Big Ben (who is not the clock, but rather the bell inside the clock, see I'm gaining knowledge), Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Tower and Tower Bridge, etc. I did trek on my own and found "221B Baker Street," home of Sherlock Holmes. I took some pictures of that, I figure it will be a good quiz question for my upcoming computer class at work. To be even more touristy (a made up word, but fitting), I even had my picture taken with him, wearing the cloak, hat, and pipe. I'll have to put that up later. I really wanted to see the London Dungeons or Madame Tousseau's (spelling?) Wax Museum, but the lines were nearly around the block and I figured it would take forever to get inside.
My digital camera is working like a charm. I've taken at least 50 pictures so far and the CD isn't even half full yet. I brought 10 and I doubt I'll use more than two of them. I had to take a picture of the street crossings. They actually have "LOOK LEFT" and "LOOK RIGHT" spray painted on the street. At first, I thought this was silly, but the streets are confusing as to which is the driving way, so I'm sure it's saved more than a few lives.
I admit, I'm hitting the American eateries over here. More out of necessity and time, than out of fear (hey, since when was England known for great food). It's nearly 6:45 PM here and I admit, I'm bushed. Not sure what I'll do the rest of the night. I really wish I had another day or so here, but the car is showing up tomorrow at lunch to cart me off to my next destination. I definitely recommend London as a future vacation spot.
Let's hope the small English towns have some sort of internet access. I still haven't tried my dial up yet, figured I'd give it a shot tomorrow night.
The flight yesterday was lengthy. I have never done an international flight before this one, and it can give you a case of numb hiney, that's for sure. I did get to see "Bringing Down the House" with Steve Martin and "X-Men 2" on the trip, so it was fun to pass the time.
Naturally, being the virgin world-tour guy, the cabbie took immediate advantage of me. No, not that way (ewwww, if you had seen him), but he overcharged me by 20 POUNDS!!! And I even tipped the guy on top of that! @$$hole! Mind you, I'm traveling on the government dime, so it's no money out of my pocket, so I'm chalking this up as a learning experience and moving on .... And I'll wait to kick his rear if I see him at the airport on my trip home.
Slept late (it's a five hour time jump ahead over here), showered, ate quickly, and hit the road. I look like the typical American tourist -- map, camera around my neck, carrying bags of souvenirs, looking lost, etc. If I had black socks and sandals on, I'd look stereotypical. I figured I had two options -- see two or three things up close and thorough, or take a grand tour of them all, but likely only get pictures. It's my first trip, so I elected to take the second option. I took one of those double-decker bus tours of London (how touristy am I?). It was riding with a cool breeze and a beautiful day. It was overcast, but it is London, you know?
On my two hour tour, I saw the works -- Big Ben (who is not the clock, but rather the bell inside the clock, see I'm gaining knowledge), Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Tower and Tower Bridge, etc. I did trek on my own and found "221B Baker Street," home of Sherlock Holmes. I took some pictures of that, I figure it will be a good quiz question for my upcoming computer class at work. To be even more touristy (a made up word, but fitting), I even had my picture taken with him, wearing the cloak, hat, and pipe. I'll have to put that up later. I really wanted to see the London Dungeons or Madame Tousseau's (spelling?) Wax Museum, but the lines were nearly around the block and I figured it would take forever to get inside.
My digital camera is working like a charm. I've taken at least 50 pictures so far and the CD isn't even half full yet. I brought 10 and I doubt I'll use more than two of them. I had to take a picture of the street crossings. They actually have "LOOK LEFT" and "LOOK RIGHT" spray painted on the street. At first, I thought this was silly, but the streets are confusing as to which is the driving way, so I'm sure it's saved more than a few lives.
I admit, I'm hitting the American eateries over here. More out of necessity and time, than out of fear (hey, since when was England known for great food). It's nearly 6:45 PM here and I admit, I'm bushed. Not sure what I'll do the rest of the night. I really wish I had another day or so here, but the car is showing up tomorrow at lunch to cart me off to my next destination. I definitely recommend London as a future vacation spot.
Let's hope the small English towns have some sort of internet access. I still haven't tried my dial up yet, figured I'd give it a shot tomorrow night.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Jolly Old England
Date: 2003-08-23 11:22 am (UTC)Re: Jolly Old England
Date: 2003-08-24 12:46 am (UTC)