London

Arrival in London was something of a treat, no, I'm kidding. The customs man for Non EU members must have been new.









I was the 6th person in line and it took an hour to get through customs and by the end of that wait, the line was up the stairs and around the corner! When I finally got through, the belt for the baggage from Paris was already finished and I couldn't find my bag, so I had to report lost luggage and they had to contact Paris. "Hopefully we'll get it to you before you leave London." What?! Anyway, as I was about to finally get out of the airport after 3 hours time passed, they found my bag; one of the baggage patrol workers had moved it and not put it in the Paris flight section with left luggage. What a relief! It was okay because the weather was stunning and surprisingly strange for London at this time, sunny!

The street to my hostel was lined with beautiful white, pillared buildings for blocks with intermingled benched parks. After I settled in and found out what "the next lot" meant (meaning next group of stairs) to find my way to my room, I headed out to the Chelsea and South Kensington areas. With the sun hanging just above the tree tops being glorified in a beautifully painted, fire sky, I couldn't have been any happier: sun, warmth, birds singing, ENGLISH! Gosh I love that language :). The Chelsea District is a ritzy one and I window-shopped and park-hopped. The city is wonderfully sprinkled with parks everywhere, much like having a Starbucks on every corner. Later, after I figured out that my inch of walking on the map was more like 500 miles, I took the metro back to the hostel, exhausted.


Saturday I walked along the Thames River (Below Right & the London Eye, Largest Ferris Wheel in the World; West. Bridge) taking in the numerous bridges hung like Christmas lights across the water. Splendid colors and weather mixed together to make this a lovely day also. I enjoyed the Victoria gardens, Westminster Abbey (Above Left), Westminster Bridge, the Parliament Building (Below Left), Big Ben (Below Right), Hyde Park, and the horse stables with the guards on horses preparing for the changing of the guard.

Their costumes of long, red robes, a golden hat with a long spire coming out of the top of it and long hair-like material pouring out of the top (maybe meant to mimic the horse they rode), and the chin strap that didn't make it to the chin, but rather came across the mouth almost like a horse bit, were quite intriguing. Hmmm…. (And that was one LONG sentence!)




I wandered around Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus checking out markets and then I made my way through a riot in front of the National Gallery (Right). I enjoyed The National Gallery with its Italian, French, and Dutch artists. I love Caravaggio and they had lots of his work. Well of course I again tried not to take the $10 per ticket metro, but I was rather knackered (English term for exhausted) at the end of this day too. London is very, very spread out!


I visited the Portobello Road Market (Left) and South Kensington where I met my cousin, Rowan, and my Uncle Hank and his wife, Lee, on Sunday. We had traditional English pub fare and a great time. We had a great lunch, shared stories, laughs, and adventures. After lunch, my Uncle and Lee were getting ready to finish their trip, "Around the World in 13 Days" because their flights and destinations took them around the globe!



Monday I woke up and ran even with the rain, but it was a sweet breath of freshness and toured Hyde Park and the Kensington Palace, as well as St. James Park and the Buckingham Palace. I went to the Millennium Bridge (Left), London Bridge, and Tower Bridge too, after my run (Right).









I took some great shots of the Tower Bridge and hope to do a photo series of "Bridges from Around the World."










I visited Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and I must say it looks nothing like my Globe Theatre replica in my London Dickens’s Christmas Village of ceramic houses, but nonetheless, it's the real one and was a treat (Left)! The Tower of London, sailboat harbors, and many markets were had as well.





The next morning I got up and ready early to meet my friend, Elizabeth (who I went to the University of Denver with) at the train station. However, my ½ inch walk to the very close Waterloo Train Station, which I planned on being 20-30 minutes and arriving earlier than she would from her flight from LA turned into one HOUR! Yikes! Needless to say, I was late and for your first time in Europe without anyone to meet you (ME!) can be a bit unsettling. Sweat pouring off of me and a great workout, Liz was still there waiting, thank goodness! Bye bye London...