My Long Lowdown of London

I was just reading my friend's blog, and I couldn't help but smile at her positive words. I know, from her writing, that she is in a good place. It's as if you can feel the warmth of her heart through the computer. In reading her blog, I realized that I don't always take time to talk about the times that I have been incredibly happy while on this amazing journey. Especially in the last couple of weeks, I fear I've been giving the impression that I'm just miserable.
I'm not.
In fact, I'm really happy. Of course I have bad days, but I'm making changes, and I'm working on embracing the happiness in my life, rather than the negativity. I think that I live out my happiness, and then reflect on my sadness, which is why I tend to write when I'm sad, and not when I'm happy.
So, here I am, writing about my weekend in London; a great weekend!

About a month ago, Chelsea and I decided we were going to go to London. Just like that. Our roommate Erin had planned a weekend trip with some of her other friends, so we thought, why not? We may as well go that weekend too, so we could all be on the same bus to and from the airport and the same flights to and from London. Shortly after we booked our tickets, we convinced our friends Anna and Carolyn to come that weekend too. So, on a Thursday afternoon, we all made our way to the Galway bus station, and began our long journey to London. Theoretically, the trip to London is a short hop, the flight is just about the same distance as between San Francisco and Los Angeles. For us, though, it was about a 7 hour experience. We had to catch a 3:30 bus, so we could get to the airport around 5. Then we checked in (which let me tell you, Irish security compared to American security is like comparing a pocket knife to an AK47. Everything here is just so much more relaxed) and waited for our 6:20 flight. By the time we landed, and figured out where our bus was, it was nearly 9, so we didn't make it to my cousin's flat in Zone 2 until like 10:45.

It was well worth the travel time, though. Upon arriving to my cousin Laura's flat, we set our bags down and ventured out for a great Afghani dinner. I'd never eaten Afghani food before, but it was great! Laura tried to tell us that she never knew how to describe it to people, and after eating it, I find that I have much the same issue. It's kind of like Indian food, but with more of the sweetness found in some Thai food. We had naan with hummus and samosas to start, and even though, I thought I knew what I was eating because of the familiar names, it was different from anything I'd eaten before. It was really good! With food in our bellies, and sleep in our eyes, we made it back to the flat to pass out for the night, knowing an exciting day of being tourists was ahead.

Chelsea and I haven't had much tourist time yet, as we've been taking our time getting to know Galway. We don't really sightsee because we live here, so I was really excited to wake up (relatively) early and explore the city. Much like the Afghani food the night before, Chelsea and I dove in head first, not really knowing what we were in for. We just hopped on a tube and got off at Westminster. We knew that if we walked around Westminster long enough, we'd stumble into all of the must-sees. As soon as we left the underground station, we saw a building to our right that seemed familiar.

"What is that?" we asked.

"Is it the House of Parliament," I suggested.

"I don't know," Chelsea responded, "but I know that that's the river David Beckham road in on at the Olympics."

What embarrassing Americans we were, as we turned around and realized we were standing right in front of Big Ben.

"It IS the House of Parliament!" I said. "...Isn't Big Ben attached to the House of Parliament building?"

Eventually, we got it all figured out that the Palace of Westminster is, in fact, where the Houses of Parliament meet. We took our cheesy tourist pics, and then made our way across the street to get a couple shots of the London Eye. We never made in the London Eye (partly because of time constraints, mostly because of budgetary constraints), but we did get some great pictures of it. In fact, we got pictures of the London Eye from at least five different locations. After getting a little bit lost, while trying to decide which way to walk down the River Thames, we decided that instead of focusing on a destination, we would appreciate the journey, and take the standard red phone booth pics, double decker bus pics, sitting on a bench contemplating life pics. You know, the usual.

Eventually we made our way to Westminster Abbey (again, entrance to the church is quite pricey, so we enjoyed the outside) and the adjoining St. Margaret's. St. Margaret's Church is really cool on the inside. All of the kneeling cushions are handmade, and nearly every inch of the church is dedicated to someone. Also, the stained glass was not just dedicated to biblical stories, but also to English history. It was really interesting.

After that, we decided it was time for food. As we made our way to an old pub that we had passed on our way to the Abbey, we passed through what I believe is called Parliament Square. In the square, we recognized only two statues: Churchill and Nelson Mandela. I don't really know why Mandela is in the square, other than that he is a great man, but I liked it. But then, just as we were headed away from the park, my Ameri-senses began tingling "LINCOLN!" I yelled. I don't know what it is about leaving the States, but almost as soon as I left the country, I became very proud of us. I don't think I've ever been as patriotic in the United States as I am in Europe. The point is, we took our Lincoln pictures, and then made our way to lunch.

Again, it was delicious. We opted to eat English, in honor of our surroundings. I got what they called an open pie; mashed potatoes, carrots, chicken, and gravy with a little flakey pastry on top. It was pretty much a chicken pot pie, only with no side crust. Yum.
After that, we kind of lost steam. We made our way over to Buckingham Palace, which we were very disappointed in, since we didn't get to try to make the palace guards laugh (I guess that's just in the movies...and Fergie's music videos). Then we tried to find the Tate Modern, which promised a great view, but instead we found the Tate Britain. The art was nice, and the coffee was good, but there was no view.
Then, in our tired delirium, we thought it would be a good idea to just hop in a cab to get back to flat. Big Mistake. In London, there are a lot of one way streets and roundabouts, and well, 25Euros later, we made it back to the flat for a nap. Yes, we took a nap. I know what you're thinking...but you were in London! You should have taken advantage of every second. Believe me, we needed a nap.
When we woke up from our nap, we got dressed up, and headed out to experience the London nightlife. Turns out, we were not prepared for London nightlife. We got to the pubs too late, and the clubs too early. We did manage to have a good time, though. We went to one of the oldest pubs in London (turns out there a quite a few "Oldest Pub in London"....I think it's kind of like "Best Coffee in New York"), called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It was a really cool building, and not a bad atmosphere, but it was kind of empty. It turns out, the guys getting off work head to the pubs straight from work, around 5 or 6, and then pretty much head home by 9. We got there at 9. So, after one drink, we moved on to check out Picadily Circus. It was described to me as being like Time Square, but I got a much more Vegas Strip vibe. There are a lot of 24hour restaurants and fast food places (including a McDonald's that we ate at - not good) and neon signs. There are more clubs than pubs, and a lot of street performers - bad street performers, but street performers, nonetheless.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a promoter for a club that promised three floors worth of dancing, each with its own style, the best view in the area, and up to 800 people. Well, there were three floors worth of dancing, and there was a great view, but there were probably 8 of us. Including staff. I didn't care. With just me and Chelsea sitting in a booth, I danced by myself! I love to dance, and no amount of awkwardness is going to stop me. I had a great time there on the 8th floor, for about an hour. After that, we went home. We are so lame that by the time my cousin, who had gone out with some work friends, got home that night, we were already in bed. What can I say? All that touristing really wiped us out.
The next day, Saturday, we spent the whole day with my cousin, and I am so glad that we did. She showed us the South Bank, which is a cool kind of hipster area, and we got lunch at this really cool, really yummy place called Wahaca. It's a pop up, which I guess is really popular in London. Rather than food trucks, (since it's a city and can you imagine driving a food truck through crowded streets?) they have popup restaurants, where eateries just insert themselves into places that wouldn't normally be a restaurant. Wahaca, one of these such popups, was incredible! It was almost Mexican food, but like Mexican food meets hipster tapas. So good.

What I have learned about my trip to London was that I really just liked the food in London.
After that, we made our way to the Tate Modern, and finally found that view we'd heard about. Then we found The Globe theater, the London Bridge, and the Tower Bridge. Let me just say, the London Bridge is a disappointment. Why wouldn't they just call the Tower Bridge, the London Bridge? I mean, that's the bridge that is featured in Fergie's "London Bridge" video. That's the bridge that Becks drove his little boat through during the Olympics. Honestly, I don't think anyone would really care if the London Bridge were falling down. But I guess I don't make the rules. And I can now say that I've walked across the famous Tower Bridge, and I've had Starbucks from under the Tower Bridge. (Starbucks in three countries, I don't know if I should be proud of my self or saddened by that reality).
Our final stop of the day was at Harrods, where we held jewels worth more than my car, and pretended we were far fancier than we ever have been. I mean, please, your watch only cost $10,000? I got mine at Harrods for $207,998.

That Saturday may have been one of the best I've had. It was really nice to be able to spend the whole day with my cousin. As she does live in London, I don't get to see her very often, and it was really nice to just have one-on-one time. I love my loud, crazy, Italian family, but when there are 40+ in the family, it can be hard to really know each other.