London

This past week Melyn's husband had to come to London for work. Melyn packed her bags and came along for the trip. I hopped a bus to London and spent Wed and Thursday doing the tourist thing and catching up. (Okay, we definitely did more talking than touring.) (I also have to mention how awesome Melyn's husband is. Even though he was the one working and needed to be alert, he slept on the floor Wed night so that I could stay over in the hotel.)

When I lived on the East Coast I loved taking the China town bus in to NYC. Some people like trains. I like buses. Maybe it's the beatnik in me that feels it's the closest to hopping the rails, or hitchhiking. Like you're running away, if only for a day.

I was afraid the weather wasn't going to be kind to us. Just as the bus pulled into London, the clouds opened wide. I'm not one to take a taxi, especially as the hotel was only a mile from the bus depot, but I was so turned around and it was raining so hard, I had no choice. Note to any travelers - taxi's in the UK are NOT cheap! Fortunately the skies cleared up as Melyn and I headed out on our first adventure.

She and her husband had purchased a 24 hour bus tour the evening before, so we headed to the red bus to catch it towards our first destination. A bus tour operator from a different company tried to runaway with me.

After riding around town, we headed out to the War Museum. Looking for a place to eat, Melyn spotted an Egyptian restaurant on the corner of our street. I can't say exactly what freaked me out about the place, but all the little hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge. Melyn convinced me to at least take a look inside. It took a good 10 minutes of looking at the menu before I was willing to stay. And it turned out to be so very delicious! As Melyn and her husband spend time in Arabic speaking countries, she is learning the language and out of instinct responded to the server as he sat us at the table. He was so delighted with this tall Caucasian woman knowing his language and where he was from that he through in a few extra freebies for us. Melyn ordered a lemonade with crushed mint. I can't wait to try to make this at home. Best thing I've tasted this year! Once the server found out that I lived in the UK he was trying to invite himself to come visit me. It was an odd day with four different occasions of men excessively flirt with me.

These are inside the restaurant. They made Melyn scrunch down. (I tower over most people here in Cheltenham, so it was odd the first few minutes of hanging out with her. I forgot what it was like to be short again.)


After lunch we went to the War Museum. It was odd to see history from a non-U.S. perspective. I have a strong fascination with WWII as it is. It was humbling to look at the impact of the war on the UK and to be reminded that it happened directly on this land. It's something that America hasn't really experienced since the Civil War. No pictures of the museum though.

The two pics below are some of the more famous landmarks. The London Eye (um, ferris wheel) and Parliament. (Also known as Big Ben though our tour operator said that Big Ben is actually the bell in the tower. Not the tower itself.)



The next day we walked toward Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the Guards. Here I am petting one of the Queen's horses. (I don't know if that's what they are officially called, but that's what I referred to them as.) The second pic is as the fresh guards are marching towards Buckingham Palace. It was very Wizard of Oz'ish.



Later in the day we walked up to the British Museum. We didn't get to spend much time in there, but what we did get to see was pretty awesome. The pic on the left is me and Zeus. We also spent some time in the National Gallery and I dragged poor Melyn into almost every used bookstore that we passed along the way. (I'm on a very specific quest for buying certain British books while here.)

Sadly the day ended much to quickly and we had to say good-bye. Melyn and her husband were kind enough to walk me part way to the bus depot (I seriously have never felt so lost in a city before.)


And one of the best things about the trip?!? American Candy! Melyn was kind enough to smuggle some of my favorites over here. I did a calculation on the gum, and if I conserve myself to two sticks a day, this will last me for a little over two months. I really hope someone else comes for a visit soon there after...

London was fun, but as the bus entered the Cotswolds, and I gazed out on the rolling hills and sheep pastueres, I was reminded of how happy I am that I chose this area for graduate school.