London!

So despite my lack of blogging, I will, at a later date will fill you in on life out west. For now, here's some updates on my latest big adventure: a 3 week trek through Europe! Enjoy!

My first stop brought me from Boston to London and the flight here FLEW (pun intended) by! I took a red eye, which I'm learning may or may not have been a bad idea, so I arrived here at 7:30 am. I got the pseudo upgrade to first class and got to sit in the exit row -- cheers for more leg room and empty seat between me and the other passenger, jeff the archeologist from Texas! Jeff proved to be an entertaining individual giving me a rather interesting interpretation of the movie inception which played on the planes tv screens and we didn't have headphones in. He also gave me some great tips on places to visit in the city. Anyways, I got off the planes, waited in a rather long line to get through the U.K. Border and then made my way to the tube aka the underground aka the best transit I've traveled on! Luckily I've had some training (another intended pun) with the T in Boston which made understanding the map a lot less intimidating. Since it was early and i couldn't check into my hostel, I decided to walk around for a bit near London bridge. As I made my way around a street corner I felt something suddenly smack my head. I thought "what the hell is wrong with people here? They just smack you?" then I noticed the pigeon that clearly was the culprit who smacked me with it's wing. I chuckled to myself and continued walking and amazing walked over London bridge without even realizing it because it's frankly extremely unimpressive compared to the tower bridge that's within sight down the Thames river. Its just concrete and, well, concrete. The tower bridge on the other hand is gorgeous! It has amazing colors of blue and gold and just really attractive. I walked down and found a nice bench to get some shut eye. Then, as I was journaling, an Asian family came up to me and asked to have my picture taken with their two young boys. Awkward moment number 2... But soon to not be the first time I would be mistaken for an English gal. Which really isn't a bad thing. Afterwards, I decided it time to find the hostel which is in Greenwich. Before i did, though, I did my first teeth brushing in the train station bathroom and freshened up a bit. The hostel I'm staying at is pretty nice... As far as hostels go you could say. Good thing I'm still fresh from college and can handle the bunk beds, shared bathrooms, and close quarters. It's an older building that is being renovated it seems and has extremely squeaky floors! After taking a nap I ended up going down to Camden market wharf to find some food. It kind of reminded me of the piers down in San Francisco in a weird sort of way... Tourist shops and random things on the road. I went off a suggestions from a friend who just studied in london and ate an Indian restaurant in the market area. For 3 pounds, it wasn't so bad except it had been raining and I kept getting splashes in my curry... Totally unsanitary! I walked around for a bit more then made my way up to hampstead station and went down all 320 steps to get to the underground and went home. Too tired to even walked, i couldnt even grab a pint before my eyes were telling me its bed time. I slept a lot and in the morning woke with a headache and uneasy stomach. I made my way down to the free breakfast, made some toast, and when I took the overground to London bridge station, i just made it to the toilet. I knew I shouldn't have been so stubborn and just went back to the hostel but I was, and thought I could fight my stomach. I walked down to a bench near tower bridge and laid down for a bit. I got up and felt so weak i wasnt sure id make it back to the train to get back to the hostel... But i somehow managed. I got back and took a very long nap. I woke up still uneasy, but thought it best to get some fresh air and walked around Greenwich. It's a really neat part of town with the royal naval academy and trinity college. The town center was awesome and the marketplace too... Although by the time i got there the vendors were packing up. I found a Mexican restaurant called cafe sol which actually had great nachos... But they didn't exactly stay in my system too long before an alleyway got enjoy it's acidic aftermath. At this point, I found a grocery store, bought some crackers and powerade and went back to the hostel. During dinner I managed to take some excedrin and apparently it kicked in after i showered and washed my puke-ridden clothes in the sink. Feeling like a new woman, i organized myself and decided to go out. So now, i write from this really neat pub down the street from the hostel called scream. I got my first pint and fish and chips and so far so good! Theres a group celebrating a birthday behind me and they are rather entertaining to listen to... The birthday girl just called her mom, saying "thank you for giving birth to me." awesome! Anyways, the rain has been coming down since yesterday and I'm heading out tomorrow to fly to Geneva, Switzerland. I'm glad that I'll be back here at the end of my journey so i can explore some more of the sights. Despite feeling rather sick, my spirits are high and im happy to be here! Although it's still kind of weird that I'm in London and I constantly have to remind myself, I just feel really comfortable here... It's a neat city! But for now, cheers! Will write more at my next stop!