Day 9 was our first full day in England, and as such we decided to celebrate by taking the day a little easier than some of our previous days. We started the morning by writing some more of our experiences down, looking up where we wanted to visit in London, and figuring out what we needed to buy to survive in this country. Internet was still not readily available (something of great worry to me), so we couldn’t post anything on the blog or get directions easily. We still had trusty Rick Steves though, so we set off on the Jubilee line to central London.
One thing we had forgotten though: to eat breakfast before we left. Libby had eaten some of the leftovers from the night before (a banana and some flat bread), but I hadn’t had anything at all. By the time we reached London, it was nearly noon and I had been up since 7:00. Libby soon learned why breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me, as I entered a nearly catatonic (and extremely grumpy) state. It seems Libby isn’t the only one who has a Hunger alter-ego; mine just has to work harder to surface. After wandering around for nearly an hour trying to find some place to eat (along the way seeing the Eye of London, Westminster Abbey, the Millenium Bridge, Parliament building, and Big Ben from a distance) we finally settled for a touristy-style pub on Trafalgar square. It was expensive, the food wasn’t particularly good (fish and chips, with a healthy dosing of grease), but it was food and that’s all that mattered. Of course, if the German cheese and sausage hadn’t done our intestinal systems in, the fish and chips definitely delivered the final blow.
Much more cheerful (but now with hurting tummies from the grease) we set off to continue our day. We didn’t stop to see Trafalgar square at the time, promising to return later, but instead caught the underground to Picadilly Circus where the tourist information office is located. There, a nice gentleman got us a map, advised us on where to go shopping (and get a cell phone), where the best place to get musical tickets are, and even tried to help Libby figure out the differences in sizing for women’s clothing.
Since it was only a short walk down to Oxford street, where all the best shopping was, we decided to spend the rest of the day wandering there. We rapidly found a large cell phone shop, where we got Libby a cute little cell phone (it was nearly the same price as picking up a SIM card for my phone, and she should be able to use it back home). It is pink, and in her words, “so cute!” More importantly, we also got a pay as you go Mobile Internet card! We could now have the Internet wherever we wanted (I’m typing this from a train, in fact).
Both of these would end up being good purchases. The Internet card has allowed us to work on what would otherwise be rather long train rides, and the cell phone has saved us more than once.
The next stop was a department store across the street, where Libby picked up some fresh clothes, and debated long and hard on whether to get a (very) expensive purse. In the end, she decided to “think about it”, although it was difficult to leave because “It has a little dog just like Rudy on it!” She would later use this as leverage to drag me from a bike shop without purchasing anything.
We ended our stroll by heading to a nearby park where we sat on the grass and called the Harris family where we would be staying later in the week. We watched children play football, families walk their dogs, and oddballs argue religion in a corner of the park. It appeared that one particular corner of the very large park had been designed for such a thing; each post had someone holding a sign of some sort condemning everyone else who happened to be nearby.
At last, we decided it was time to head back to the hostel. On the way back from the park, I got my traditional ice cream (this time the traditional English “Double flake cone”), and as usual Libby rolled her eyes, and then proceeded to eat half of it. We got back to the hostel, Libby took a nap while I read, and then we washed some clothes, used our newfound internet, and finally went to bed early.
Signing off,
(Net)-Surfing Steven and (cell-phone) Loquacious Lib
(Bonus points to who can tell me how I know that last adjective)
Question of the day:
Why must Lib always eat half my ice cream?