London: The Pound Kills Ya!

London is a stunning city, and the sights to be had are immense. It is a place of culture and history and off which we had both. Our flight over there was short and consisted of approximately 45 minutes of air time. Yet, if any of you have ever taxied through the Amsterdam Schipol airport you know that there is 20 minutes of taxing before you are able to take off. Apparently they believe that they should drive the plane half way to the destination in order to save on soaring gas prices. Still, the excitement of flying was not squelched by this process, and despite the ease of taking trains, there is one vital and wondrous difference between the two. Airplanes will not split mid-flight! I have been on one too many trains which have split at a station without my knowledge only to carry me to some unknown destination from where I must attempt to find my way back to the right track. It is a bit aggravating and I must say that knowing no such thing is going to happen brings a comfort to the airways. I love it.
Upon arriving at London Luton airport we had to take an hour long Coach ride into the city to find my wonderful friend Travis from high school. Upon exiting the coach we spent probably another hour wondering around trying to find his place. The wondering was not all in vain though for we stumbled upon Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard. What a wonderful coincidence, but I was a bit unimpressed, for the suits these men wear make them look absolutely hilarious and there is no way you can take a guard seriously unless he looks mean, not like some freaking clown. I therefore would like to suggest the palace gets into talks with the costume designers of Braveheart or Gladiator, for if the guards were to look like that I assure you no more tourists will line up to take a corny picture next to an even cornier looking guard who in reality just stands there doing absolutely nothing. In fact, I found it rather ironic that the police were present to ensure the proper changing of the guard. Shouldn’t the guards be able to do this themselves?! Honestly, something really must be done.
We did finally arrive at Travis’ glorious place of residence which is smack in the middle of absolutely everything. It is a ten minute walk from the palace, Westminster abbey, Big Ben and the Parliament building, and the London Eye. It was wonderful and we spent the first part of the day browsing these sights. That night is when the cold began. We decided that being as it was St. Patricks day the only logical thing to do is go to the five story Irish Pub in London. We also had heard that it is easy to get your jackets stolen in such an establishment so our jackets were left at home. The chill was not terrible from the tube to the Fish and Chips establishment (absolutely scrumptious) we visited from dinner. But the hour queue (The British’s wicked awesome name for a line [they also say “mate” and “cheers” and combine them in a hundred different ways at a skill level which made me quite jealous {oh yea, they also swear with an amazing politeness and sophistication!}]) outside Waxy O’Conners with only a t-shirt (only green thing I had so I am not a complete idiot for wearing it:-) was a bit chilly. But the wait was worth it, and we had a few beers in what is the coolest pub I have ever seen. It was made into a giant tree, and you went in and out of it as you went through the different rooms and levels. It was like you were underground, in the tree, and seeing roots coming out of the walls. I don’t know how else to explain it but it was a good time.
The next day we saw the typical tourist sights. We began at the Kew gardens which were beautiful, and had the wind now been so biting it would have been splendid to spend more time walking around the massive gardens. We reserved most of our time to the greenhouses, especially the warm and tropical palm houseJ We then went to see the Castle of London and Tower Bridge before we went to this sweet outdoor market. At this market we stopped for lunch and I had an Ostrich burger! Yea it was super tasty, and now I can scratch one more thing off my life goals list.
The next stop was one of my most anticipated events yet. Going to see Postman’s Park, it is a park dedicated to those giving up their lives to save others and one of my favorite movies of all time focuses around this park. It was wonderful, and I could have spent the remainder of the day there but we had places to go and things to see so off we went to Trafalgar square to casually browse the sights and visit the National (FREE) art gallery which housed a ton of great artwork including Peter Paul Reuben’s amazing Samson and Delilah. Anyway, the square was unwalkable because there were a bunch of people protesting something bush. It is amazing how unintelligent people quickly look when they invade a square to whine together.
That evening we topped off the night by taking a flight on the London Eye which was well worth the money. It set us high atop the city allowing us to see many of the sites all lit up. It was splendid, and a wonderful way to top off our excursion to London. It was one of our shortest trips but one of the most expensive. Still a great time was had by all and our wonderful tour guide Travis led a spectacular sight seeing adventure through London.