I'm in London!
I'm in the middle of my trip to the UK and it has been fabulously fun!!! SO MUCH FUN!
But everything is FREAKING EXPENSIVE! EVERYTHING. The exchange rate from Pounds to Dollars is 1-2, and still, everything is the same numbers. So, you're paying double as much for everything, if you're lucky! Sometimes it's even more. Movie tickets are like 13 pounds, which is like 26 dollars!!! AHHH!!!
But besides that, I've had so much fun! Admist riding on Double Decker red buses, Undergrounds, and my first train ride (IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! JUST LIKE HARRY POTTER!!! With a woman seeling snack items on a cart too!!!), I have done the following things (along with a lot more):
Attractions:
- The Tower of London (Castle, Dungeon, Crown Jewels)- There was so much history here! I loved it! A real London-y, tourist-y experience.
- Buckingham Palace and The Royal Mews (The Carriage Stables)- Lots of Picture-taking outside the palace, beef eaters, Changing of the Guards, Horses, Carriages. Yadda yadda yadda.
- Big Ben And Paliament Square- Ok, it's a big clock. And some old politicians.
- Westminster Abbey- You know that famous Church? Also really interesting because of all the history. And, some of the most random people have recognition or are buried there. LIKE CHARLES DARWIN!!! Who would have guessed? No matter what your religion, does that not seem strange?
- The London Eye- That big carousel in London. Wheeeeeeeeee, so fun. It goes so high too! HAHAHA!
- Platform 9 and 3/4!!! Yes, Rhys and I were determined to find it at King's Cross Station, and yes, it does exist. Really. I took pictures! Unfortunately, I could not get through it to get on the Hogwarts Express. That was sad.
- Clubbing at a place called "The O Bar" in Soho. Everyone mostly smoked and drank, but Rhys and I danced! It was funny, we almost ended up in a gay bar and a drag queen club.
- Drinking and gambling. I'm not kidding. I had my first alcoholic drinks (Yes, I know, I'm weird, since the drinking age is something like 18 or 16 there, and the smoking age is 16. So I had a non-virgin strawberry daiquiri and straight Bailey's Irish Cream. You couldn't taste alcohol in the first, obviously, and it tasted exactly like virgin ones. But it was good nonetheless. At a place called "The Sherlock Holmes Pub" (really awesome place with a bartender with my last name) I had the BIC. The Bailey's Irish Cream at first sip was good, but then it became sickeningly sweet. So I didn't like it, and Rhys finished it up with his ale (which I wouldn't try because it looked disgusting and he just seemed like he was drinking it for the experience). So, I have come to the conclusion that I already knew: almost all alcohol is disguting to me and really just wastes my money, so why have it? As for the gamblng, 16 year olds can gamble! So I played some slot machines. I won a little bit, because for some reason I am a little lucky when it comes to gambling, but then I lost it. Oh well. Didn't use alot of money so that was good. Fun experience!
Shows/Theatre/And Everything Else I'm devoting my career life too:
- "Les Miserables" in the West End- I'd seen it before but this one owned the one that came to Houston. Probably because I believe this is the original production (even though it's in another theatre now)
- Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (YESH!)- Rhys and I bought Groundling ticketS, and saw "Titus Andronicus". I was really freaked out about the prospect of seeing this play (it's thought to be Shakespeare's first) because there's lots of gore. Admist the various chopping off of body parts, one woman, Lavinia, gets raped, her tongue and hands get cut off, and her body gets cut up. There were articles in the newspaper and warnings about how many people had fainted because they were so freaked out. But, I saw it, and I actually was okay. There was only one time I felt like I had to sit down because as a groundling, we had to stand the whole time. The fact that I knew it was stage blood and fake made me completely okay with it, as I thought instaed the entire time: that's so cool! how do they do that? a true theatre geeky thought I guess.
Link to the gruesomeness (you are warned): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/03/ntitus03.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/03/ixuknews.html
Oh, and just for a quick note, "Footloose" is playing in London (Hi, Jeffrey!). I don't think we're going to see it but I thought it was funny that it was playing. HAHAHA. It would be fun to see though...
Cool Shopping:
- Harrod's- The rich people department store of London. 7 floors of really expensive stuff. Like designer clothing and purses and whatnot. They have EVERYTHING, like clothes, makeup, food, A PET STORE, sporting supplies, toys. And, free face-painting! Rhys and I both got an English flag because England was playing it's first match in the World Cup that day (which it won!)
- Fortnum and Mason- The grocery store of the Queen. Again, everything is really overpriced and they had some disgusting stuff, like snakes in vodka and crunchy bugs for snacktime or tea time or whatever. And, their oreos cost something like 6.95 pounds!!! That's almost $14 for a pack of oreos!!!
- Hamley's- This really awesome, really expensive toy store. But there's lik 5 floors of fun so yay!
- Portobello Road and Notting Hill- Lots of little shops and stalls on this road. And, if you're ever seen the movie "Notting Hill," Rhys and I found "The Travel Bookshop" that the movie's is based off of. Looks alot different but cool nonetheless.
Two Movies:
"Mission Impossible 3" and "The DaVinci Code". Both were REALLY good. "MI3" is probably the best action flick ever. Really. Really intense too. I loved it. And, the cool thing about "DaVinci" was that there were two scenes that took place in Westminster Abbey in two rooms I had just seen! It was so cool to say, "Yup, I've seen that!"
On another note, Rhys and I have been going out for a year now. Really crazy. We had a picnic and exchanged gifts and it was really fun. Yay.
So, it's been really fun, and I'm probably just forgetting a bunch of stuff too.
Rhys left earlier to get back to work, and now my family and I are seeing family and what not outside of London. We left today and saw my Mom's childhood house in a more rural, suburban area, and now we're in Bristol (some city in the middle of the English countryside) to see her cousin.
GAH! It's so much fun!
I'll be back on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. fyi. Yay for working with little children on Monday (Help me!).
But everything is FREAKING EXPENSIVE! EVERYTHING. The exchange rate from Pounds to Dollars is 1-2, and still, everything is the same numbers. So, you're paying double as much for everything, if you're lucky! Sometimes it's even more. Movie tickets are like 13 pounds, which is like 26 dollars!!! AHHH!!!
But besides that, I've had so much fun! Admist riding on Double Decker red buses, Undergrounds, and my first train ride (IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! JUST LIKE HARRY POTTER!!! With a woman seeling snack items on a cart too!!!), I have done the following things (along with a lot more):
Attractions:
- The Tower of London (Castle, Dungeon, Crown Jewels)- There was so much history here! I loved it! A real London-y, tourist-y experience.
- Buckingham Palace and The Royal Mews (The Carriage Stables)- Lots of Picture-taking outside the palace, beef eaters, Changing of the Guards, Horses, Carriages. Yadda yadda yadda.
- Big Ben And Paliament Square- Ok, it's a big clock. And some old politicians.
- Westminster Abbey- You know that famous Church? Also really interesting because of all the history. And, some of the most random people have recognition or are buried there. LIKE CHARLES DARWIN!!! Who would have guessed? No matter what your religion, does that not seem strange?
- The London Eye- That big carousel in London. Wheeeeeeeeee, so fun. It goes so high too! HAHAHA!
- Platform 9 and 3/4!!! Yes, Rhys and I were determined to find it at King's Cross Station, and yes, it does exist. Really. I took pictures! Unfortunately, I could not get through it to get on the Hogwarts Express. That was sad.
- Clubbing at a place called "The O Bar" in Soho. Everyone mostly smoked and drank, but Rhys and I danced! It was funny, we almost ended up in a gay bar and a drag queen club.
- Drinking and gambling. I'm not kidding. I had my first alcoholic drinks (Yes, I know, I'm weird, since the drinking age is something like 18 or 16 there, and the smoking age is 16. So I had a non-virgin strawberry daiquiri and straight Bailey's Irish Cream. You couldn't taste alcohol in the first, obviously, and it tasted exactly like virgin ones. But it was good nonetheless. At a place called "The Sherlock Holmes Pub" (really awesome place with a bartender with my last name) I had the BIC. The Bailey's Irish Cream at first sip was good, but then it became sickeningly sweet. So I didn't like it, and Rhys finished it up with his ale (which I wouldn't try because it looked disgusting and he just seemed like he was drinking it for the experience). So, I have come to the conclusion that I already knew: almost all alcohol is disguting to me and really just wastes my money, so why have it? As for the gamblng, 16 year olds can gamble! So I played some slot machines. I won a little bit, because for some reason I am a little lucky when it comes to gambling, but then I lost it. Oh well. Didn't use alot of money so that was good. Fun experience!
Shows/Theatre/And Everything Else I'm devoting my career life too:
- "Les Miserables" in the West End- I'd seen it before but this one owned the one that came to Houston. Probably because I believe this is the original production (even though it's in another theatre now)
- Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (YESH!)- Rhys and I bought Groundling ticketS, and saw "Titus Andronicus". I was really freaked out about the prospect of seeing this play (it's thought to be Shakespeare's first) because there's lots of gore. Admist the various chopping off of body parts, one woman, Lavinia, gets raped, her tongue and hands get cut off, and her body gets cut up. There were articles in the newspaper and warnings about how many people had fainted because they were so freaked out. But, I saw it, and I actually was okay. There was only one time I felt like I had to sit down because as a groundling, we had to stand the whole time. The fact that I knew it was stage blood and fake made me completely okay with it, as I thought instaed the entire time: that's so cool! how do they do that? a true theatre geeky thought I guess.
Link to the gruesomeness (you are warned): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/03/ntitus03.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/03/ixuknews.html
Oh, and just for a quick note, "Footloose" is playing in London (Hi, Jeffrey!). I don't think we're going to see it but I thought it was funny that it was playing. HAHAHA. It would be fun to see though...
Cool Shopping:
- Harrod's- The rich people department store of London. 7 floors of really expensive stuff. Like designer clothing and purses and whatnot. They have EVERYTHING, like clothes, makeup, food, A PET STORE, sporting supplies, toys. And, free face-painting! Rhys and I both got an English flag because England was playing it's first match in the World Cup that day (which it won!)
- Fortnum and Mason- The grocery store of the Queen. Again, everything is really overpriced and they had some disgusting stuff, like snakes in vodka and crunchy bugs for snacktime or tea time or whatever. And, their oreos cost something like 6.95 pounds!!! That's almost $14 for a pack of oreos!!!
- Hamley's- This really awesome, really expensive toy store. But there's lik 5 floors of fun so yay!
- Portobello Road and Notting Hill- Lots of little shops and stalls on this road. And, if you're ever seen the movie "Notting Hill," Rhys and I found "The Travel Bookshop" that the movie's is based off of. Looks alot different but cool nonetheless.
Two Movies:
"Mission Impossible 3" and "The DaVinci Code". Both were REALLY good. "MI3" is probably the best action flick ever. Really. Really intense too. I loved it. And, the cool thing about "DaVinci" was that there were two scenes that took place in Westminster Abbey in two rooms I had just seen! It was so cool to say, "Yup, I've seen that!"
On another note, Rhys and I have been going out for a year now. Really crazy. We had a picnic and exchanged gifts and it was really fun. Yay.
So, it's been really fun, and I'm probably just forgetting a bunch of stuff too.
Rhys left earlier to get back to work, and now my family and I are seeing family and what not outside of London. We left today and saw my Mom's childhood house in a more rural, suburban area, and now we're in Bristol (some city in the middle of the English countryside) to see her cousin.
GAH! It's so much fun!
I'll be back on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. fyi. Yay for working with little children on Monday (Help me!).