Travel Links Day One
London to Amsterdam Amsterdam The Rhine Valley
The second morning of the trip, I got up early, and went into the hostel's kitchen/dining room. Since I don't much like cereal, I just had rolls and juice for breakfast. The room was dark, since it was in the basement. There were about ten people hanging out, eating breakfast and watching European MTV, which is pretty much like it is in the United States. I finished my rolls, and then went upstairs to make a reservation on the London Eye. Unfortunately, they were completely booked for that day, but I was able to make reservations for the following morning.
It was a dim, cloudy day, with bits of spitting drizzle. But it never really started pouring. I wrote postcards to a few people back home, and mailed them off. Then I hopped onto one of the tour buses, and went around a couple more times. The guides were amusing, and would wave to each other from the tops of the buses. Looking at the around-the-block lines for the London Dungeon and Madame Tussaud's, I decided to skip those attractions for a later time. Instead, I took the bus tour to the London Eye, and hopped off. That was where the Thames "cruise" would take off. One of the sailors took the time to point out sights along the way, and then passed the hat for tips. He had done a good job, so I tossed some coins into the hat.
From there, my ticket for the Big Bus company had pretty much run out, so I began to travel on my own. I paid for a one day travel card (£3.90 for just the inner zones of the city) and got onto the Tube. I went to Kensington, where I'd noticed a branch of easyeverything, probably the best deal for internet use in the towns where they have it. In London, easyeverything charges £1 for a chunk of time. Your time diminishes depending on how crowded it is, so that you can get as much as four hours for £1. Mostly when I was using the service, though, I was getting about an hour, which is still a good deal.
I checked my email, and posted a few words about my trip to the free website I'd set up for that purpose (at www.familybeat.com which lets you post messages on a password protected site). Then I went to do the tourist thing I had planned on doing before I even made it to London: afternoon tea. If you look closely in the image, you can see my reflection as I take the picture.
I sat, and enjoyed myself in the tea shop. The staff were happy to let me linger over the tea, and so I watched the quiet street in front of me. I observed how quiet the side street was, even though it was just a block or so from the bustling area on Kensington High Street.
When I had gotten all the enjoyment I could from my cream tea, I moved on. Several family members had requested that I visit "Platform 9 3/4" from the Harry Potter books. So I got back on the Tube, and made my way to King's Cross station. Sure enough, there was a platform 10, and a platform 9, but no platform 9 3/4. Unlike the book, there wasn't a barrier between the two platforms. Oh well. It's how you can tell it's fiction. Or that you're a Muggle!
Back on the Tube, I paused to regroup. What did I want to do with my evening? I didn't feel up to much walking, so I thought I'd pass on a museum. Finally, I decided to see if I could get a ticket to Cats. I got there. Nothing available, but I hopped in the line for returns. Waited, waited. Chatted with the young French couple in front of me. And, yes, I finally did score a ticket. £32.50, but I decided to splurge, since I'd managed pretty cheaply all day.
The splurge was worth it. My seat was quite good, and I was sandwiched in between some other groups of tourists. The Italian woman to my left sang along with the songs, more or less off-key. She added a certain note of melodrama, especially because she'd start to cry at all the sad parts. The group in front of me spoke Japanese, and the group behind me spoke German. It was a multilingual evening, all told.
After the show, I emerged into a beautiful evening. A full moon floated over the city. I was exhausted, so I got back on the Tube and returned to the hostel for my second, and final night. Back in the room, I chatted with a pair of Spanish women who were travelling for their high school graduation (or maybe college--they didn't speak much English, and my Spanish is also limited).
I got up the next morning, and discovered that I had dropped my discman from the top bunk to the concrete floor. Ooops. No music for me, unless... So I decided to do a little bit of shopping, since I'd also found myself short a t-shirt. I packed the remainder of my stuff, and checked out from the hostel.
I walked around the block, and checked in at the Imperial Hotel. Contiki places tour members in two hotels, and the Imperial is apparently by far the better of the two. It was nice--clean, with comfy beds. I placed my stuff in the room, and then returned the key to the desk. Contiki had set me up with a roommate, and I guessed that she would also want to get into the room!
I then hopped on the Tube to go ride the London Eye. I discovered upon arrival that I would have to wait in a veeerrry long line. I chatted with the family in front of me. The man was from Northern England, and politely asked where I was from. I answered "The United States," which is completely true. They laughed, since he'd meant, "What city?" Apparently, my accent is thoroughly obvious!
After the ride, I ended up going back to the Kensington High Street, since it seemed like a good spot for shopping. I bought a new disc player, which ended up being able to even play my "mix" cds that hadn't played on my old one. I also got a basic grey t-shirt, which matched the other two t-shirts I had, and went with my other clothes. Properly outfitted, I decided to have tea at a different place. You know, for comparison purposes!
I chose to have my second tea at "Kandy: Nice tea for nice people." They let me in, which clearly means that I'm nice! It really was a nice tea, too--goat cheese and salmon sandwich, darjeeling tea (with lots of milk and sugar, for a treat!), a lovely scone (slathered with jam and devon cream), and a little apple tart. Yummy, yummy. The tea shop seemed more Victorian than the other one--gilded fruit on the wall paper, darker furniture, elaborate paintings on the china. They also had baroque music playing in the background.
Back in the room, I took a nice warm bath, since I didn't know whether I'd get a room with a tub later in the tour, and read some stories in the magazine I'd brought along with me. Then I set my alarm clock, since the tour was leaving bright and early the next morning.
Questions and Feedback
from my journal...
Cream tea at the Muffin Man. £4.50. Impressionist prints, small, round tables, walls painted light peach. Flowery carpet, chiffon curtains. View of houses, window boxes. Flowered china, rose tablecloths. Cream tea: small pot of tea, two sliced, toasted scones, Devon cream (the best food in the world!), strawberry jam. Nice small snack. Very friendly. Slow service. Yummy food, good tea.
from my journal
This is an amazing trip! I feel like I've been here for days already, and I'm really enjoying it. Although I sometimes wish I had a friend with me, so we can share our observations. On the other hand, I do appreciate being able to just decide to do something, and do it, without having to discuss it, or check in with anyone.
After the tea, I went back to the Contiki hotel, and met some of the other members of my tour. We'd chatted by email before the tour, so it was nice to meet some people in person. Out of the small group of us, I was the only one who had come in early, so I was the only one who wasn't still jetlagged and bewildered. At least, not too jetlagged and bewildered! But the others were up for the challenge, and we went to find some dinner. And then we met the others from the Contiki tour, and filled out some paperwork. The others went off to bed, and I went to use the Internet one last time.
Travel Links Day One London on My Own
London to Amsterdam Amsterdam The Rhine Valley
