Day 7 (Tues. 10-Apr-2007)
Skyler and I make it back to his neighborhood. Get some delicious burgers from this Aussie place called Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Then run over to a pub across the street to watch the end of the Chelsea - Valencia game. Chelsea wins it at the 90th minute.
After the game, Mission to Mars comes on, of which we end up watching the first half or so. Surreal to be watching such a bad, American movie in a pub in London on my last night there. But funny. Frackin' Brian De Palma ... not even Don Cheadle can save this movie.
Meet up with Skyler at the British Airways London Eye. I think the pictures tell the tale.
Realize it's 4 and the Design Museum closes at 5:45, so I race over there. Only has 2 exhibits, and only one of them is all that cool. First covers Luigi Colani and his organic designs and interest in cars, and the second is all about Ettore Sottsass and his involvement in the Memphis movement and his designs for Alessi. Since it's only 2 exhibits, I just finish up at 5:30, which is when they kick everyone out.
Grab a wrap at Spitalfields Market (sounds delicious, dudn't it?). Go to the Museum of London, which rocks. All kinds of info on the history of London. Learn all about the Roman conquest, the Roman re-conquest, the Viking conquest, the Norman conquest, and so on. The short version of the history of London: conquests, fires, and a couple of plagues.
Hang out around the Royal Courts of Justice looking for people in wigs. No dice. Not allowed in, either (there's a theme to this day).
Head out to the Inns of Court to check out the temples of the Knights Templar. The Middle Temple is closed to visitors. The Inner Temple is closed for renovations. Good times. At least I got some sweet pics from the outside.
Last day. : ( Get up at a reasonable time and try to get through as much of what's left as possible. Skyler's back at work, so it's just me trying to plough through.
Day 6 (Mon. 9-Apr-2007)
Skyler and I grab a couple pints at The Ten Bells (which is near the Jack the Ripper what-have-you) and talk about stuff. Catch one of the last Underground trains back to his hood and call it a night. Poor kid's got school (work) in the morning.
We go on the Jack the Ripper walking tour, which is fun yet confusing. The tour guide shows us many spots where some of Jack's victims were found, and describes the economic and social situations of the time to help our understanding, but since almost all of the buildings in the area are now modernized, it's difficult (for me) to visualize what it was like. Suffice it to say, he was kind of a jerk.
So we show up at the Tower of London 50 minutes before closing. It's £22 to get in, so we decide to skip it. We spend about an hour and a half looking for an ATM and a pub that serves burgers (we're in the tourist area, so hard to find), and finally get one. We watch part of an ICC Cricket World Cup game of New Zealand vs. Ireland, which was actually a lot of fun. The beers helped. Bowlers, wickets, and overs; oh my.
Despite getting up "early", we only see 2 things today. We make it back to the Imperial War Museum by 11:30 AM. We finish the Secret Agent section (all about MI5 and MI6 and the SAS), and spend the next 4 hours in the Holocaust exhibit, which is mind-blowing. They take us through the Nazi party's rise to power in Germany, the anti-Semitism on their agenda throughout their rise and reign, their use of the Jews as scapegoats to gain power with the masses, and their tireless efforts to bring the Aryan race to the fore. Frackin' mind-boggling. Scale model of Auschwitz, film of people undressing to be gassed ... insane. No pictures were allowed, so please pardon their truancy.
Wake up. Shower. Have a crumpet. The smell from the toilet is surprisingly starting to subside. We'll see if these trends continue tomorrow.
Day 5 (Sun. 8-Apr-2007)
Get back to Skyler's place, after putting in 5 miles of walking today. Grab a drink at a local pub, talk about life, and come back. We've decided to actually get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow (setting the alarm for 9AM) so we can see everything we need to.
Grab dinner at a pub (cheeseburger, fries, & a pint). Walk back to the London Eye, only to find it still insanely crowded. Decide to go home and buy tickets online for Tues.
Go to the Imperial War Museum, which ROCKS. See tons of tanks and missiles and other things boys love. Go through the Camouflage exhibit, which isn't that great, but absolutely LOVE the spy exhibit, which covers WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. Decide to go back tomorrow for the rest of the stuff we missed.
Back at Trafalgar Square, where we grab a bite and people-watch. EVERYONE'S out. Tons of people. Walk back to the London Eye in the hopes to ride it, but it's a madhouse. Keep walking.
Skyler and I head to Hyde Park, which is like London's Central Park. Gorgeous day out. We watch the orators at Speaker's Corner, who, on Sundays, basically shout their crazy political beliefs and plans and the crowd heckles them.
We walk through the park and to Buckingham Palace, then down The Mall to St. James's Park.
Wake up late, again. The stink of the water spilled from the overflowing toilet wakes me up. I go to a couple local shops looking for air fresheners, but they're all closed for Easter Sunday.
Day 4 (Sat. 7-Apr-2007)
Skyler and I decided to go to Bodean's, an American sports pub to watch some hockey. We have some delicious pulled pork sandwiches and chips, and the Sabres beat the Caps, clinching the top seed in the East.
We then go out drinking. Late. We end up at an illegal pub run by young Spaniards in the basement of an electronic repair shop. We're literally the only people there, so we take off and take a mini-cab (the kind you have to go hire and haggle w/, since the legit cabs, or black cabs, are done for the night) and go home to bed.
Wander down to the Millenium Bridge by the Tate Modern. The go to The Clink, the prison that gave us the name. Ends up being lame. We head out to Bankside to see all the modern architecture of the area around City Hall (?) and Tower Bridge. Gorgeous.
Also walk past an old wall that use to be the wall around London built by the Romans.
Find some a random church/cathedral, and end up at Shakespeare's Globe. Go on the tour, which was great, mostly because our tour guide was a funny, witty older woman. Learn things about Shakespeare.
Tool around a lot in The City, what was originally London before it was merged w/ Westminster and the rest of the surrounding villages. See St. Paul's Cathedral from the ouside, but it's too pricey and boring to pay to go in.
Walk around The City a bunch and find the Royal Exchange (original stock market building), The Monument, which commemorates the burning down of London in 1666, and end up having a "3 very posh bangers in a roll" for lunch at the famous Borough Market. Delicious.
Wake up, late, again. Shave in the "guest bathroom" upstairs (the one we're using since his toilet is broken) since it has a sink in front of a mirror that's not Skyler's kitchen sink.
Day 3 (Fri. 6-Apr-2007)
Skyler and I start out near Big Ben and Parliament in Westminster, and walk towards the London Eye. We end up going through Trafalgar Sq. and find ourselves at the arcade at The Trocodaro. Lots of kids (playing arcade games, etc., I'm sure like we used to do before we could drink). Ended up at Picadilly Circus and called it a night.
Skyler and I have dinner at a pub (The Porchester) that reminds me very much of The Winchester in Shawn of the Dead.
Skyler's toilet overflows, spilling water over the entire floor. Many towels were sacrificed so that our feet may remain dry.
Wake up. Skyler has a four-day weekend for Good Friday and Easter. Putz around Skyler's neighborhood. End up at the Portobello Road Market. Don't buy anything.
Day 2 (Thurs. 5-Apr-2007)
Finally get back to Skyler's place after long tube ride. Man pulls up to me outside of Skyler's flat, asks if I know how to get to Earl's Court. I say "no, sorry; I'm just visiting." Next thing he says is, "You know what I'd love to do right now ..." at which point I turn and walk away. He keeps saying, "No, wait!" until I get the door open and then he takes off.
Walk all the way to Baker Street (2 km) looking for a park to chill out in until the Underground opens back up. All parks are gated and locked shut.
Endure a 10-minute long registration process (complete w/ ID address look-up on computer) to sign up to become a member of the Gala Casino in order to use their bathroom. Order more drinks. Don't gamble. Get kicked out for being obnoxious. Wander around looking for illegal cabs (all the legit ones stop at midnight).
Get kicked out of illegal pub. Stagger around w/ Aussies looking for the next spot.
Leave mexican restaurant. End up at an illegal pub (they're supposed to stop serving at midnight). Meet a group of Aussies. Skyler's mates take off, we continue drinking sangria w/ the Aussies.
Skyler and I go out for drinks & food at a pub. Everyone's standing out side pubs drinking. It's a gorgeous night, first in a while, maybe first of the season, so everyone's living it up. Meet up w/ a bunch of his mates from work. Have really bad Mexican (picture a burrito w/ bad marinara sauce on it).
Decide to go to Westminster and see Big Ben and Parliament. Also check out Westminster Abbey.
Best part is the Winston Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill ran the show during WWII. Amazing what the world was going through at that time.
Got about 4 hours sleep on the plane. Noise-cancelling headphones are worth their weight in GOLD.
Skyler met me at the airport. Took the tube back to his place. Showered, had 2 crumpets, and now I need to figure out what I'm doing next.
Day 1 (Wed. 4-Apr-2007)
5:00 PM PST
On Plane
Just getting this blog started on the plane. Looks like the sleeping meds I got only put me out for about 4 hours, so as of right now I've got about 5.5hrs left. No outlets in my plebian seats either, so the battery on the laptop won't last more than a couple hours, tops.
11:30 AM PST
At SFO
Check-in was a breeze. Snagged some sushi in the terminal. I was able to get the person at the gate to change my seat to an exit row. Leg-room a go-go. Thanks Sarah for the tip on that.
Stopped in at work to pick up a couple things from Liz for the flight (including some kick-ass noice-cancelling headphones), and had a chance to say "adios" to a bunch of people.
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