Brianne and I slept not so soundly but landed safely in London yesterday morning around 9am. Due to some underground delays, however, we didn't get from Heathrow to our Hostel until about 2pm. We then decided that since we only had less than half a day in London (we needed to get up and head off to the airport for France in the morning) that we would buy passes for the Hop on/Hop off Double-decker bus tour around London. We went for a long walk to Piccadilly Circus to catch a bus and headed off on a three hour tour. A three hour tour. Because it was so late, though, we just got as many pictures as we could and didn't really get off anywhere... also because my stupid ticket blew away off the bus so if we did get off somewhere I would have had to pay another 22£ again!
So to deal with jet-lag I just decided to truck on through the day without taking any kind of nap (although, anytime we stopped for more than 2 minutes, Brianne was out). So we kept ourselves busy until bed time. After disembarking a few blocks from our hostel we found a cool looking British pub and had dinner.
We both decided that we ought to get Fish 'n Chips (yes, mom, I thought of you and dad). When ordering, after a slight hesitation, I decided to go ahead and ask for something non-alcoholic to drink... After a pause she mentioned some unknown names of juices. We each tried one... but midway through the HUGE meal Brianne went back to the barmaid (hee hee) and requested some tap water with ice. She got kind of a weird look, but she also got some water. That was the last tap water we drank. We sat in the little pub watching the Simpsons on a huge TV (with British subtitles--"tyres" vs "tires" etc.) watched the Londoners around us get smashed, and stared at the large green piles of "food?" on our plates suspiciously... For one crazy moment, as the waitress brought our plates out I got excited thinking it might be guacamole... I know. It had been a long day. Anyway, it turned out to be peas. "Smushed peas." Yep. Brianne was digging in and between bites said, "Hmm, what is this?" Remembering what it said on the menu I told her. "Ah. Yep, that's it." And she was off again. She's a much braver eater than I am. I did taste them though. Euhghhugeshugh.
So, there was one moment in the pub when I experienced my first real wave of homesickness/culture shock. Thinking back on that moment I have realized that the thing it came down to, that the central cause of that moment of depression was centered around food. More specifically Dr Pepper. WHERE IS ALL THE DR PEPPER?!?! Is it illegal here or what? Ugh! I'm sooooo thirsty!
Well, then we went home and crashed in our cute little bunk beds and woke up 10 hours later to discover 4 Asian girls in the other beds. It was like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" except it was more like "Four Asian Girls and the Two Americans"... wait a second... did I just make us the bears?
Moving on... Uh... the end.
I'll put this leg of pictures up next.
8 comments:
Cool post, Paige. This is going to be fun to follow your blog. Thanks for documenting the whole thing. It's awesome. Hope you gals find a good drink you can order often. For me, it would be bottled water. I'm glad Bri's adventurous with the food--hopefully not TOO adventurous. I'm sure she will try the escargot at some point. Have a nice train ride!
You always make me laugh, Paige.
Um, yeah. Euro tap water is sick. And nobody ever has ice unless you ask for it, and then they think you're crazy. Good luck!
I knew I should've packed you a suitcase full of the DP. Were the fish n chips good? Can you go to cornwall and get a beef pasty?
It all sounds sooo exciting! Wish I could be there to eat your smashed peas and dream of DP with you! Be safe and have fun!!
London Calling and I'm so bored... But no Anarchy in the UK? What gives?
Oh Paige! I feel for you and the lack of dr pepper! But I have a secret for you if they dont have it, you can make an alcoholic version! Naughty, I KNOW! A can of beer with a shot of amaretto liquor will do the trick every time. I'm just saying....if you get desperate, there are options! ;-) In other new, I hope that you continue to have fun and don't have anymore bouts of homesickness.
hahaha you're so funny Paige! what an awesome experience! you rock!
Umm I'm a little worried cause you haven't blogged in a while... where are you?! Halloo!!? Also, I thought you might like to know that I had a dream about you last night--no, not one of THOSE dreams-- it was amazing though. I don't remember where I was but all of a sudden you walked through the door in an amazing looking jacket, by the way, looking absolutely fantastic, and I was sooo excited because you were back in UT. Unfortunately you were less than excited to see me because you were less than excited to be back in the states because you ran out of money during your trip and came back after a week. Now I wouldn't wish that on you, but I have to admit that seeing you would make my heart glow. :) Hope you're having a great time!
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