London, England Part 1
On Wednesday June 20 (almost a full month ago now—how time flies), I awoke at the crack of dawn and boarded an EasyJet flight to London. Joe Rominiecki, one of my best friends from high school, and his college buddies Brian Dearing and Matt Farren (who I met during several trips over to Athens for various Halloweens, PalmerFests, etc) all had some vacation time available during the summer and decided a trip to Europe was in order. They laid out their plans and decided to travel to London, Paris, Geneva, and finish in Rome (with Joe heading home prior to the last leg). Having yet to visit the UK, I arranged to meet them at the beginning of the trip, which is why I found myself in Gatwick Airport (one of the city’s four) at just after 8am.
London was far and away one of the places I most wanted to visit when I found out I’d be living in Europe. Perhaps it’s the city’s arts reputation in everything from theater to music, or perhaps it’s what I’ve found in the words of authors like Nick Hornby and J.K. Rowling, or maybe it’s just the desire to have a few pints at the end of the day—for some reason, I just had a feeling I’d like it. And I did; I just wish things weren’t so blasted expensive (the current exchange with the US dollar is about 2 to 1, and unlike most other countries, prices aren’t really adjusted so you pay 20 pounds for a t-shirt that would be $20 at home even though that converts to $40).
I took a train into the city where a free shuttle (which was more like a stripped out and broken down van) transported me to our hostel. Joe and Brian were scheduled to arrive a few hours after me at Heathrow, so we figured we’d just meet there (Matt joined us on Saturday from Athens, Greece).
The first photo I took in the city… somehow we either resisted our urge (or just plain forgot) to all pile into one of these for a traditionally tacky tourist photo-op.
We managed to see and do a great deal during our almost 5-day stay including several musuems, a 3.5 hour free(!) walking tour, a pub crawl, the Tower of London, Othello at the Globe Theater, Camden, and more. Also joining us on Saturday was Laura Rossi, a girl from Joe and my subdivision in Pickerington who has been studying abroad in Wales. Incredibly random, yet fun!
The rest of the posts will mainly be photo drops and I’ll probably divide them into 2 or 3 more updates.
The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park. Our hostel was just a few blocks away so I got to run there each morning.
Brian and Joe (l to r) enjoying our first pint on Day 1
London was far and away one of the places I most wanted to visit when I found out I’d be living in Europe. Perhaps it’s the city’s arts reputation in everything from theater to music, or perhaps it’s what I’ve found in the words of authors like Nick Hornby and J.K. Rowling, or maybe it’s just the desire to have a few pints at the end of the day—for some reason, I just had a feeling I’d like it. And I did; I just wish things weren’t so blasted expensive (the current exchange with the US dollar is about 2 to 1, and unlike most other countries, prices aren’t really adjusted so you pay 20 pounds for a t-shirt that would be $20 at home even though that converts to $40).
I took a train into the city where a free shuttle (which was more like a stripped out and broken down van) transported me to our hostel. Joe and Brian were scheduled to arrive a few hours after me at Heathrow, so we figured we’d just meet there (Matt joined us on Saturday from Athens, Greece).
The first photo I took in the city… somehow we either resisted our urge (or just plain forgot) to all pile into one of these for a traditionally tacky tourist photo-op.
We managed to see and do a great deal during our almost 5-day stay including several musuems, a 3.5 hour free(!) walking tour, a pub crawl, the Tower of London, Othello at the Globe Theater, Camden, and more. Also joining us on Saturday was Laura Rossi, a girl from Joe and my subdivision in Pickerington who has been studying abroad in Wales. Incredibly random, yet fun!
The rest of the posts will mainly be photo drops and I’ll probably divide them into 2 or 3 more updates.
The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park. Our hostel was just a few blocks away so I got to run there each morning.
Brian and Joe (l to r) enjoying our first pint on Day 1
posted by Aaron at 2:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home