London June 16, 2010

London is growing on me! This day was another spectacular one! I got up at 8:30 in the morning, and Marianna (the Bulgarian) and I went over to the British Museum. Iit’s a grand building with large pillars in front. They have a grassy area out front that had been made into a whole outdoor exhibit of South Africa's terrain. My guess is it's in honor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, after all, England is a soccer obsessed nation. They had cactuses, palm trees, shrubs, sand, and rocks right in front of this museum. It was really neat, patrially because it looked so out of place in a European country with a cold climate. We didn’t look at any exhibits, so we walked back over to Buckingham Palace. The walk was long, so as we approached the Underground, we decided to take the tube to Green Park Station ( I believe that’s what it was called) in the near vicinity of the Palace. We got their right about at 11 O’clock and saw the Changing of the Guards. It was quite a site seeing grown men dressed in goofy looking outfits. Swordsmen with fluffy black hats, prancing down the road on horseback does make for an amusing sight. After that, we made our way over to the Queens Gallery. Looking at all the royal families belonging really does make one jealous! They get anything they want; Statues carved of them, pictures painted, jewelry imported for them, etc, etc, etc. their was a crib made for one of the royal babies that was carved just for him. I cant even begin to grasp how they produce such pieces of art out of a slab of wood. It baffles me. Anyway, then we went and saw the Royal Mews. The horses and their stables looked very nice, but what looked even nicer was their carriages. My GOODNESS they must have cost a fortune! One carriage had cupids on it plated in a golden color along with the family crest and many other statues. These words do not do it justice. I cannot describe just how ornate it was. Pictures will come soon enough! While passing the green grass in front of the royal heinesses palace, we sat down on the lawn and took a rest. The sun was shining, people were lounging, and their wasn’t a cloud in the sky! If you have never been to London, I suggest sitting infront of Buckingham palace on a nice day and having a picnick. Watching the sunlight shimmer off the golden fences, the flags flowing with the wind, not having a care in the world…this is what life is all about. We do not get enough of these moments, so when you encounter one, relax and take it in. After a few moments of joy and peacefulness, the Bulgarian opened her bag and pulled out something. Take three guesses as to what it was…let me give you hint. It’s a Bulgarian specialty! Yupe, you guessed it, "Dried Bulgarian Olive Bread!" It wasn’t any ordinary piece of bread though, it was the same one she had offered me yesterday that I had only taken a piece from. She had saved it for me, now how nice of her was that. It was very thoughtful of her. So now my moment of joy and bliss had been interrupted once again by this shitty bread. I kindly rejected it, and she asked me, “ You don’t like it?” I once again said I wasn’t hungry. Then she admitted that it wasn’t the best bread since it was 3 days old, but it was all she had with her to eat. I think she though it was just as gross as I did, but didn’t want to throw it away, so offered much of it to me. Anyway, after eating 5 nibbles of it (a disguise to make it look as though I was eating it), I got a stomach ach. Seriously, I felt sick, so at that point, I thought to myself, “the hell with you, Bulgarian girl. I don’t care if I’m rude, but I’m not gonna eat another bit of your foul tasting bread, for if I do, I just might hurl!” Enough is enough. I’ve had the end of it, no more olive bread for me!!! We made our way back to Piccadilly Circus, ate lunch at Subway, and then we both went our separate ways. I went on the "Original Tour Bus of London" and saw all the major sites that I had not already seen, plus some repeats of the ones I had seen. That lasted about two and a half hours. It was the perfect day to explore a new city! I got many pictures and took quite a few video’s. I also saw a Night BUS headed towards Hogwarts!!! I will try to figure out how to upload them to “Knock on Wood” when I get to Austria. On the bus, the conductor gives out earphones that plugged into the side of your seat and tell about the tour sites as each attraction is passed. I really enjoyed it. Tomorrow, I’m gonna go on the free river cruise that they offer if I can find out where exactly it is, cause it sounds like a nice activity. When the bus landed at Piccadilly Circus, I got off, went into a souvenir shop named “Cool Brittania”, and bought a few souvenirs. Then I walked around, the Piccadilly area for a while, got some dinner, and ice cream afterwards, and then came back to the hostel. On the way, I passed a homeless man whom I haven’t mentioned in any of the previous logs, but he has been their ever since I arrived on Monday. He has now apparently adopted a dog, because he was laying on the sidewalk with a dog curled up next to him, it was kind of cute actually. I guess he thinks with the cute dog by his side he will rack in some money, who knows. New girl from the north of Britain has taken the place in our room, cause one girl left. And, a note to everyone: I am being very critical of Marianna the Bulgarian, but she is very nice, so I just thought I should mention that aswell. The good comes along with the bad sametimes.