Day 2-St. Pauls, Westminster, etc.

Day 2 began with a terrific breakfast of toast and more toast. Godfrey also tried tea for the first time, and has quickly developed an addiction. Alex told us the average Brit drinks 3 cups of tea per day. Godfrey is currently averaging 6 per day. He drinks it pinky up, because he fancies himself an aristocrat.

Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral, the exterior of the church at least. We went in the church crypt, where I bought some hot chocolate. I also saw 5 Anglican priests drinking tea and chatting amongst themselves. I asked to take a picture with them, but one man simply told me "We can't do that", and gave no other reason. This single act has turned me away from the Anglican Communion. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, you've been put on notice. Also, one of the 5 was a WOMAN. I'm done.

We followed this up with a bus ride tour where we saw London Bridge and Tower Bridge. No worries, London bridge did not fall down. Tower Bridge was pretty cool, but London Bridge was nothing impressive.

The next stop was Buckingham Palace. The queen was out of town, but we did see the changing of the guard. That was an interesting bit. It goes by a lot quicker than the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier in DC.

Our tour continued with a visit to 10 Downing Street, the Royal Exchange, and the Bank of England. It should also be noted our driver thought he was Jason Statham from the Transporter series. He drove his Coach bus like it was a 5 series BMW. On the 30 minute bus ride, I also fell asleep twice. Mrs. Vero did NOT find that amusing.

After the bus tour, we had some free time. I ate lunch with Phyllis, Jenna, John, Godfrey, Michael, Dr. Economy, and Mr. Proot. I would hesitantly consider this meal lunch. We had 2 pieces of pizza between each of us, and each piece was extremely tiny. The portions are so small here, I would be surprised to be over 160 lbs when I leave. Actually, 160 may be too optimistic. 155 sounds about right.


This same lunch group also went to the Imperial War Museum. The weather has been pretty cold over here, but the museum felt like a furnace. It was also five stories, which made it really fun to climb up. The museum was filled with plenty of interesting pieces military history. From tanks to submarines to a life sized World War One trench, it was awesome.

The best part of the museum was not one of the exhibits, but actually watching Godfrey awkwardly try to play with this couple's dog. I say play, but I really mean "watching Godfrey stalk a couple down an entire block while trying to covertly pet their dog." He succeeded, but both people gave him the stink eye the entire way back. This was after he took the money I thought I lent him for a WWI style helmet (made of high quality ABS plastic of course) and spent it on 2 slinkies for himself and Michael. Glad to know they are trustworthy.

We also lost Mr Proot as we were trying to leave, so we had to scour the entire museum for him. All. Five. Stories. Godfrey and I found him after looking through the entire WWI exhibit, which was essentially a maze. We only found him after I threw my hands up in frustration and turned around to see him. On the way back, we got lost getting to the tube and had to get directions from a drunk man. Great times. Luckily we found our way back to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben safely.

For dinner we went to another pub to eat Bangers and Mash. I like a lot about England, but I hate the food. We finished up the tour day by visiting the Tower of London and going on a Jack the Ripper tour. Our tour guide Sean was hilarious and made plenty of witty pop culture references, which helped lighten the mood of the tour, which scared the crap out of me.

The day REALLY ended with the 40 minute train ride home. I found a burger king at the train station, and wolfed down a burger and fries while simultaneously singing "God bless America." This was the culinary highlight of England, and in no way is that depressing.

It is super late over here, so I'm gonna pack this thing up. Goodnight all.

Hello London!

We landed at Gatwick at 7am this morning after an 8.5 hour flight. The flight went smoothly from a safety standpoint, but from a comfort standpoint, it couldn't have been much worse. I sat in a middle row on the flight over beside a woman with a crying baby and a man who was obviously quite perturbed at having to pay 7 bucks for a vodka & tonic. He instead chose to take his frustration out on the complimentary beer selection, downing brew after brew before we were even over water. I think we spoke twice, once when he had to get up and go to the bathroom, and once when I apologized after awkwardly caressing his leg while fumbling around for my headphones. Good times. When we got to Gatwick we met our tour guide, Alex. He was wearing a sweet pair of pistachio colored pants, which made him easily distinguishable. He is also the only English person I have ever met who doesn't like soccer.

The first thing we did was take the underground, or "choo" as they call it. This reminded me of the DC metro system, but it didn't look as dangerous. After that, we ate lunch. Lunch wasn't that bad, but it certainly wasn't great. Godfrey and I ate at a fast food place called Cornish pasty. A pasty is pretty much pot roast stuffed inside a croissant. It was alright.

After that we went to Soho. This was a pretty interesting place, a lot of artsy looking people were walking around, and this man and woman played some Johnny Cash songs. Godfrey and I also saw what was quite possibly the largest pigeon In the world. As Godfrey put it, "Pigeons are the world's most beautiful animals." However, Godfrey did not share the same sentiments when we went through the gay neighborhoods of London. Despite telling Godfrey that being around gay people doesn't make you gay, he was still extremely uncomfortable during that time, and it was extremely funny to watch. Get use to it Godfrey, this IS Europe.

We also visited one part of the city which I can't remember the name of, but it was the equivalent of Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. I went into one store that looked exactly like a WINGS, except everything said "London", instead of "Myrtle Beach." They also were missing those spray t shirts that are so classy.

The best part of the day was probably Trafalgar square. This square is named after the Battle of Trafalgar, and has a massive statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson, the british military leader who defeated Napoleon at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, but was sadly killed in battle. I also looked through the National Gallery with Godfrey and Caroline. This was probably the most interesting part of the day, between Caroline having to find specific pieces of art and Godfrey's mindless commentary. I'm also fully convinced Godfrey will cause Caroline to cry at least one time on this trip. It is not of matter of if, but when. In Trafalgar square, I not only got the opportunity to photobomb a couple of tourist photo's, but also attempt to catch a pigeon with Godfrey and Michael. Sadly our 3 pronged attack failed to yield us any birds, which we told mrs Vero we were going to cook up for a late night snack. I also saw my friend Dustin from Cheraw who was also on a school field trip. It was good seeing him again. We ended the night with a fish and chips dinner, and I am now at the hotel typing this daily report up.We have a loaded day tomorrow, so I'm gonna get some sleep. Goodnight.

P.S. I think british people don't know smoking is bad for you. Everyone smoked unfiltered cigarettes. Also, people had a lot nicer teeth than I imagined. I'd have to say that's a good thing.