29 Dec:
Woke up and I finished my paper. Ryan and I ate . . . something for breakfast. I think it was oatmeal? Yeah, it was oatmeal. Ryan made his in the microwave, I made mine by pouring boiling water on it. I find it faster and easier than the microwave.
Then I finished the paper. Ryan thanked me for letting him sleep on my bed, but I wasn't about to move him after saying he was uncomfortable on the air mattress. Anyway, once that dude's out, he's out. Nothing I can do can move him effectively. So, after finishing the paper, we got ready and planned the day. It was before 1pm so we decided to head to the free tour. I also needed to put credit onto my phone so we could call the Hard Rock Cafe and make a reservation. What to do after that, we don't know. We'll think of something.
My usual cash machine was out of service (no surprise, it's fairly sporadic like that). So we walked all the way to Waterloo Station for cash, then had to find a place to top up, which wasn't too hard since it was just around the bend from Waterloo Station. Ryan had me call right away, but it takes a few minutes for the money to transfer into my phone, so I wasn't surprised when I got a dialtone that said I'm out of money. We took the tube to Green Park station and, since we had a long time yet before the tour started, decided to walk around Buckingham palace for a few minutes. As we were walking, I called the Hard Rock Cafe and they said they don't take reservations -- they operate on the first come-first serve basis in London. Okay, I guess that means we're waiting a few hours for dinner, we said.
We missed the Changing of the Guards today, but that's alright. Our tour guide said you get a better view on YouTube because it can get really crowded during the day. We found the tour pretty easily because they have a giant and obvious red umbrella. We told them where we were staying and the guy taking our names made fun of the fact that we were in a dorm. He suggested something, but neither of us corrected it. Then again, we didn't understand what he was implying until we moved on. I didn't like what he implied, but I wasn't about to call him out on it. Instead, I figured I would if he attempted it again, and I would have done something like "Eww! This is my brother! He's visited me! Sicko!" But the subject didn't come up again, and he turned out not to be our tour guide.
Our tour guide was a girl named Jade who had just started this New Europe business. She wasn't very exciting or interesting -- I just thought she was just another tour guide working at just another tour company. So I didn't enjoy the London tour that much. Besides, I've already seen half of what we saw, so I suppose I wouldn't have been very invested in the tour anyway. I thought I would have because I got to hear about the history of everything, but the execution just wasn't there. Sorry girl, gotta be a bit more excited in your delivery.
She did tell us about one guy who was so drunk he managed to sneak into Buckinham Palace. He set off so many alarms that the guards didn't believe one person could do all that, it must be a glitch in the system. And that's how me made it from the Royal Garden into Buckingham. He somehow managed to get into the cellar of the Queen's personal supply of the finest wines, stole a bottle, and walked around the palace until he came upon the Queen's bedroom, where he entered and lay down next to her. He woke up when she did and she made small talk until he asked for a cigarette. She called her butler, who called the guards, who escorted the guy out of the palace. And they couldn't even arrest him because it was the guards' fault he got in (turned off the alarms, remember?)! Instead, they managed to get him for stealing the Queen's wine, even though it was only half a bottle.
There were also a couple guys who wanted to camp out in Hyde Park for the night, but they thought the heavily guarded Royal Gardens around Buckingham Palace was Hyde Park. They mananged to jump the fence and camp out for the night before anyone realized they were there. I think the guards noticed them when one asked where a toilet was. Needless to say, it's near impossible to break into Buckiingham Palace these days.
We also saw St. James's Palace, a little bit of Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards Parade, and (of course) Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. We finished off behind Westminster Abbey, with a clear view of Parliament, with the story of the 5th of November. Can't remember much of it but I was kind of glad to be out of the tour. I wasn't feeling the energy and the energy was what made the tours awesome.
Afterward, Ryan and I took a lot of pictures of Big Ben and Parliament. We even spent a few minutes just sitting and looking at it because Ryan wanted to. Then we walked along the South Bank for a bit. Saw a couple street performers, looked for someplace to eat. Also walked into a souvenir shop looking for stuff. Ryan had to get Mom something, and he found a sweatshirt for her but it didn't come in her size in that place. Meanwhile, I found a poster for a reasonable price so I got that. It features the words "Keep Calm and Carry On" which is something of a British motto in front of a Union Jack flag.
Had a snack at a place called Eat, which I've eaten at before. Got a sandwich and made it hot. When I went to get the sandwich, Ryan gave me money for a hot chocolate, which he didn't like that much because there wasn't much chocolate in it. This is when he said Berlin's hot chocolate ruined hot chocolate for him, probably for good. Sadness.
From there, we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to check out the sights and lights. Took pictures of the circus and then we walked north along Regent Street because I really wanted to show him Hamley's Toy Store. We walked around each and every floor and pointed out the toys of our childhood and other toys that we would have liked both as children and as adults. There were Brio train sets, Legos, Barbies, Playmobiles, Hamley originals, all sorts of toys. The basement featured the interactive toys which included video games. There was even a section on a floor with collectable toys, like the wands used in the Harry Potter movies and the One Ring from the Lord of the Rings. Mostly Harry Potter stuff, though. But Ryan lost his excitement for toys after a while, and while I didn't, it was time to move on.
Next stop was Oxford Circus. Ryan was still looking for something for Mom, so that's what we searched for again. Walked into every souvenir shop we could find, saw the same shirts over and over again, and I bought myself a Buckingham Palace Guard teddy bear and an Underground tee shirt. Ryan didn't get anything because none of the shirts tickled his fancy and nothing seemed to fit mom to a tee. After five or so of the same shops, we headed out for the Hard Rock Cafe.
There was a bit of a long line, but it wasn't that long. Took us twenty minutes to get through it where we put in our names. The wait was about 2 hours for everyone, but come back in a bit to see if there's a table. First come, first serve, remember? They had a limited amount of vibrator announcer things which is why we didn't get one since they were out. So we spent the time waiting in the Hard Rock Shop next door. I tried on a few rocker hats, Ryan found a cool mug and debated on getting another one for his friend Reibe too. (Pronounced REE-BEE) I didn't get anything from this Hard Rock Shop, but Ryan got the plane black Hard Rock Cafe London tee shirt because nothing else seemed to tickle his fancy. Once our purchases were made, we headed back to the host guy to see if we could get a vibrator thing.
The plan was to get a vibrator thing, then wait in the Shop to go to the vault, which is the mini rock museum the cafe has set up. It's free to go in and tour around, but tours happen every twenty minutes. Meet in the shop and someone will come and lead you down to the awesome rock history displays. When we went to get the announcer thing, though, we were told to check in with this chick inside. So we did, who told us that there was a table for two ready downstairs, go and find the chick with the ear piece and she'll lead you to it. So we went and took the table and got seated about an hour earlier than we thought we would.
We were right next to a screen and speaker, so we kept on getting distracted by the awesome music playing right next to us. So it took maybe a bit longer than usual to decide on what we wanted. I also wanted a drink that came with a free glass, so I looked at the drink menu too. Ryan also got a drink with a free glass, and that upped the bill by a lot. But I think it's worth it. The non-alcoholic mixed drink was good, Ryan's smoothie was good, the burgers were good (and reminded me how much I missed American bacon), and the music was the best you could ask for. Life was good.
Except the Vault Museum was closed when we got out. We didn't mind, though, I guess. We'll just stop by the next day and spend a few minutes there. And because it was about 10pm, we headed back to the dorm for a good night's snooze. I also read over the paper and figured I would print it of tomorrow sometime when we stop by the campus. I would print it, turn it in, and it would be over and done with. No more school work for me until January. Boo yeah.
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