First weekend in London!

For some reason, I've always had the short end of the stick when it comes to traveling. First, before I even entered the Jackson airport, I noticed my suitcase was a bit soaked on one side. The wrinkle free spray that I had been searching all over Tuscaloosa for was leaking out into my luggage and on my clothes. What a wonderful way to start out a trip overseas! ;-) By the time I arrived in London, the next day, my clothes had a very unpleasant smell. Jetlagged and all, I started my laundry around 10 p.m., finished up around midnight, and finally got some sleep! The main thing I noticed the first night was how loud the city is at night. There are two bus stops outside of our dorm, plus the neverending flow of cars and traffic, and every once in a while I hear the occasional police or ambulance siren (by the way, police and ambulance sirens make a particular shrill, earsplitting noise here). I must admit, living on a dead end road does have its advantages. Like everything else, I'm getting use to the noises at night, and maybe soon I'll be able to drown it out with a fan! Speaking of fan, did you know that if you buy a fan here, it does not come assembled? I was quite surprised to see my fan in 15 pieces when I pulled it out of the box! I guess that means I could be a lazy American :-)

Ok now to the good stuff: What have I seen so far? Tons! When we first entered into London we drove past Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. I grabbed some quick photos from the bus of those and the Eye, which is the largest ferris wheel in the world. Maybe, when I gather up the courage, I'll go for a ride on it before I leave! Just maybe... Saturday afternoon I took my first walkabout and found some pretty tiny, but amazing book stores! One was full of first editions of many famous books. There was an entire shelf of Alice in Wonderland books! Saturday evening we walked around Buckingham Palace and snapped some photos of the guards. We were too late to go for a tour, but I will be back! Sunday I had the Abbey Road walkabout. Definitely had chills. Abbey Road happens to be a crosswalk on a very busy street. One thing I learned quickly is that cars have the right away. ALWAYS. I got a few pictures of the crosswalk, but my favorite part was the wall where fans wrote to the Beatles! I have plenty of pictures of that, and I will be going back with a marker or two :-) Sunday afternoon, we found the Harry Potter bridge! To be more specific, it was the bridge that the Death Eaters destroyed in the 6th film. After crossing the bridge, we found St. Paul's Cathedral and tried to get into Ye Ole Cheshire Cheese, but it was closed! We found another place to eat and had yet another amazing meal. Speaking of the food, I haven't eaten a bad meal yet! Yes, it's a little different, and yes I'm taking pictures of everything I eat so you can see for yourself!
Well, that was my weekend!