Congrats, London

Aghast! I missed a day of blogging. I guess I'm not really sure that it was ever a goal to write in here every day for my trip, but even if it was or wasn't it would have been cool if I'd managed to do it the whole way. However, there's a good reason. Kyle and I rode the train in to London yesterday, which was an adventure all its own. Due to the Royal Ascot Races (see earlier posts), ALL of the parking spaces at the THREE closest train stations were taken. Yes, we drove to all of them, and we also drove around the neighborhood streets nearby them to try and find a space as well, with no avail. We ended up parking about a 15 minute walk away from the 3rd station, but this was seriously about an hour and a half after the train which we originally wanted to board had left. Go us, right? Anyways, we finally made it onto the train and rode it about 40 minutes into Waterloo station, the big one, in London. It was HUGE. You've probably been in airports before where there are lots of people coming and going various places, but I doubt you've experienced this size of hub where so many people are going so many places so damn fast. Truly a breathtaking experience, and if you're not on on the top of your game the whole time, you WILL get a) lost b) robbed c) on the wrong train or, d) some combination of the above options. Fortunately Kyle had a pretty good idea what he was doing, at least better than I had, seeing as he had at least been through there some times before. From there we walked down towards the London Eye, which is also HUGE, which we are going to ride tomorrow. Then it was across the bridge right in front of Parliament/Big Ben, which was awesome because you're literally right there. I hadn't expected to be that close. Again, physical proximity to major people and buildings is much more easily attained here. Then we found our way to nearby Westminster Abbey to see the outside (this is all part of "Kyle's Quick and Dirty Tour: London."), and found our way down into the underground.

Let me emphasize this point, which is what the title of this post is based upon. This was, at the beginning, the single most confusing manmade construction I have ever been a part of. We got off the first underground train, and proceeded to take a multitude of rights and lefts and hallways and stairs and escalators and more rights and lefts and railings and ticket counters and turnstiles before, miraculously, popping up near Trafalgar Square. Don't ask me how we did it, I absolutely could not repeat it again. I wish I had a video of the whole thing. It made me realize how absolutely enormous the underground transportation system is here in London. Thats what the congrats is for. First, for making what seems like the worlds most complicated system of getting around, but second, and mainly, for doing it extremely effectively and efficiently. By the end of the day (and hundreds more stairs, rights, lefts...etc.), I feel I had a pretty good grasp on how to navigate this system, and would not be completely intimidated if asked to do it on my own. I'd love to see a map that lays out all of the underground, including the different levels. I was unaware of this before, as I'm simply used to the underground entrance to the MAX lightrail system in Portland at the Zoo, that the underground is not only underground, but its underground and has multiple floors. There are times when you can hear (read: feel) a train thundering over your head, and you are already way underground. Other times, you may be on a walkway ABOVE a train screaming past about a yard below your feet. Its crazy stuff. Quite the experience, a significant part of London in itself.

Anyways, we spent a lot of the day on there, going to and from different places. After Trafalgar Square, we grabbed a pint at a local pub, saw Covent Garden, Picadilly Circus, Camden, were near London Bridge but didn't actually see it, and ate at a less then average sushi place back near Waterloo before heading towards home. We walked plenty of miles over the course of the day. We finally arrived home around 9 or something, and we were both exhausted. Originally we had plans to go see the midnight premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but we were too tired. I put on a movie at about 10 and was asleep within 10 minutes. Hence, we were going to go see it today (still a week earlier than you...muahahaha), but didn't get back from our trip out to Stonehenge until too late. Tomorrow should bring better fortunes for movie viewing.

Thus, today's adventures! We drove out to Stonehenge (yeah, its within an hour from here. My bad for always believing it was way up North in Scotland somewhere, in a really hard-to-get-to place. Lucky for me I guess...) today, which was an awesome experience. I remember what of my most awe-inspiring moments coming when I was came upon the Colosseum in Rome. This huge man-made stone structure which has stood for millenia. Stonehenge brought about those same feelings, especially... "What have we, as a modern civilization, built which is going to be here 2000 years from now?" These gigantic stones have been there forever, and it's incredible to think about how they would even construct such a piece with todays technology. It's mind-boggling to conjure thoughts about how they might have done it so many years ago. Lots of pictures should be found of the site on Facebook soon. Afterwards, we visited the town of Avebury, which is surrounded by the worlds largest diameter ring of upright-standing stones. This was also an awesome experience, as being in a best-in-the-world place always is. These stones were also here, and there are a lot more of them than at Stonehenge, although since they are not stacked upon each other and a higher percentage of them are missing, slightly less impressive. However, a must-see when you come to visit. The village (not city, not town...village) has such a homely and welcoming feel, except for the closed tourist parking lot. Oops. Had another batch of delicious fish and chips at the local pub, the Red Lion, and tried, for my first time, Mushy peas. Its quite a common dish/way to serve peas over here. My choices were that or regular cooked peas, and seeing as how I don't enjoy peas anyways, along with feeling adventurous, I asked for the mushy peas, much to the chagrin of my fellow travelers. However, I was met with surprise at this dish. I actually enjoyed it, although I felt like I had just stolen food meant for a baby, which normally comes out of a jar. I see why they like it :P.

Anyways, tomorrow we're heading back in to London for a trip round the London Eye and hopefully, tours of both Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. Look for pictures!

Thorn - Stonehenge IS actually windy like they always say, which results in coldness. Who knew?

Rose - Experiencing Stonehenge in its magnificence and grandeur. Maybe we can construct the Stonehenge of the 2nd millenium, no?

Bud - Seeing London from the Eye! I've heard such great things about it, and although heights sometimes make me a little uneasy, I'm sure the view and the experience will make up for it. Also, I hear the tour of Westminster will take me to some catacombs and other cool things.

AT out