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October 29, 2009- Petersham, UK- Pete's House!
Lounging on the coach of my dear friend Pete, still a bit surreal for me that I'm actually here, and that this is actually happening.Starting off in a familiar place, with the comforts of people I know has been a nice transition and seeing as this person happens to be one of my most favorite people in this world, that has been none to bad either.My dear Pete, such a free spirit, such a dear heart, I could not be luckier to have him as a friend- he has been spending as much time as possible with me after work and for that, I am so grateful!
The past few days have been wonderful- with time spent both in the "burbs" and in CentralLondon!
On the 28th, Wednesday, I was still staying with David- whom I have to say is the most habitual cracker of jokes I have ever met- and we had another nice and relaxing day.In the morning we went to visit the home of another one of the persons that will bejoining us at Pueblo Ingles, Nick Wood, joining him and his wife for a cup of coffee.They were such interesting, well traveled people and I very much enjoyed my time!
Then off to Hampton Court, the largest palace in the UK!It was one of sixty houses that at one time was lived in by the infamous Henry the 8th!I learned so much about his history- his many wives- and a beautiful property which was nothing short of awe-inspiring.Often you find with many of the palaces that they are simply overdone to the point where its more cheesy than regal.This palace, on the other hand, was simply grand in its beauty and the property immaculte.
I went into Central London that night to meet up with Pete (my first sucessful run on the public transport) and we had a beer in Camden Court and the Edinburough Castle!German and Italian beers- both good and both reminders that I am in the right place as true fan of suds!
Today was quite the day of walking!My feet are tired but I feel I covered a lot of ground and saw many of the Central sights and some of the amazing neighborhoods as well!I took the train in and got off at the Tower of London station- immediately backtracking to visit St. Paul's when I saw how attrocious the line was at the Tower!St. Pauls was lovely, so much larger than I had expected (more like a capital building really) but just gorgeous inside.I didn't take the full tour but rather did the naughty backpacker bit and took a couple of pictures (amiture really) when the "guards" weren't looking te he he.I hope to get there for a service hopefully when I am in London on my return.
From there I walked along the Thames River, taking a million pictures along the river walk and making my way back to the Tower.Although the structure itself is impressive and the crown jewels held therein are a sight to see, I'm still weighing in on how I felt about this particular tourist spot.Its really a shame the've done it up as much as they have- makes a place that should have a foreboding sense about it a little too Disney land!Nevertheless, there were definitely cool areas and I appreciated seeing this part of history.
Next I crossed the Tower bridge to visit the South Bank of London.So awesome was this!I went to the Tate Modern Museaum, saw the Globe Theater (they cease performances in Sept), the Burrough Markets (unintentially), Gabriel's Wharf and of course took some mean pics of the London Eye and Big Ben from across the water- I will see that more up close tomorrow!
I met up with Pete tonight and we rode on the London Eye, SO COOL to be on such a big hamster wheel..ummm large ferris wheel with pods I mean (Pete would kill me…).The veiw was spectacular panoramas and really unmatchable to see London in all its glory.We went on a pretty hearty walk to Trafalgar Square, Leichester Square, China Town, Soho and Covent Garden.We ate in a quaint italian spot in Soho and shared a lovely time as always!It was nice to see the city up in lights at night and to get a good vew of things- feet so tired, eyes getting droopy!
I love London really, it has the riverwalk, on either side of the Thames that so reminds me of my favorite thing about living in Chicago- running along the river path- because you can't take the Lake Michigan out of this girl, I love my water!Its an ecclectic city with so much history but a lot of really amazing neighborhoods that ooze character in a comfortable rather than an "I'm too good for you" intimidating way.I'm so glad I had such an amazing exploration today and look forward to tomorrow- Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, etc.
Stay tuned for some major picture upload….as I went a bit crazy today…
Cheers,
Emily
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