I need a manbag!

Today was a rollercoaster day. I didn't get out quite as early as I intended after breakfast, about 11 am. I had a good plan: take the "blue line" of the Original Bus Tour (should have still had my 2 day pass) to Piccadilly Circus and change to the "yellow" line, and take that to each of the places I wanted to visit. I decided on Buckingham Palace (if it wasn't too expensive), Westminster Abby, Tower of London and Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral (all part of the 2 day London Pass I bought), and hopefully take the Thames river cruise, included free with the 2 day Original Bus Tour.

I have decided that if you try to do too much, you end up doing less than half what you wanted.

The Original Bus Tour starts counting from the hour you first use it, which meant instead of having a whole second day, I had less than an hour. But, I could extend it by a day for a discount. It being more entertaining than the subway and much cheaper than a taxi, I extended. I made it to Buckingham Palace and decided to hop off and see how much the ticket price is. Ouch. Kinda high, but I got it anyway, along with a cheap guide book. Also, they do the Changing of the Guard every even-numbered day, which meant today. But, there were people EVERYWHERE. The line itself to get into Buckingham Palace was very long, almost to the Guard area, and at the guard area, people were stacked up two deep along the fence and no one was moving to let people behind them see. I couldn't have seen anything without a periscope. Apparently it lasts quite a while. They had some military band music playing, although I don't know why "Livin' la Vida Loca" was one. I gave up and got in line. Unfortunately, I started feeling my blood sugar drop and looked at the time: noon. I asked someone there how long the tour was: 90 minutes. There was no way. Fortunately, I had read that once you go through the tour, you can have them give you a free pass to visit again within twelve months. I managed to convince them, due to health concerns (and maybe I looked a little peaked), to give me a free pass anyway, then I walked a few blocks down, found a little Italian shop, and had some pasta with marinara sauce and a fruit-flavored Fanta.

Feeling better, I thought I might try the palace tour after all, but by the time I got there I thought, well I have twelve months, I should try these other things. After all, if I don't see four things on the London Pass, I will have wasted money. So I got on the bus and went on. I exited at Westminster Abbey.

Funny thing...there are two church-type buildings across the road from each other. I was convinced the one on the right (east?) was the Abbey, but it turns out it's the Parliament building, with Big Ben right behind it. I found this out after taking some pictures of the building...and a Bobby carrying an AK-47, and asked someone who looked like she worked there. She confirmed that I did, in fact, have the buildings mixed up. She was interesting, by the way. I thought she might have a mild Scottish accent, but actually she is from California. She knew where I was from because she had visited people in Riverdale and Alpharetta (or Roswell? North and south of the perimeter.) but had moved to London eight years ago. Funny thing, that she had started absorbing the local accent as an adult after less than eight years.

So, I crossed the street and took my free tour of Westminster Abbey (saved £16, about $24). The place is freaking HUGE inside. I was very disappointed that photography isn't allowed inside. There was a free audio tour, they give you a playback device in which Jeremy Irons narrates what you're looking at. They have guided tours, but they cost money. I wasn't feeling too well and skipped about a third of what is inside, and made it to the cloisters. I'm not sure what exactly that is, but it's essentially an open courtyard. The fresh air and breeze made me feel much better. I took a lot of pictures of it, and cheated a little by taking a few quick photos OF the inside FROM the outside (I got frowned on).

It was already about 3 pm by this point, and I still had a lot to see. This is when things started going really bad. I spent at least a half hour trying to remember whether I had gotten off on the southbound or northbound side of the road, tried walking to a different stop, tried getting on three different wrong buses, and finally gave up and headed to the nearest subway station (the Tube, remember). Fifty pence to go through the turnstyle in the bathroom. Yay, it cost me a dollar to pee. At least I successfully took the right trains, although I waited through about four trains because they were already standing room only. They come every 3-4 minutes, that wasn't a problem. But being 4:30 pm, it wasn't getting any better.

I got back to my hotel and my feet were absolutely killing me. Oh, you might ask why the first line of this post is about me wanting a "manbag". Well, I expected it to be a little chilly, possibly a little rainy. I left my little umbrella, but took my light jacket. It turned out to be a fairly sunny day (did I mention I got a bad sunburn on my face yesterday from riding on top of a bus for a couple of hours?) and I carried my jacked the entire time. And my camera. And papers and notes. And half the day, a bottle of Fanta shoved in a pocket. You know, women get away with carrying purses and can keep tons of crap (excuse me, junk) in them. Guys can't do that without being called a cross-dresser, or at least weird.

Introducing the Manbag: http://www.manbagcompany.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=10&cat=Compact+Messenger starting at only £195 pounds ($314), you can be a man with a bag. That's a stupid amount of money, but it's an idea that's catching on, and if I find one for less than $40 USD, I'm getting one. I mean it. I'm buying a kilt in Scotland and wearing it to work when I return, and I mean that too.

So, back at the hotel, I took some time to reflect on how much money I've spent, how much was wasted due to bad circumstances and poor decisions, mentally kicked a few puppies, and decided that it's pointless to try to see a bunch of famous landmarks if you don't know exactly where to go. This trip would be a lot more fun, I imagine, if I had someone with me.

After a much-needed shower, I asked the guy at the front desk about nearby restaurants, and decided on  a small Italian restaurant around the corner. I loved it. Attractive waitresses, all Italian, all speaking faster than I could comprehend. I got a Chicken Suprema al Funghi (chicken and mushrooms in a brown sauce) with a side of vegetables and cheesy garlic bread, and a £3.25 1/2 liter bottle of water (ouch). The chicken was amazing, they couldn't have gotten it tenderer without a jackhammer, and the sauce equally as good. Even better, they have live piano music after 8 pm every night, so I stayed. The pianist is British, good sense of humor, and friendly. He plays jazz, blues, old music. We got to talking and he played several songs for me, including "Georgia On My Mind", which he also sang. I recorded about half of it on my iPhone. I left feeling pretty good.

Tomorrow will be difficult. I was hoping to extend my stay by a night, but they've already booked my room tomorrow. There's a slight chance there will be a room available if I check in the morning, but most likely not. Time to head to Edinburgh, I think. If I'm reading the website correctly, I can get a direct train from King's Cross Station (woo Harry Potter) to Edinburgh for about £60 ($75) and I found two possible hotels/B&Bs in Edinburgh for good rates. I'll end up playing a lot by ear tomorrow.

Hooray for more adventure!

(Still not used to paper money starting at 5, where US money starts at 1.)