more pictures

Big Ben, of course.


For Casey: Proof that we were there! The sign does, in fact, say Primrose Hill at the top right.


The view of London from Primrose Hill.

pictures

Me in front of the Tower Bridge, not to be confused with the London Bridge which is not exciting at all and just looks like a regular bridge. It was windy, don't worry my hair isn't that ridiculous.



Me in front of the Blarney Castle. They let us in 45 minutes before it opened, so we had some nice tourist-free time.



I took this during our early morning hike from Cork to Blarney. That is sunrise in foggy Ireland. That's about how far we could see as well.

subtle/not so subtle differences

Over here:

-Lines of people or vehicles are called queues.
-People walk on the left side of the sidewalk, as they drive, just as we tend walk on the right because we drive on the right.
-Everything is more conducive to travel than in the USA. There are ATMs, currency exchange places, information booths, public transportation services, hostels, maps, and internet cafes everywhere. There are just a litany of services for travellers.
-Everything obviously has a different prices, but everything also has different values. Some things have a higher or lower average price than here, which is hard to adjust to. You may not be getting ripped off just because you paying way more than you would if you were home; the item may just naturally cost more wherever you are.
-Hostels are noisy, but they're cheap so it's OK. We paid 12 euros, about 15 dollars, for a bed the other night. You tell me where you can sleep for 15 dollars a night in the US.
-People tend to be more friendly here. Being approached by and talking to random people is much more common and acceptable.
-When people get in other people's way, whether it be walking or driving, the second person doesn't get all ticked off or start honking. It's almost normal for people to be sitting across 2 lanes in their car without other people caring.
-Everyone here drives better than everyone back home. Everyone's faster, more aware, more skilled. You should see these people parallel park. If the space is 1 foot longer than their car, they'll find a way in.
-Bottles are shaped oddly because, for example, an average bottle of soda is 100 mL, as opposed to 20 oz.
-Coins actually have viable use here. There are coins of value up to 2 pounds or 2 euros. Our biggest common coin is worth one quarter of one dollar. Pocket change actually adds up, you can buy dinner with only coins and people don't look at you funny when you do. It's like emptying your pocket at the end of the night and having 10 dollars in coins.
-The above circumstance makes it way easier to spend small amounts of money on menial items much easier, thereby more frequently.
-Streets a labelled incredibly poorly. In many places, major streets aren't even signed. When there are signs, they have no definitive location, like on posts on the corner, so you can find them on buildings, on lamp posts, anywhere.

-alex

London > me

After getting into London late last night, we walked the streets for 4 hours getting rejected by every place with beds. Finally we ended up sleeping on the street. This is backpacking. So it turns out London is a huge party place, with tons of clubs and weird rave like events on these ships that sit on the Thames. We tried to escape to Spain or Paris a few days early, but it doesn't look like London is going to let that happen. We'll be here until Wednesday when we ship off to the snady beaches of Barcelona! That is, of course, London doesn't get smart again and close all our subway routes and destination subway stations as it did today. When we take off, I'll stop worrying. Not that I dislike London, it's incredible here, but she's got this attitude towards Steve and I. Messing with our heads and our bodies and all. I'm sure there's more in store. I guess all I can do is enjoy the beautiful architecture, the surreal Big Ben, London Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the rest. Oh, darn.....

-alex

i haven't seen "Hostel", but i'm 80 percent sure it's based on the place i'm staying tonight

So here's the travelling I've done thus far:

Car ride from Tucson to Phoenix
Plane from Phoenix to Chicago
Plane from Chicago to London Heathrow
Bus from London Heathrow to London Gatwick
Tram ride from North Terminal to South Terminal
Plane from London Gatwick to Cork, Ireland
Bus from Cork Airport to Downtown Cork
Bus from Blarney, Ireland to Cork, Ireland
Train from Cork, Ireland to Dublin, Ireland
Train from Dublin, Ireland to Galway, Ireland

And walking. An obscene amount of walking. Some of it's fun. We hiked 6 miles from our hostel in Cork to Blarney, home of the Blarney Castle and Blarney Stone. It was a sunrise hike through rural Ireland, but you couldn't see the sunrise because it was so foggy. At best you could see 100 yards in front of you. I don't know how people drive here. The Blarney Castle was amazing. We got there at 8:15am, and it didn't open until 9am, but the guy opening the admission place saw us waiting and let us in, so we had the grounds all to ourselves. And of course we kissed the Stone.
Some of the walking...not so fun. Busy city streets aren't fun when you're searching for a hostel to crash in. Being wholly and entirely lost isn't too fun. But I guess in a way it is.
Best thing I've overheard so far: While sitting next to this weird smoking enclosure in Gatwick airport, a guy walks by and says "Look, they've got a fagger's bin." Guess you had to be there.
Even when it doens't rain here, there's this fog/mist in the air so thick that it get's everything wet anyway. But it's not rain. It's hard to explain.
The epitome of backpacking. Going to bed at 6pm in a hostel. Waking up at 9, getting ready for the day, and going to the train station. The station's closed. It's getting darker out. Everyone's at the pubs. What's going on? Oh, right. We didn't sleep through the night and wake up at 9 in the morning. We slept 3 hours and woke up at 9pm at night. Needless to say our hostel owner thought we were a little crazy.
Oh, and written on the bottom of my hostel bed is "I hate hostels. Especially this one." Encouraging. The bed next to me has nails sitcking out of it. Also very encouraging.

-alex

i'm standing here, outside your door

Everything's packed up, so I thought I'd post my final packing list

Eagle Creek Explorer LT Backpack
Sleeping Bag
Sleep sheet
4 T-shirts
3 pair of shorts
4 pair of boxers
3 pair of socks
1 bathing suit
1 bath towel
Mini Shampoo/Conditioner
Mini Toothbrush/Paste
Mini Deodorant
1 box of contacts
1 Bottle of contact solution
2 contact cases
iPod + charger
Canon SD 200 camera + charger
2 Europe Travel books
Travel Journal
3 backpack locks

And of course:
Passport
Plane tickets
1 Month Eurail Pass

This list looks about as long as the loaded pack weighs. I guess I could cut some stuff out, but I still have a fair amount of room, so I'm not concerned.

-alex

it's going to be weird we graduate college and May isn't the landmark end of school/beginning ot summer month anymore

I suppose another year long break is adequate. I seriously have graphoschizophrenia or something that's an actual condition because I always feel compelled to write, yet I switch the means by which I write constantly. However difficult it is, I think I should stick to the blog just because I know I can't decieve myself into believing I actually don't care if anyone reads what I write. I've discovered I'm actually quite bad at keeping in touch with anyone who isn't directly involved in my life on a regular basis, whether it be family or even friends whom I was convinced I'd never lose touch with. I suppose being naive will always cost you a little disappointment.
I felt mostly invincible going into this school year, and with two weeks left before my final final I've been wholly humbled and hobbled. Apparently learning things is difficult and even working hard (blasphemy, I know) doesn't always...work. Although a majority of the people I know in the Astronomy/Physics program are fairing about as "well" as I am, I'm not sure I find consolation there. Repeating classes and failing tests wasn't necessarily what I had in mind a year or so ago. I suspect the next 3 years will be similar. Er, make that 8 or 9 with that whole graduate school thing, assuming that my grades and research will be good enough to get me into...well, anywhere. I think my inability to see anything nearer than a year away is the only think keeping me from academic despair. Of course the whole "finding out who I am and what my life is going to be" thing adds a little weight on the shoulders. Not that much though. Only because I'm really pretentious. In a good way...

-alex