London/Dublin Day 3/4.1: International Relations

Monday brought snow to London. So we holed up in a Starbucks on Euston Road, where I paid £5.50 for an hour of T-Mobile HotSpot WiFi, posted Matt’s Insight Bowl report, and consumed hot chocolate as we worked up the motivation to press on despite the weather.

Her Majesty’s Tower of London was our main destination for the day. At the Tower, the Yeoman Guards, known as “Beefeaters” for the extra rations of meat their predecessors received, dress in 17th-century(?) uniform and do a 30-minute introductory tour before allowing visitors to wander off and explore the various parts of the Tower. Although we missed the Crown Jewels (the line was way too long), the history of the place made it worth the £13.50 (US$24) admission — there aren’t too many other sites about which I’d say that.

After the Tower, we made a quick run across the Tube map to Baker Street for the Sherlock Holmes Museum, as suggested by one of Gwen’s friends. We found that while it might be interesting for the die-hard, it’s a total tourist trap, and at £6 (US$10) a rather expensive one. Now reaching 6 PM, we went to look for food; after a couple of false starts in the Covent Garden area, we wound up in a pseudo-Italian place on Leicester Square that reminded me of my initial assessment of London as “New York with funny money.” Staring out past the windows at the theaters, shops and crowded streets, waiting on a server who clearly viewed her customers as subhuman, I might as well have been in Times Square — except Italian food in New York would have tasted far better.

If it sounds like I’ve been rushing through the day, I have, because the highlight was the evening. It wasn’t planned that way; I had to do laundry, so we were just going to hang out in the upstairs lounge/cafeteria, maybe play cards or talk to anyone who wandered in. So I headed to my room to grab my clothes, and promptly found a new roommate who was actually interested in talking to me, a South African guy named Brendan currently working in the UK to take advantage of the exchange rate and buy a house back home. Gwen came in, one thing led to another, and pretty soon we were all hanging out at the pub next door. Gwen’s roommate Bronwyn, from New Zealand, showed up later in response to the note Gwen had left her, and much amusement followed, first at the pub and then in the lounge after the pub closed. My fellow Americans should be warned about the drinking capabilities of Kiwis — they will make fun of you, but just take it, because if you attempt to keep up, you will die of alcohol poisoning. Trust me on this. Even including the occasional political jab directed at the lone Republican supporter, it was a very fun night.

That night’s discussion generated a political rant that I limited to my computer while overseas, but which I’m now going to reproduce in an independent blog entry and back-date to when it was written, so it doesn’t make the front page. My lefty/liberal friends, especially the Michael Moore fans among them, should probably stay away from that one — it’s for your own good, guys.

On Tuesday morning, we took our final London tourist jaunt, hitting the Natural History Museum and Platform 9-3/4 at Kings Cross (yes, Harry Potter fans, that Platform 9-3/4) before taking our last Tube over to Victoria and re-boarding the Gatwick Express en route to Dublin. As for Ryanair… we’ll deal with their LGW-DUB service next time.