I'm slowly adding in the locations of where the pictures are taken at (relative locations, I can't give EXACT locations on EVERY picture). I've done all the major "sets" of photos. So if you look at the album, you can see all the little markers!
It's kind of funny to look at London and see how far some places are and they really weren't that far in reality. The underground and buses made it really nice. For the most part, though, things never seemed as far away as they were.
One of these days I plan to do a map of Edinburgh and show where I went since we seriously covered all of the Old Town area. Might do one for Piccadilly and all that, but we'll see since that's more work!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Photos!
Here are the links to 4 albums of photos.
Lincoln and Lincolnshire - Photos while staying at Kate's and going into Lincoln. Most of them are of the Lincoln Cathedral
Edinburgh, Scotland - Photos while in Edinburgh. Photos along the train ride north or south, Edinburgh Castle, hostel, Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, Deathly Hallows release night, and Elephant House
London, England - Photos while in London. Photos of the Tower of London, Natural History Museum, St James Park, Big Ben/Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, policemen (women) on horses, Orlando Bloom, Kings Cross, hostel, and some of a commercial being filmed
Horse Guards - Photos of the Horse Guards in London. Photos of the Dismount Ceremony and Changing of the Guard
I took over 780 pictures, but I weeded out the bad ones and took out some duplicates and all that. The Horse Guard album is actually a bit less than half the photos I took of the Dismount Ceremony and the Changing of the Guard. LoL So I definitely weeded those down since both ceremonies had a lot of standing around so I ended up taking a LOT of photos of both. Oddly enough, a lot of my photos don't have people I know in them. :P Lots of them are views and sites.
I seem to be stuck on UK time too. I fell asleep (more like passed out) yesterday in the evening 5 pm? I don't even know when. I thought I'd just take a nap, but then I woke up at 4:30 am! That was NOT a nap. LoL So I finished uploading my photos.
I sort of miss London and Edinburgh now. It's good to be home (SO nice not to think I have to move again), but London was fun and so was Edinburgh. I have made new friends, met some old ones, and made a lot of great memories. I'm broke now, but I had a lot of fun so it's worth it. :) If I go back, I'd spend more time in Scotland and go to Glasgow. I'd probably hit London, but maybe not stay as long as the other places and see a play and things like that. London grew on me my last day there so I don't miss Edinburgh as much as I did (it was like a homesick feeling) when I first arrived, but Edinburgh will still always be my favorite. It's just an amazing place and I had fun there with everyone. London had some amazing memories and new things to laugh at though. So they're both special now in their own ways. :)
Lincoln and Lincolnshire - Photos while staying at Kate's and going into Lincoln. Most of them are of the Lincoln Cathedral
Edinburgh, Scotland - Photos while in Edinburgh. Photos along the train ride north or south, Edinburgh Castle, hostel, Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, Deathly Hallows release night, and Elephant House
London, England - Photos while in London. Photos of the Tower of London, Natural History Museum, St James Park, Big Ben/Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, policemen (women) on horses, Orlando Bloom, Kings Cross, hostel, and some of a commercial being filmed
Horse Guards - Photos of the Horse Guards in London. Photos of the Dismount Ceremony and Changing of the Guard
I took over 780 pictures, but I weeded out the bad ones and took out some duplicates and all that. The Horse Guard album is actually a bit less than half the photos I took of the Dismount Ceremony and the Changing of the Guard. LoL So I definitely weeded those down since both ceremonies had a lot of standing around so I ended up taking a LOT of photos of both. Oddly enough, a lot of my photos don't have people I know in them. :P Lots of them are views and sites.
I seem to be stuck on UK time too. I fell asleep (more like passed out) yesterday in the evening 5 pm? I don't even know when. I thought I'd just take a nap, but then I woke up at 4:30 am! That was NOT a nap. LoL So I finished uploading my photos.
I sort of miss London and Edinburgh now. It's good to be home (SO nice not to think I have to move again), but London was fun and so was Edinburgh. I have made new friends, met some old ones, and made a lot of great memories. I'm broke now, but I had a lot of fun so it's worth it. :) If I go back, I'd spend more time in Scotland and go to Glasgow. I'd probably hit London, but maybe not stay as long as the other places and see a play and things like that. London grew on me my last day there so I don't miss Edinburgh as much as I did (it was like a homesick feeling) when I first arrived, but Edinburgh will still always be my favorite. It's just an amazing place and I had fun there with everyone. London had some amazing memories and new things to laugh at though. So they're both special now in their own ways. :)
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Orlando's Security Guards and The Worst Flight
Where'd I leave off? Oh, that's right, I was about to go to dinner.
Okay, so Thursday night I left the cafe and went to have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I tell you, that has to be the most expensive dinner I've bought EVER! After the conversion, it was almost $30! It was a nice Rainforest Cafe, though. The top floor was the gift store (smaller than the others I've been in), the 2nd floor (downstairs) is the bar and seating (across a small bridge) and then there's another floor below that one. So it goes down 2 floors. I sat in the middle floor right next to an aquarium. It was nice.
After that I went back to the hostel to pick up the rest of my In Celebration flyers and my program for the other actors. I went back to the Internet Cafe to check my bank account to see how much money I had in it (it's quite empty - LoL) and then I went to go stand at the theatre.
Well...I got to the theater and there wasn't anyone there! So I stood behind a pillar/post thingy to wait a bit more and finally two girls showed up so I went to stand on their side, sitting down (not on the side I wanted). Eventually, 4 other girls showed up on the OTHER side I wanted and I went to stand over there, but it was too late so I went back to the other side so I could be in front at least. While standing in line I got to know the 2 girls that were there first and then 2 new girls that were Australian. Isobel and Natalie. We were standing there and Orlando came out FIRST! He's never done that before. I ended up stuck behind a security guard, but two more autographs from him. LoL Afterwards, the 4 girls and were all showing each other's pictures and saying we wanted to exchange and all that so we exchanged e-mails. Isobel and I were still stanidng there, though, because we really wanted the other actors in the play to sign the program. Well, one of them came out with Orlando when he came out the 2nd time to get into the car (the first time he came out, signed, and went back in). The one that came out with Orlando was the one I REALLY wanted! One of them ignored us and 2 others signed for me - Tim Healy and Ciaran McIntyre. They were very nice about it too. After that, Natalie started to talk with the security guards (very nice guys) and then Isobel and I went over and we started talking to them and they asked about a good bar and Isobel wanted a karaoke bar because it was her goal to do karaoke in every country she went to (she was on some tour, same with Natalie which is how they met because they're roomies for only Thursday night) because she was a musician. Anyway, it came out (not sure HOW it happened) that the guys were offered to come with us. They told us there's this theater club that a lot of the theater people go to and they have a piano there that someone can play and you can sign with. Anyway, we waited till they got the okay to go home and Paul and Kadir led us the way to it.
I at first wasn't going to go because it was getting late and I had to get up early to catch my flight, but Isobel and Natalie kept telling me I couldn't leave them and yaddy, yaddy. So I finally gave in. At the bar I didn't want anything to drink (Kadir was buying first rounds), but he asked if I was sure and not even a soft drink, so I eventually got a Coke. We found a couch next to the door and the 3 of us girls sat while the guys stood and we just talked. It was nice. We talked about their jobs, Isobel talked about a lot of various things and it was just nice. Eventually, we had this drunk guy come up to us and ask us girls something and we could not understand it. Kadir said he was going out for a smoke and Natalie sort of jumped up saying she'd go with him. Isobel and I didn't smoke and didn't necessarily want to go with him, but the drunk guy asked if he could sit in Natalie's seat so Isobel and I decided to go. It turned out to be fine. We just stood at the end of this, not alley, but walkway/arch and just talked some more. A couple of police officers in the round hats came by and Isobel wanted a picture with them so she got one and then Natalie. I was going to get one, but my camera batteries were dying. We started laughing because Isobel asked the security guys BEFORE they were off if she could have a picture with them and they said no. I was ribbing Kadir because the police officers weren't off duty, yet they were taking pictures. :P Kadir just rolled his eyes at me and said he gets paid more than they do and they could now that they're off duty. LoL
At 12:30am I decided I HAD to leave and so left. It was a nice lot and I have Isobel's email so I can look her up. I think she was going back on Friday night (with or without Natalie) to get more actor's autographs so I'm sure she saw the guys again. That was probably the last time I'll see any of them, though. It was a nice night to end staying in London, though.
Friday morning I woke up at 8:30am to make sure my packing was done and all that. I snoozed off and on till almost 9 am because I was SO tired. I had the coke late at night so I had some caffeine running through me, I was nervous about oversleeping and going home, and yaddy, yaddy so I didn't go to sleep till after 2 am and then slept badly the rest of the night. I finished my packing and was ready to go at check out time. I hopped onto the tube at 10am and took the our ride to Heathrow. I got to Heathrow and my terminal and was about to check in and the lady told me that my plan was delayed by THREE hours! It actually came up because I wanted to change my connecting flight from SFO to San Jose or Monterey. Anyway, she told me to run over to the ticket spot and ask if I could get onto the Chicago flight that was leaving at 2:30pm. I'd go via Chicago and land in San Fran around 9pm. I went over there and waited around for 30 minutes. Finally I got to a person and after our talking I realized two things - 1) what was the point? My mom DIDN'T want to go to San Fran that late and I wanted to change my connecting flight more than my arrival time and 2) it was going to cost me $200 for a STANDBY ticket. Yeah, wasn't worth it to me. So I went back and checked in to my 15:15 flight that was delayed by 3 hours. I found a place to sit next to a board because in Heathrow they don't tell you your gate till an hour before take off. I basically sat there for 6 hours waiting for the board to say which gate to go to. I did fall asleep for 30 minutes, but other than that, I was awake or restless. FINALLY they called our flight around 17:15. I went to my gate, sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes and then sat on the plane for a long time more. We didn't take off till 4 hours our initial departure time (19:15). The flight wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be - only 10 hours and 20 minutes. I slept along the way and got fed. The food definitely wasn't as good as Virgin Atlantic. They gave us for dinner chicken penna pasta in pesto sauce (actually wasn't bad), water, roll, butter, and this chocolate cake-type-thing (wasn't very good), and this really good cold vegetable salad thing (peppers, corn, dill?, and something else). The other meal was this pepper, mushroom, cheese thing in a roll, grapes, and a Walkers Shortbread cookie. The snack was Walkers shortbread cookies, which I actually brought home with me. Lol
Because the flight was delayed so long, I missed my connecting flight to SFO. We arrived in LAX around 10pm and by the time I went through immigration, got my luggage, went through customs, found terminal 4, it was 11pm or a bit after. Because the flight delay wasn't my fault or weather (the crew got in the night before 3 hours late and because they can't fly without a certain amount of rest, our flight was delayed) they changed my flight for free to San Jose instead of San Fran, put me up in a room for the night at the Sheraton in downtown LA (yes, downtown LA), food vouches ($10 for dinner (where was I going to get that?!), $5 for breakfast (I wasn't going to be there long enough!), and vouchers for the Super Shuttle to the Sheraton and back. By the time I got on the shuttle and arrived at the hotel, it was about midnight. I had gotten to know my fellow shuttlemates and we had split into two groups for scheduling the shuttle back. Cecil called for his friend John (flight for them both on Alaskan Airlines at 6:20 am) and myself on AA at 6am. Those guys at Super Shuttle wanted to know EVERYTHING about us to set up an appointment to be picked up! Our flight number, airline, where we were going, yaddy, yaddy, yaddy. I had originally said I wanted to be picked up at 3am to give me a buffer time since it took about 30-40 minutes on the shuttle to get to the hotel with stops along the way. I wasn't sure how busy LAX was going to be, but I wanted to pad it. Well, the shuttle guys said that the earliest they could do was 4:10am. That means, by the time I got to the airport, It'd be 4:40am at the earliest! My flight LEFT at 6am! We decided to go with it anyway. Stupid super shuttle people kept saying they'd get us there in time or they'd pay us back for our plane ticket and everything. That didn't make us feel better.
By the time I got to my room (10th floor), it was 1 am. It just wasn't worth staying there. LoL I should have stayed at the airport. I took a shower (felt SO nice) and fell asleep on the bed for 30 minutes. At 3:40am I get a call and it was Cecil saying he and John were going to take a taxi to the airport. It was going to be about $45, but splitting it 3 ways would make it about $15 each. It was worth it to me! We took the taxi at 3:50am and got there around 4:20am. I am SO glad we took the taxi. I don't think I'd have made my flight if I didn't do that. It took me an hour from the time I got my luggage tag to the time I dropped off my luggage at the screening spot. It took me a half hour to go through security, but only because (once I got INTO the building, security line was ridiculous) they asked if anyone had a 6am departure. I'm all "I DO!" They checked my boarding pass and let me bypass all these people. So I got through security, took the shuttle to my gate, and met up Kristi in about 35 minutes. I was SO thankful!
The funny thing about the flight was Kristi was coming back from Maui and she had her connecting flight to San Jose and when I missed mine the night before and rescheduled, we ended up the same plane home! So mom only had to make one trip to pick us up. Anyway, we got on the plane and took the hour flight home. Once there, though, I had a funny suspicion my luggage may not have gotten on that plane because I got it to security RIGHT at the 45 minute cut off time. Sure 'nough, Kristi's luggage arrived, but not mine. So I had to come back around 10 am (about 2 hours later - the next flight to San Jose from LAX). We went out to breakfast at Denny's and by the time we went back (a quarter till) my luggage had arrived!
Anyway, that was my eventful and dreadful trip home. The flight itself wasn't bad, but everything else was.
I'm about to upload my pictures and look at them, so I'll get those up as soon as I can. I do need to do some other things like unpack, do laundry, sleep, check Leaky (the site, not the Lounge - I'm too tired for the Lounge), and some other things, but I don't go back to work till Monday at 1pm so I have some time. I'm just really knackered right now. It shouldn't take someone 34 hours to get home (9am wake up in London on Friday to 11 am arrival at home on Saturday), but at least I'm home!
Okay, so Thursday night I left the cafe and went to have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I tell you, that has to be the most expensive dinner I've bought EVER! After the conversion, it was almost $30! It was a nice Rainforest Cafe, though. The top floor was the gift store (smaller than the others I've been in), the 2nd floor (downstairs) is the bar and seating (across a small bridge) and then there's another floor below that one. So it goes down 2 floors. I sat in the middle floor right next to an aquarium. It was nice.
After that I went back to the hostel to pick up the rest of my In Celebration flyers and my program for the other actors. I went back to the Internet Cafe to check my bank account to see how much money I had in it (it's quite empty - LoL) and then I went to go stand at the theatre.
Well...I got to the theater and there wasn't anyone there! So I stood behind a pillar/post thingy to wait a bit more and finally two girls showed up so I went to stand on their side, sitting down (not on the side I wanted). Eventually, 4 other girls showed up on the OTHER side I wanted and I went to stand over there, but it was too late so I went back to the other side so I could be in front at least. While standing in line I got to know the 2 girls that were there first and then 2 new girls that were Australian. Isobel and Natalie. We were standing there and Orlando came out FIRST! He's never done that before. I ended up stuck behind a security guard, but two more autographs from him. LoL Afterwards, the 4 girls and were all showing each other's pictures and saying we wanted to exchange and all that so we exchanged e-mails. Isobel and I were still stanidng there, though, because we really wanted the other actors in the play to sign the program. Well, one of them came out with Orlando when he came out the 2nd time to get into the car (the first time he came out, signed, and went back in). The one that came out with Orlando was the one I REALLY wanted! One of them ignored us and 2 others signed for me - Tim Healy and Ciaran McIntyre. They were very nice about it too. After that, Natalie started to talk with the security guards (very nice guys) and then Isobel and I went over and we started talking to them and they asked about a good bar and Isobel wanted a karaoke bar because it was her goal to do karaoke in every country she went to (she was on some tour, same with Natalie which is how they met because they're roomies for only Thursday night) because she was a musician. Anyway, it came out (not sure HOW it happened) that the guys were offered to come with us. They told us there's this theater club that a lot of the theater people go to and they have a piano there that someone can play and you can sign with. Anyway, we waited till they got the okay to go home and Paul and Kadir led us the way to it.
I at first wasn't going to go because it was getting late and I had to get up early to catch my flight, but Isobel and Natalie kept telling me I couldn't leave them and yaddy, yaddy. So I finally gave in. At the bar I didn't want anything to drink (Kadir was buying first rounds), but he asked if I was sure and not even a soft drink, so I eventually got a Coke. We found a couch next to the door and the 3 of us girls sat while the guys stood and we just talked. It was nice. We talked about their jobs, Isobel talked about a lot of various things and it was just nice. Eventually, we had this drunk guy come up to us and ask us girls something and we could not understand it. Kadir said he was going out for a smoke and Natalie sort of jumped up saying she'd go with him. Isobel and I didn't smoke and didn't necessarily want to go with him, but the drunk guy asked if he could sit in Natalie's seat so Isobel and I decided to go. It turned out to be fine. We just stood at the end of this, not alley, but walkway/arch and just talked some more. A couple of police officers in the round hats came by and Isobel wanted a picture with them so she got one and then Natalie. I was going to get one, but my camera batteries were dying. We started laughing because Isobel asked the security guys BEFORE they were off if she could have a picture with them and they said no. I was ribbing Kadir because the police officers weren't off duty, yet they were taking pictures. :P Kadir just rolled his eyes at me and said he gets paid more than they do and they could now that they're off duty. LoL
At 12:30am I decided I HAD to leave and so left. It was a nice lot and I have Isobel's email so I can look her up. I think she was going back on Friday night (with or without Natalie) to get more actor's autographs so I'm sure she saw the guys again. That was probably the last time I'll see any of them, though. It was a nice night to end staying in London, though.
Friday morning I woke up at 8:30am to make sure my packing was done and all that. I snoozed off and on till almost 9 am because I was SO tired. I had the coke late at night so I had some caffeine running through me, I was nervous about oversleeping and going home, and yaddy, yaddy so I didn't go to sleep till after 2 am and then slept badly the rest of the night. I finished my packing and was ready to go at check out time. I hopped onto the tube at 10am and took the our ride to Heathrow. I got to Heathrow and my terminal and was about to check in and the lady told me that my plan was delayed by THREE hours! It actually came up because I wanted to change my connecting flight from SFO to San Jose or Monterey. Anyway, she told me to run over to the ticket spot and ask if I could get onto the Chicago flight that was leaving at 2:30pm. I'd go via Chicago and land in San Fran around 9pm. I went over there and waited around for 30 minutes. Finally I got to a person and after our talking I realized two things - 1) what was the point? My mom DIDN'T want to go to San Fran that late and I wanted to change my connecting flight more than my arrival time and 2) it was going to cost me $200 for a STANDBY ticket. Yeah, wasn't worth it to me. So I went back and checked in to my 15:15 flight that was delayed by 3 hours. I found a place to sit next to a board because in Heathrow they don't tell you your gate till an hour before take off. I basically sat there for 6 hours waiting for the board to say which gate to go to. I did fall asleep for 30 minutes, but other than that, I was awake or restless. FINALLY they called our flight around 17:15. I went to my gate, sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes and then sat on the plane for a long time more. We didn't take off till 4 hours our initial departure time (19:15). The flight wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be - only 10 hours and 20 minutes. I slept along the way and got fed. The food definitely wasn't as good as Virgin Atlantic. They gave us for dinner chicken penna pasta in pesto sauce (actually wasn't bad), water, roll, butter, and this chocolate cake-type-thing (wasn't very good), and this really good cold vegetable salad thing (peppers, corn, dill?, and something else). The other meal was this pepper, mushroom, cheese thing in a roll, grapes, and a Walkers Shortbread cookie. The snack was Walkers shortbread cookies, which I actually brought home with me. Lol
Because the flight was delayed so long, I missed my connecting flight to SFO. We arrived in LAX around 10pm and by the time I went through immigration, got my luggage, went through customs, found terminal 4, it was 11pm or a bit after. Because the flight delay wasn't my fault or weather (the crew got in the night before 3 hours late and because they can't fly without a certain amount of rest, our flight was delayed) they changed my flight for free to San Jose instead of San Fran, put me up in a room for the night at the Sheraton in downtown LA (yes, downtown LA), food vouches ($10 for dinner (where was I going to get that?!), $5 for breakfast (I wasn't going to be there long enough!), and vouchers for the Super Shuttle to the Sheraton and back. By the time I got on the shuttle and arrived at the hotel, it was about midnight. I had gotten to know my fellow shuttlemates and we had split into two groups for scheduling the shuttle back. Cecil called for his friend John (flight for them both on Alaskan Airlines at 6:20 am) and myself on AA at 6am. Those guys at Super Shuttle wanted to know EVERYTHING about us to set up an appointment to be picked up! Our flight number, airline, where we were going, yaddy, yaddy, yaddy. I had originally said I wanted to be picked up at 3am to give me a buffer time since it took about 30-40 minutes on the shuttle to get to the hotel with stops along the way. I wasn't sure how busy LAX was going to be, but I wanted to pad it. Well, the shuttle guys said that the earliest they could do was 4:10am. That means, by the time I got to the airport, It'd be 4:40am at the earliest! My flight LEFT at 6am! We decided to go with it anyway. Stupid super shuttle people kept saying they'd get us there in time or they'd pay us back for our plane ticket and everything. That didn't make us feel better.
By the time I got to my room (10th floor), it was 1 am. It just wasn't worth staying there. LoL I should have stayed at the airport. I took a shower (felt SO nice) and fell asleep on the bed for 30 minutes. At 3:40am I get a call and it was Cecil saying he and John were going to take a taxi to the airport. It was going to be about $45, but splitting it 3 ways would make it about $15 each. It was worth it to me! We took the taxi at 3:50am and got there around 4:20am. I am SO glad we took the taxi. I don't think I'd have made my flight if I didn't do that. It took me an hour from the time I got my luggage tag to the time I dropped off my luggage at the screening spot. It took me a half hour to go through security, but only because (once I got INTO the building, security line was ridiculous) they asked if anyone had a 6am departure. I'm all "I DO!" They checked my boarding pass and let me bypass all these people. So I got through security, took the shuttle to my gate, and met up Kristi in about 35 minutes. I was SO thankful!
The funny thing about the flight was Kristi was coming back from Maui and she had her connecting flight to San Jose and when I missed mine the night before and rescheduled, we ended up the same plane home! So mom only had to make one trip to pick us up. Anyway, we got on the plane and took the hour flight home. Once there, though, I had a funny suspicion my luggage may not have gotten on that plane because I got it to security RIGHT at the 45 minute cut off time. Sure 'nough, Kristi's luggage arrived, but not mine. So I had to come back around 10 am (about 2 hours later - the next flight to San Jose from LAX). We went out to breakfast at Denny's and by the time we went back (a quarter till) my luggage had arrived!
Anyway, that was my eventful and dreadful trip home. The flight itself wasn't bad, but everything else was.
I'm about to upload my pictures and look at them, so I'll get those up as soon as I can. I do need to do some other things like unpack, do laundry, sleep, check Leaky (the site, not the Lounge - I'm too tired for the Lounge), and some other things, but I don't go back to work till Monday at 1pm so I have some time. I'm just really knackered right now. It shouldn't take someone 34 hours to get home (9am wake up in London on Friday to 11 am arrival at home on Saturday), but at least I'm home!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Horse Guards
Today Mo and I slept in a bit (half hour) and walked to the Horse Guards to see their Guard Change ceremony (VERY close to our hostel, turns out). As I said before, we had no desire for the Royal Guard Change, but the horse guards, yes!
We got there about 45 minutes early and noticed the horses on the other side were out more and decided to take a picture together with the horse. The horse was so friendly! It nuzzled me and her. She has a picture of the horse's nose in her hand. It was so nice. The other one we just took pictures of. Then we went out and positioned ourselves in two different spots to get the maximum picture angles we could. It was pretty neat. A gray horse came out with a guy with a bugle and trotted out and towards the Palace. Then a few minutes later 6 horses came out and lined themselves up facing me!! It was a few more minutes and the guy on the gray horse came back and lined up with them. I took a ton of pictures of them facing me. A few minutes after that their leader came out and positioned himself facing me in front of them. Even a bit more, the horses from the palace barracks came (12 of them?) and came into the "arena" and lined up with their backs to me. It was pretty neat. Then the leader had 6 of them step out. The guy with the flag from the group that came from the palace switched flags to another horse in the group (right in front of me) and then those 6 horses left and went back into the stables that were there. The neat thing about looking at the guards from the palace and from where we were is their tops were different colors. The ones from the palace were black and the others were red. The two leaders of the groups went into the middle and were talking. I have a funny suspicion it was like "what'd you think of the rain yesterday?" "How's the family?" Stuff like that. They basically just stood there for at least a half hour and the 6 that went back into the stables came out in the red colored tops and then that new group (now 12 or 13 in red) walked off towards the palace. The ones that were left went back into the stables. I'm sure 2 went out front to stand "guard" and the others went back to the stables (horses that is). The people probably were still there.
Mo and I decided to follow behind the group that was heading towards the palace. I wanted a picture of them walking along, but closer up so I ended up running most of that road to catch up with them. It was ridiculous with my daypack on my back and in completely terrible shoes to run in. I did catch up with them, though! I got some pretty nice pictures. They went around the Queen Victoria Monument (went in front of the palace) and walked down the road to the barraks there.
I heard a band playing and Mo was at the front gates, so I went to see that they had a band going in the Royal Guard uniform. I took some "point-and-shoot" photos and went to the front gates where I ended up calling Mo and finding out she was at the monument next to a bay horse. I got waylaid, though, as the police horses were SO BEAUTIFUL! I had to stop and take pictures of this beautiful gray dapple (my fav). She took pictures of the horse she was near. Anyway, to say the least, Mo and I were loving the horses.
We eventually walked to Green Park station and caught the tube to Kings Cross St Pancras so I could take a picture at platform 9 3/4. We had a picture together and then we got back on the tube and headed back to the hostel where Mo offloaded her pictures onto her computer and I slept for a half hour while she read for about an hour.
It was 4pm and Mo got her stuff and we left the hostel. It was POURING when she left. We would have been soaked if it weren't for a few awnings and eventually I got my umbrella out to walk back. She left on the tube and I went back to the hostel and just hung out for about 45 minutes. I attempted to see how my packing situation for tomorrow was going to turn out. I think I can get home without two checked bags. My carry-on might be a bit stuffed (I'm coming home with 4 new books and all my other stuff) and I may have to wear my vest and sweatshirt home (or stuff the vest into the carry-on), but I'm pretty sure I can do it.
Right now I'm in the internet cafe again and it's actually very sunny outside. I was kind of surprised. It's blue skies and some puffy clouds (moving fast, though). So I hope it stays nice through tomorrow until I take off at least.
I plan to have dinner at the Rainforest cafe (my splurge and a way to get rid of the rest of my cash) and then either come back to the internet cafe or go back to the hostel or an hour and then head to the theater to see if I can get autographs of the other actors in the play. Somehow we missed Paul Hilton who plays (for all intents and purposes) the main character in the play. He did a fantastic job and I wouldn't mind having the other actors also. So we'll see if I can do that. I'm going to try and go earlier than yesterday so I can be in front. If I get Orlando's again, fine, but I don't need it. I think 2 on my program and 3 on the flyers is good enough. :P I'll probably take pics more than try for an autograph. I want a pic of his dog, which is absolutely cute - a chocolate, medium sized, short haired dog.
After that, I plan to come back and go to sleep. I have to get up at 9 am tomorrow so I can check out of the hostel by 10am and then I'm catching the tube down the road from my hostel (seriously, 3 minutes) and heading to Heathrow. I'm hoping they'll let me check in 4 hours early. It'll be so nice to be rid of my travel packback and just have my carry-on! I can re-read parts of Deathly Hallows, which is what I've been doing lately.
Well, I should go. I'll be home tomorrow late evening! I can't explain how nice it'll feel to be in my own bed (the beds haven't been bad here), my OWN bathroom (no sharing!), and not have to worry about all my stuff! I'm just glad I took Saturday off from work. There is no way I could have been at work on Saturday. LoL Also glad I don't have the aquarium on Sunday.
With that, I'm off.
We got there about 45 minutes early and noticed the horses on the other side were out more and decided to take a picture together with the horse. The horse was so friendly! It nuzzled me and her. She has a picture of the horse's nose in her hand. It was so nice. The other one we just took pictures of. Then we went out and positioned ourselves in two different spots to get the maximum picture angles we could. It was pretty neat. A gray horse came out with a guy with a bugle and trotted out and towards the Palace. Then a few minutes later 6 horses came out and lined themselves up facing me!! It was a few more minutes and the guy on the gray horse came back and lined up with them. I took a ton of pictures of them facing me. A few minutes after that their leader came out and positioned himself facing me in front of them. Even a bit more, the horses from the palace barracks came (12 of them?) and came into the "arena" and lined up with their backs to me. It was pretty neat. Then the leader had 6 of them step out. The guy with the flag from the group that came from the palace switched flags to another horse in the group (right in front of me) and then those 6 horses left and went back into the stables that were there. The neat thing about looking at the guards from the palace and from where we were is their tops were different colors. The ones from the palace were black and the others were red. The two leaders of the groups went into the middle and were talking. I have a funny suspicion it was like "what'd you think of the rain yesterday?" "How's the family?" Stuff like that. They basically just stood there for at least a half hour and the 6 that went back into the stables came out in the red colored tops and then that new group (now 12 or 13 in red) walked off towards the palace. The ones that were left went back into the stables. I'm sure 2 went out front to stand "guard" and the others went back to the stables (horses that is). The people probably were still there.
Mo and I decided to follow behind the group that was heading towards the palace. I wanted a picture of them walking along, but closer up so I ended up running most of that road to catch up with them. It was ridiculous with my daypack on my back and in completely terrible shoes to run in. I did catch up with them, though! I got some pretty nice pictures. They went around the Queen Victoria Monument (went in front of the palace) and walked down the road to the barraks there.
I heard a band playing and Mo was at the front gates, so I went to see that they had a band going in the Royal Guard uniform. I took some "point-and-shoot" photos and went to the front gates where I ended up calling Mo and finding out she was at the monument next to a bay horse. I got waylaid, though, as the police horses were SO BEAUTIFUL! I had to stop and take pictures of this beautiful gray dapple (my fav). She took pictures of the horse she was near. Anyway, to say the least, Mo and I were loving the horses.
We eventually walked to Green Park station and caught the tube to Kings Cross St Pancras so I could take a picture at platform 9 3/4. We had a picture together and then we got back on the tube and headed back to the hostel where Mo offloaded her pictures onto her computer and I slept for a half hour while she read for about an hour.
It was 4pm and Mo got her stuff and we left the hostel. It was POURING when she left. We would have been soaked if it weren't for a few awnings and eventually I got my umbrella out to walk back. She left on the tube and I went back to the hostel and just hung out for about 45 minutes. I attempted to see how my packing situation for tomorrow was going to turn out. I think I can get home without two checked bags. My carry-on might be a bit stuffed (I'm coming home with 4 new books and all my other stuff) and I may have to wear my vest and sweatshirt home (or stuff the vest into the carry-on), but I'm pretty sure I can do it.
Right now I'm in the internet cafe again and it's actually very sunny outside. I was kind of surprised. It's blue skies and some puffy clouds (moving fast, though). So I hope it stays nice through tomorrow until I take off at least.
I plan to have dinner at the Rainforest cafe (my splurge and a way to get rid of the rest of my cash) and then either come back to the internet cafe or go back to the hostel or an hour and then head to the theater to see if I can get autographs of the other actors in the play. Somehow we missed Paul Hilton who plays (for all intents and purposes) the main character in the play. He did a fantastic job and I wouldn't mind having the other actors also. So we'll see if I can do that. I'm going to try and go earlier than yesterday so I can be in front. If I get Orlando's again, fine, but I don't need it. I think 2 on my program and 3 on the flyers is good enough. :P I'll probably take pics more than try for an autograph. I want a pic of his dog, which is absolutely cute - a chocolate, medium sized, short haired dog.
After that, I plan to come back and go to sleep. I have to get up at 9 am tomorrow so I can check out of the hostel by 10am and then I'm catching the tube down the road from my hostel (seriously, 3 minutes) and heading to Heathrow. I'm hoping they'll let me check in 4 hours early. It'll be so nice to be rid of my travel packback and just have my carry-on! I can re-read parts of Deathly Hallows, which is what I've been doing lately.
Well, I should go. I'll be home tomorrow late evening! I can't explain how nice it'll feel to be in my own bed (the beds haven't been bad here), my OWN bathroom (no sharing!), and not have to worry about all my stuff! I'm just glad I took Saturday off from work. There is no way I could have been at work on Saturday. LoL Also glad I don't have the aquarium on Sunday.
With that, I'm off.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Speed Sight Seeing
Before I forget, because I will again, Laurie, I had a sip of alcohol for you! It was Maria's Reef in Edinburgh after Kate left, but it had alcohol in it!
Okay, onto the more pressing matters.
I left off last night saying that Moriah and I were going to go see Orlando again last night in the play. We got to the theater and we got in and we had GREAT seats row F right in the middle! Well, 10 minutes before the show was about to start these people come in and say we're in their seats! Turns out, the place we bought the tickets from had given us the 2:30 showing that they said was OUT! So we didn't even bother to look at our tickets (lesson learned). So we panicked and went to the box office and they gave us new seats - row N at the end of the row. They weren't the seats we had before, but the theater was incredibly small so it didn't really matter to be honest.
The play was interesting. Wasn't exactly what I expected. Maybe because Orlando was the only big name I thought he was going to be the main person, but he wasn't. The play is about 3 brothers who after many, many years had come to their parents house to celebrate their 40th anniversary and all that. Well, anyway, through this 24 hour period we learn about the family had a 4th and oldest brother who died at 7. The next brother was 5 (Andrew), then Colin (2), and Orlando (Steven) wasn't even born yet. Apparently the mother, after Jamie died shut herself away and wouldn't see Andrew for 6 weeks. He would cry at the back door wanting in, but the mother wouldn't bring him in. Then, apparently, she was going to kill herself, but remembered Steven so she didn't. Anyway, Andy, the oldest, had this perverse idea/sense about his mother and still resented his mother for locking him out and all this other stuff. Anyway, the acting was just amazing. It was really good.
At one point, Orlando hugs his father (after mayhem breaks loose) and it was very touching and a girl in the back audience (behind us) goes "awww..." and then people start to giggle. It broke the moment and I felt (and so did Mo) embarassed for Orlando. It made him not an actor working and doing his best at what he likes, but that pretty boy, heart throb for girls. I'm hoping he didn't hear it, but we think he may have. I just felt bad for him.
Anyway, afterwards Mo and I went to see if we could get ticket stubs since they took ours when they gave us new seats. We just wanted them to prove we were there or have for a scrapbook. The manager understood and was extremely nice about it. We went outside and stood around then. Orlando's car wasn't there like before, but a barrier. The guards were more laxed about where you could stand and such. To make a long story short, Mo and I got Orlando's autograph!! I was taking my program back after he signed it and he looked up at me! I said "Thanks Orlando" (totally lame), but I was trying to back out of all the people so someone else could take my spot. I felt like Orlando was really trying to get a look at everyone who he gave an autograph for. That and he would ask people if they saw the play tonight, if they liked it, how they were doing. Mo said at one point he said he couldn't see anything at all. LoL The guy had a million cameras and flashes going off. His assistant even had extra Sharpie pens ready for him to use. It was kind of amusing to see, but cool at the same time.
Mo and I are going back again tonight to see if he can sign some other stuff. We're going super early, though, as we want to be the first people there so we don't stand a row or two behind. It'd be nice to actually talk to him and tell him I thought he did a good job in the play. We also want to get the other actors autographs since they were really good in it too and we thought it'd be nice to get as many of theirs as possible. They always come out before Orlando and try to sneak off, but there's only one way out!
Okay, moving on from that...Mo and I went today to the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, walked past Big Ben, West Minster (I spelled that wrong...) Abbey, and Buckingham Palace and we saw the dismount of the Horse Guards all before 5pm. Not to mention found 3 post offices, went to Waterstones, and had breakfast.
Natural History Museum was neat, but the best thing was the mineral/rock place. Mo and I spent a long time in there for the first 10 rows, but then realized there was like 40 rows or something and it'd take us HOURS (not kidding you) if we kept going the way we were going. So we sped it up. The Science Museum was neat, but over crowded with kids. It was driving us nuts. I really think dad would have liked it. There were all kinds of neat things there. I was expecting more of a Tech Museum type place, but it really was more of a museum with old models and such. They had a telecommunications, computers, ships, marine engineering, energy, medicine, etc, etc, etc. It was pretty neat, but we sort of blazed through it, but it was neat.
We got back on the tube and went to the Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham palace. We walked past them taking pictures as neither of us had the desire to spend the money to go into them. We saw the Horse Guards on their horses. I took a TON of pictures of the dismount, which is really not a whole lot. LoL It's about 20 minutes of inspecting them and walking back in. We did see a guard change on and off the horses, though. They dismount where we can't see them, which is kind of interesting. We're going to try and see the guard change at 11am for the Horse Guard tomorrow. We don't have a desire to see the guard change at Buckingham Palace since it's supposed to be insane because of the amount of people, but the horses we do! Mo likes horses too. :)
Tomorrow we also plan to go to Kings Cross and have our pictures taken at the 9 3/4 platform thingy they have there for people to take pictures at. Should be fun. We're also going to go to the British Library too. It's almost right next door to Kings Cross. Mo leaves tomorrow (has to catch the tube around 4 pm) so I'll be alone in the evening. I may treat myself to the Rainforest Cafe that is almost right next to the hostel (expensive as usual) or go see Orlando again or hang out in the internet cafe or go to bed early. I have to check out by 10 am on Friday, so I need to get up and pack and all that. I guess I'll see what I do. I'll be at the airport early on Friday since my plane doesn't leave till 3:15pm and it's only an hour-ish tube ride from Piccadilly to Heathrow, but I can hang out and spend the rest of my money I have in cash. It's just not worth exchanging it to US dollars.
Oh on another note, I got Harry Potter stamps today! They didn't have any of the special set ones, but they did have the stamps at least. Mo and I got some. A "sheet" is just the 7 books as a stamp. They're pretty neat. Not sure what I'll do with them, but it's something you can only get in the UK and it's special! I haven't found a whole lot of HP product. I did find some random stickers (I think they are) at Borders today. I bought all the different ones not even knowing what the heck they are. LoL They say "album stickers" on them. I went and a manager who had helped me the other night recognized me. It was kind of funny. :P
It rained a bit earlier today, but it's stopped so far. That's nice. It might be insane again tonight at the theater (it was last night because it didn't rain), but we'll see. I'm hoping it's nice again tomorrow.
Well, I should be off. I can't think of anything else to write.
Okay, onto the more pressing matters.
I left off last night saying that Moriah and I were going to go see Orlando again last night in the play. We got to the theater and we got in and we had GREAT seats row F right in the middle! Well, 10 minutes before the show was about to start these people come in and say we're in their seats! Turns out, the place we bought the tickets from had given us the 2:30 showing that they said was OUT! So we didn't even bother to look at our tickets (lesson learned). So we panicked and went to the box office and they gave us new seats - row N at the end of the row. They weren't the seats we had before, but the theater was incredibly small so it didn't really matter to be honest.
The play was interesting. Wasn't exactly what I expected. Maybe because Orlando was the only big name I thought he was going to be the main person, but he wasn't. The play is about 3 brothers who after many, many years had come to their parents house to celebrate their 40th anniversary and all that. Well, anyway, through this 24 hour period we learn about the family had a 4th and oldest brother who died at 7. The next brother was 5 (Andrew), then Colin (2), and Orlando (Steven) wasn't even born yet. Apparently the mother, after Jamie died shut herself away and wouldn't see Andrew for 6 weeks. He would cry at the back door wanting in, but the mother wouldn't bring him in. Then, apparently, she was going to kill herself, but remembered Steven so she didn't. Anyway, Andy, the oldest, had this perverse idea/sense about his mother and still resented his mother for locking him out and all this other stuff. Anyway, the acting was just amazing. It was really good.
At one point, Orlando hugs his father (after mayhem breaks loose) and it was very touching and a girl in the back audience (behind us) goes "awww..." and then people start to giggle. It broke the moment and I felt (and so did Mo) embarassed for Orlando. It made him not an actor working and doing his best at what he likes, but that pretty boy, heart throb for girls. I'm hoping he didn't hear it, but we think he may have. I just felt bad for him.
Anyway, afterwards Mo and I went to see if we could get ticket stubs since they took ours when they gave us new seats. We just wanted them to prove we were there or have for a scrapbook. The manager understood and was extremely nice about it. We went outside and stood around then. Orlando's car wasn't there like before, but a barrier. The guards were more laxed about where you could stand and such. To make a long story short, Mo and I got Orlando's autograph!! I was taking my program back after he signed it and he looked up at me! I said "Thanks Orlando" (totally lame), but I was trying to back out of all the people so someone else could take my spot. I felt like Orlando was really trying to get a look at everyone who he gave an autograph for. That and he would ask people if they saw the play tonight, if they liked it, how they were doing. Mo said at one point he said he couldn't see anything at all. LoL The guy had a million cameras and flashes going off. His assistant even had extra Sharpie pens ready for him to use. It was kind of amusing to see, but cool at the same time.
Mo and I are going back again tonight to see if he can sign some other stuff. We're going super early, though, as we want to be the first people there so we don't stand a row or two behind. It'd be nice to actually talk to him and tell him I thought he did a good job in the play. We also want to get the other actors autographs since they were really good in it too and we thought it'd be nice to get as many of theirs as possible. They always come out before Orlando and try to sneak off, but there's only one way out!
Okay, moving on from that...Mo and I went today to the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, walked past Big Ben, West Minster (I spelled that wrong...) Abbey, and Buckingham Palace and we saw the dismount of the Horse Guards all before 5pm. Not to mention found 3 post offices, went to Waterstones, and had breakfast.
Natural History Museum was neat, but the best thing was the mineral/rock place. Mo and I spent a long time in there for the first 10 rows, but then realized there was like 40 rows or something and it'd take us HOURS (not kidding you) if we kept going the way we were going. So we sped it up. The Science Museum was neat, but over crowded with kids. It was driving us nuts. I really think dad would have liked it. There were all kinds of neat things there. I was expecting more of a Tech Museum type place, but it really was more of a museum with old models and such. They had a telecommunications, computers, ships, marine engineering, energy, medicine, etc, etc, etc. It was pretty neat, but we sort of blazed through it, but it was neat.
We got back on the tube and went to the Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham palace. We walked past them taking pictures as neither of us had the desire to spend the money to go into them. We saw the Horse Guards on their horses. I took a TON of pictures of the dismount, which is really not a whole lot. LoL It's about 20 minutes of inspecting them and walking back in. We did see a guard change on and off the horses, though. They dismount where we can't see them, which is kind of interesting. We're going to try and see the guard change at 11am for the Horse Guard tomorrow. We don't have a desire to see the guard change at Buckingham Palace since it's supposed to be insane because of the amount of people, but the horses we do! Mo likes horses too. :)
Tomorrow we also plan to go to Kings Cross and have our pictures taken at the 9 3/4 platform thingy they have there for people to take pictures at. Should be fun. We're also going to go to the British Library too. It's almost right next door to Kings Cross. Mo leaves tomorrow (has to catch the tube around 4 pm) so I'll be alone in the evening. I may treat myself to the Rainforest Cafe that is almost right next to the hostel (expensive as usual) or go see Orlando again or hang out in the internet cafe or go to bed early. I have to check out by 10 am on Friday, so I need to get up and pack and all that. I guess I'll see what I do. I'll be at the airport early on Friday since my plane doesn't leave till 3:15pm and it's only an hour-ish tube ride from Piccadilly to Heathrow, but I can hang out and spend the rest of my money I have in cash. It's just not worth exchanging it to US dollars.
Oh on another note, I got Harry Potter stamps today! They didn't have any of the special set ones, but they did have the stamps at least. Mo and I got some. A "sheet" is just the 7 books as a stamp. They're pretty neat. Not sure what I'll do with them, but it's something you can only get in the UK and it's special! I haven't found a whole lot of HP product. I did find some random stickers (I think they are) at Borders today. I bought all the different ones not even knowing what the heck they are. LoL They say "album stickers" on them. I went and a manager who had helped me the other night recognized me. It was kind of funny. :P
It rained a bit earlier today, but it's stopped so far. That's nice. It might be insane again tonight at the theater (it was last night because it didn't rain), but we'll see. I'm hoping it's nice again tomorrow.
Well, I should be off. I can't think of anything else to write.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
One more thing...
When Mo and I were getting our bag checked at the London Tower the guy stopped and gave her a very long and hard look. She was all, "what?" He kept looking at her and she was thinking what she had in her bag. So she said, "the book?" He said, "Yeah. I've seen about 10 in people's bags today." LoL
The book is EVERYWHERE! Laurie (Leaky person, not Laurie who was supposed to go with me) hasn't finished the book yet and she's, suprisingly, hasn't been spoiled yet in London. It's amazing! She'll be done by the time she gets home tonight, though.
The book is EVERYWHERE! Laurie (Leaky person, not Laurie who was supposed to go with me) hasn't finished the book yet and she's, suprisingly, hasn't been spoiled yet in London. It's amazing! She'll be done by the time she gets home tonight, though.
Trains and Leaky and Orlando - Oh my!
Okay...I'm in an internet cafe right now trying to deal with this weird keyboard. Who would have thunk that the keyboards are different in the UK than in the US! Some are the keys are in different places.
Anyway, I left Monday morning from Kate's to get to the Grantham train station to catch the train there to London Kings Cross. Well, I got there about 10 minutes before my train was supposed to leave, I got my tickets and walked out onto the platform. It said "cancelled" for my train! In fact, all the trains that were going to London Kings Cross and Doncaster were cancelled. As it turned out, some lines went down and the "light trains" or electric trains on that line couldn't run! So I panicked and called Kate who was about 10 minutes away after she dropped me off. Her and Nancy were going to go watch PotC: At World's End since they hadn't seen it yet. I went to the ticket office and asked and they said I could take the train from Peterborough to Stevenage to London Kings Cross. If it wasn't for the fact I had the hostel for that night and Mo in London, I may have just stayed at Kate's another day, but I had to go so I said it was okay. When Kate arrived I told her and we said bye again. I got onto the train, which was 30 minutes late (was supposed to leave at 11:40 or something) and it arrived around 12:15pm. I got on it and got off at Peterborough and then there was a mad dash to the platform for the one to get to Stevenage because the train to Peterborough was PACKED!! I was very thankful it was only a 20 minute ride because I had to stand. I got a seat on the train to Stevenage, which was a diesel train, and we stopped for a good 10 minutes just sitting there (not sure why, they told us but I couldn't understand). Well, while sitting on the train, I got to know the British guy sitting next to me. He was older and asked where I was from and I said California. He asked where, so I said Central. He said "Sacramento?" I said no, and told him a few hours south of San Francisco. So he says, "San Jose?" I was blown away. I was thinking if he knew about San Jose he had to know about Monterey so I said Monterey and he said, "Oh yeah. I know where that is. I've gone golfing quite a few times over there. Carmel is very nice." I couldn't believe it! What a small world! So he then he started to name off all these golf courses and such and we sort of talked about it. While on the wait, the conductor (or whoever he was) came on and told us that he has been given permission to take the train directly to Kings Cross! I was so excited! In fact, so was everyone on the train. We didn't have to get off.
Anyway, I arrived in Piccadilly 2 hours the time I was supposed to. I got off at Kings Cross, went to the ticket box to get an Oyster Card (knew the one I wanted and everything!), hopped onto the Tube and headed to Piccadilly Circus. I found the hostel with some guess work. I checked in and paid for the room and all. The room is SMALL. There's a double bunk bed. You know the type with the double bed on the bottom and the twin at the top. A small walkway, sink, small closet, window, and a type of shelf in it.
After dropping all my stuff off, I went and walked around Piccadilly just to walk around. I happened upon Leicster Square and walked to it about 4 different ways. Mo called me telling me they got out of seeing OotP and would meet me back at the hostel, which we did. Then we all went out to dinner.
After dinner, there was talk of seeing Wicked, but I had said I didn't want to spend more than £15 (~$30). In L Square the cheapest earlier in the day was £18.50. We decided to go from Laurie's hotel to see if there were any tickets left at the box office. The show was completely sold out. We ended up with 2 tickets for a total of £20, which we gave to Laurie and Kelly. Laura and Mo had talked about "stalking" Orlando Bloom. Turns out, he's doing a play here in London called The Celebration and some girls had stopped by at night and gotten his autograph. So Laura, Mo, and I decided we wanted to go do that! Why not? LoL
We stopped by Borders to get a LotR book for him to sign and I also picked up the new Jasper Fforde book First Among Sequels since it was out (came out a month before the US, though it's now out in the US) and they had signed copies in the bookstores in London since he's from Wales. Anyway, we walked to the theater around 9:30pm and waited till about 10:30pm. We were second guessing ourselves and all that, but a lady walked his dog out (how cute is that?) and put him in the car and the bodyguards told us to not surge Orlando and that he would only be signing programs and tickets for The Celebration. Well, we put our books away, got our cameras out, and got out the little card/flyer thingy we had picked up to see if he'd sign it.
He came! I have some pretty good pictures of him in the mayhem and he was signing the card/flyer thingy, butI had turned my attention away to check my camera and missed the moment to put the card in his face. LoL Then I walked away thinking he wasn't coming back in my direction and he did! Oh well. It was absolutely fun - total adrenaline rush. It wasn't one of those "OH MY GOSH, ORLANDO!!!!!" things. It was the same type of feeling of standing in line 6 hours before HP or PotC comes out at midnight. It was just fun. We also stood in line with a girl who was from the states and she took some video of him and got her program signed. The funny part about that was the fact she didn't realize it! Her friend told her she got hers signed and the girl next to me told me she didn't get hers signed. Her friend said, "I thought he did." So she checks her program and sure enough - he signed it! It was pretty neat to see and Orlando was just so nice. He would ask people how they were, did they like the play, etc. He just seemed like a really nice guy.
With that said, Mo and I bought tickets for the 7:30pm play tonight for £13.50 (discount ticket place). LoL We're going to try and have him sign the program tonight and if not, maybe tomorrow or I can try Thursday night since Mo leaves Thursday afternoon. LoL You never know!
Today we went and had breakfast, went to get our tickets for the show tonight, and went to see the London Tower. Mo and I think the London Tower was neat, but Edinburgh Castle was better. Plus, the tickets were cheaper at the Castle than the Tower. As we were walking back to the tube entrance, we ran across a clothing line - Next - filming for their fall/winter line of clothing. It was kind of neat! There were cameras and everything in this park and street. We took pictures of it.
We had lunch there and now we're back in Leicster Square. We'll go to the play tonight and then tomorrow we're going to head to the Natural Science Museum (where Jo was on Friday night) and walk around those museums there. I want to see an exhibit at the Natural Science Museum on Antarctica.
Overall, London is nice. I liked the area the London Tower was in more than Piccadilly. It's just TOO much of a city for me and absolutely crazy. There are people EVERYWHERE and you're constantly having to dodge them. The people friendliness can vary too. It's just so different from being at Kate's and Edinburgh. I absolutely loved Edinburgh. I would love to go back and tour around Scotland more (Glasgow for one). The people were so friendly and I loved the atmosphere. London is nice, but Piccadilly is just insane. I may like it more if I wasn't such in the center of London. Also, everywhere is so expensive here! The exchange rate is just killing me.
My cold is doing better. I don't feel as bad as I did before so I should be over it by the time I get home. The rain has cleared up too. It's the first nice day we've had since I've been here. Granted, it didn't rain Wednesday and Thursday, but it wasn't sunny weather. It's actually kind of bright today. Yesterday and Saturday in Edinburgh it just rained and rained. Saturday wasn't too bad, but yesterday wasn't all that fun.
Oh! I forgot to mention. While standing in line to buy our tickets today, a guy with his daughter asked me about my shirt which is my Monterey Bay Aquarium Student Oceanography Club shirt and he asked me if I was from there. I told him yes and he's from Watsonville! Who would have thought! He and his daughter are visiting friends (and family?) in Spain for a few weeks and made a 4 day stop in London on the way. It is just a SMALL world.
Last note before I go. Our hostel is on the 7th floor and the elevator can basically only hold 4 people (it's SO small). I must say, I am SO TIRED of stairs! Going through the Tower today had lots of those small, circular stairs and then the hostel which its 7 flights of stairs, stairs are just screwing with me now. I've been acting like I've felt like I've missed a step or seeing double of stairs more often of late. It's kind of scary, but also kind of funny because stairs are just NOT fun. So Mo and I sort of avoid going back to the hostel since we have to go up the stairs or go up the tiny elevator. :P
Okay, with that, I should be off.
Anyway, I left Monday morning from Kate's to get to the Grantham train station to catch the train there to London Kings Cross. Well, I got there about 10 minutes before my train was supposed to leave, I got my tickets and walked out onto the platform. It said "cancelled" for my train! In fact, all the trains that were going to London Kings Cross and Doncaster were cancelled. As it turned out, some lines went down and the "light trains" or electric trains on that line couldn't run! So I panicked and called Kate who was about 10 minutes away after she dropped me off. Her and Nancy were going to go watch PotC: At World's End since they hadn't seen it yet. I went to the ticket office and asked and they said I could take the train from Peterborough to Stevenage to London Kings Cross. If it wasn't for the fact I had the hostel for that night and Mo in London, I may have just stayed at Kate's another day, but I had to go so I said it was okay. When Kate arrived I told her and we said bye again. I got onto the train, which was 30 minutes late (was supposed to leave at 11:40 or something) and it arrived around 12:15pm. I got on it and got off at Peterborough and then there was a mad dash to the platform for the one to get to Stevenage because the train to Peterborough was PACKED!! I was very thankful it was only a 20 minute ride because I had to stand. I got a seat on the train to Stevenage, which was a diesel train, and we stopped for a good 10 minutes just sitting there (not sure why, they told us but I couldn't understand). Well, while sitting on the train, I got to know the British guy sitting next to me. He was older and asked where I was from and I said California. He asked where, so I said Central. He said "Sacramento?" I said no, and told him a few hours south of San Francisco. So he says, "San Jose?" I was blown away. I was thinking if he knew about San Jose he had to know about Monterey so I said Monterey and he said, "Oh yeah. I know where that is. I've gone golfing quite a few times over there. Carmel is very nice." I couldn't believe it! What a small world! So he then he started to name off all these golf courses and such and we sort of talked about it. While on the wait, the conductor (or whoever he was) came on and told us that he has been given permission to take the train directly to Kings Cross! I was so excited! In fact, so was everyone on the train. We didn't have to get off.
Anyway, I arrived in Piccadilly 2 hours the time I was supposed to. I got off at Kings Cross, went to the ticket box to get an Oyster Card (knew the one I wanted and everything!), hopped onto the Tube and headed to Piccadilly Circus. I found the hostel with some guess work. I checked in and paid for the room and all. The room is SMALL. There's a double bunk bed. You know the type with the double bed on the bottom and the twin at the top. A small walkway, sink, small closet, window, and a type of shelf in it.
After dropping all my stuff off, I went and walked around Piccadilly just to walk around. I happened upon Leicster Square and walked to it about 4 different ways. Mo called me telling me they got out of seeing OotP and would meet me back at the hostel, which we did. Then we all went out to dinner.
After dinner, there was talk of seeing Wicked, but I had said I didn't want to spend more than £15 (~$30). In L Square the cheapest earlier in the day was £18.50. We decided to go from Laurie's hotel to see if there were any tickets left at the box office. The show was completely sold out. We ended up with 2 tickets for a total of £20, which we gave to Laurie and Kelly. Laura and Mo had talked about "stalking" Orlando Bloom. Turns out, he's doing a play here in London called The Celebration and some girls had stopped by at night and gotten his autograph. So Laura, Mo, and I decided we wanted to go do that! Why not? LoL
We stopped by Borders to get a LotR book for him to sign and I also picked up the new Jasper Fforde book First Among Sequels since it was out (came out a month before the US, though it's now out in the US) and they had signed copies in the bookstores in London since he's from Wales. Anyway, we walked to the theater around 9:30pm and waited till about 10:30pm. We were second guessing ourselves and all that, but a lady walked his dog out (how cute is that?) and put him in the car and the bodyguards told us to not surge Orlando and that he would only be signing programs and tickets for The Celebration. Well, we put our books away, got our cameras out, and got out the little card/flyer thingy we had picked up to see if he'd sign it.
He came! I have some pretty good pictures of him in the mayhem and he was signing the card/flyer thingy, butI had turned my attention away to check my camera and missed the moment to put the card in his face. LoL Then I walked away thinking he wasn't coming back in my direction and he did! Oh well. It was absolutely fun - total adrenaline rush. It wasn't one of those "OH MY GOSH, ORLANDO!!!!!" things. It was the same type of feeling of standing in line 6 hours before HP or PotC comes out at midnight. It was just fun. We also stood in line with a girl who was from the states and she took some video of him and got her program signed. The funny part about that was the fact she didn't realize it! Her friend told her she got hers signed and the girl next to me told me she didn't get hers signed. Her friend said, "I thought he did." So she checks her program and sure enough - he signed it! It was pretty neat to see and Orlando was just so nice. He would ask people how they were, did they like the play, etc. He just seemed like a really nice guy.
With that said, Mo and I bought tickets for the 7:30pm play tonight for £13.50 (discount ticket place). LoL We're going to try and have him sign the program tonight and if not, maybe tomorrow or I can try Thursday night since Mo leaves Thursday afternoon. LoL You never know!
Today we went and had breakfast, went to get our tickets for the show tonight, and went to see the London Tower. Mo and I think the London Tower was neat, but Edinburgh Castle was better. Plus, the tickets were cheaper at the Castle than the Tower. As we were walking back to the tube entrance, we ran across a clothing line - Next - filming for their fall/winter line of clothing. It was kind of neat! There were cameras and everything in this park and street. We took pictures of it.
We had lunch there and now we're back in Leicster Square. We'll go to the play tonight and then tomorrow we're going to head to the Natural Science Museum (where Jo was on Friday night) and walk around those museums there. I want to see an exhibit at the Natural Science Museum on Antarctica.
Overall, London is nice. I liked the area the London Tower was in more than Piccadilly. It's just TOO much of a city for me and absolutely crazy. There are people EVERYWHERE and you're constantly having to dodge them. The people friendliness can vary too. It's just so different from being at Kate's and Edinburgh. I absolutely loved Edinburgh. I would love to go back and tour around Scotland more (Glasgow for one). The people were so friendly and I loved the atmosphere. London is nice, but Piccadilly is just insane. I may like it more if I wasn't such in the center of London. Also, everywhere is so expensive here! The exchange rate is just killing me.
My cold is doing better. I don't feel as bad as I did before so I should be over it by the time I get home. The rain has cleared up too. It's the first nice day we've had since I've been here. Granted, it didn't rain Wednesday and Thursday, but it wasn't sunny weather. It's actually kind of bright today. Yesterday and Saturday in Edinburgh it just rained and rained. Saturday wasn't too bad, but yesterday wasn't all that fun.
Oh! I forgot to mention. While standing in line to buy our tickets today, a guy with his daughter asked me about my shirt which is my Monterey Bay Aquarium Student Oceanography Club shirt and he asked me if I was from there. I told him yes and he's from Watsonville! Who would have thought! He and his daughter are visiting friends (and family?) in Spain for a few weeks and made a 4 day stop in London on the way. It is just a SMALL world.
Last note before I go. Our hostel is on the 7th floor and the elevator can basically only hold 4 people (it's SO small). I must say, I am SO TIRED of stairs! Going through the Tower today had lots of those small, circular stairs and then the hostel which its 7 flights of stairs, stairs are just screwing with me now. I've been acting like I've felt like I've missed a step or seeing double of stairs more often of late. It's kind of scary, but also kind of funny because stairs are just NOT fun. So Mo and I sort of avoid going back to the hostel since we have to go up the stairs or go up the tiny elevator. :P
Okay, with that, I should be off.
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