Sunday, July 10th - London Sightseeing

We had exactly 1 day to explore London before having to catch the overnight bus to Edinburgh at 11pm at Victoria Station. So, bleary eyed we packed up and headed to the station to stash our luggage. Victoria Station has a service where you can leave your luggage with a guy at a counter and they store it for you for 8.50 pounds per bag for the first 24 hours. The line for this was long. We took shifts - 2 of us would wait in line while the other 2 ran to find a sandwich for lunch - and had just enough time to get to Hyde Park to make the walking tour at 1pm. Sandeman’s New Europe does awesome free walking tours of a number of famous cities in Europe that last from 2-3 hours (www.neweuropetours.eu). I’ve done 3 and the guides have all been knowledgeable and helpful and work solely for tips. It’s a great way to see major sites and get some history in as well. We saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and a ton of other sites around the city. 

After the tour, we decided to try to see the Tower of London (or possibly the London Tower, a man we asked for directions was very annoyed that I said it the wrong way) and got to see some of the more graffitied areas of the city by cleverly getting lost for a bit.

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Being lost is part of traveling. I have a horrendous sense of direction and have spent large parts of my life lost, so I forget sometimes that being lost is a new and scary feeling for some people. Just remember to stay calm, take a deep breath, and look to see which side of the buildings the moss is growing on. Oh wait, no. I mean, remember that you’re in a city, not a desert. There’s food and water everywhere. If you have time, explore a little, you might find something awesome on your way to finding your way. If you’re pressed for time, then ask someone. If you refuse to ask someone, then you should have brought a map.

We eventually made it back over to the Thames, but by then had been walking for hours and decided we’d just take a picture of the London Tower from where we were. We were all getting hungry and assumed that there must be an English pub nearby where we could get a pint and some fish ‘n chips on our last day in London in this very popular and touristy area of the city. Now, for those of you who are loyal SuperNova followers, you know that whenever I make the mistake of "assuming" something I get universally spanked. This time, though, we actually weren’t wrong; there were several pubs along the many small streets we traversed. They were not, however, serving food on Sunday after 4pm. I don’t know how you’re supposed to know that or why that is the policy and we were too hungry to care about discovering the cultural intricacies of London pubs.

We stumbled down a cute cobblestone road thinking that there had to be a restaurant along it. And there were many store fronts that looked like they should be serving food, but they all appeared to be closed. We finally came to the end without having found even a fast food restaurant to lower our standards to. Tensions were getting high as the hunger delirium mounted.  We turned left and leaned on the railing above the river. We wearily turned our heads to the left and noticed that the way was lined with restaurants. We’d been walking along the back of the strip of restaurants. We quickly made our selection, got a table on the deck overlooking the river, and I had the most delicious shepherd’s pie while M, V, and Mc had the Sunday roast special with pints and ciders all around. Cheers!

Saturday, July 9th - A Show in Haunted London

We did make the 2:02pm train in Canterbury, however, getting from Victoria Station to the Railway Tavern Hotel took longer than expected and we didn’t meet M and V until 5pm. We’d missed lunch because of the length of the tour and having to hurry to catch the train and we were still exhausted from traveling and we were not exactly rays of sunshine at this point.  To make things just a little more difficult, we all wanted to see a show in London, but we had not picked one out yet.

*SuperNova Travel Tip:  Traveling is stressful and you will eventually get grumpy. Instead of taking it out on your soon-to-be-ex-travel buddies, fix it yourself. You are old enough to know your own triggers - if you are probably grumpy because you’re hungry, lower your standards and eat at the next place you see. If you’re tired, give yourself a break and rest. If you need some space from your travel companion, take a long shower. It’s no one’s responsibility to fix your mood, so quit alienating your friends and do what you need to make yourself a normal human being again.

We decided to just head to the West End, which is kind of like the Broadway of London where most of the theatres are located, and then decide there. So we hopped back on the tube (underground) to the Tottenham Court stop. When we emerged, we got a booklet of current shows at one of the theatres and considered our options. There were a number of new shows playing at various theatres in the general area, though V and I were hoping for a musical. We considered going to see Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre (the longest running production, it’s been playing there ever since it opened in the 80’s). Mc had set his heart on seeing a show at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a traditional open-air theatre with a round stage (it was the theatre used in Shakespeare in Love), but was heartbroken to discover it was sold out before we left. (Well, there were seats available for the next day’s show, Anne Boleyn, but that’s not even Shakespeare.) However, M had discovered that there was one last showing of Hamlet at midnight and after much deliberation and Mc stoically insisting that he’d be happy seeing anything, we all decided to take one for team Mc and see Hamlet at midnight.  (C'mon, it's Shakespeare in England.)

We killed time before the show by going on the London Ghost Walk (http://www.london-ghost-walk.co.uk/), which met in front of the underground Bank Station. It was 8 pounds per person and we didn’t book in advance (which is recommended), but our guide very kindly let us join the group and we just paid in cash. Or, I guess looking back it was actually called Alleyways and Shadows: The Old London Ghost Walk, although it could have also been called Vaguely Unfortunate Things That Have Happened to Londoners. If you are looking for scary stories a la summer camp or Jack the Ripper, or landmarks of past gore and horror, this is probably not the tour for you. If you are into stories with ghosts in (some of) them or paranormal vibes and the potential for glowing orbs in your pictures, then sign up immediately. I will say that our guide, Richard Jones, was funny and an animated story teller and if you’re dying to hear more, he has a book that I assume is popular as there were a few members of our group who brought it along (and he kindly signed it for them), Haunted Britain.

The tour was about 2 hours and by the end we were starving, so we stopped and had dinner before trekking out to try to find the Globe Theatre. We took the underground to the London Bridge stop because M and Mc thought that they’d seen the Globe Theatre on a map near the river. “Surely there will be signs to this incredibly popular theatre," we thought.

*SuperNova Travel Observation:  The UK in general appears to feel that signs are for sissies. While we were in London, we went to the Globe Theatre twice and saw a total of 3 signs for the theatre pointing vaguely into the distance with zero further indication of turns or direction changes. This held true for all points of interest, street signs, interesting parts of town, etc. I guess they feel that if you can’t find something using your own resourcefulness, then you don’t deserve to see it.

*SuperNova Travel Tip:  Talk to strangers. I know it goes against every after school special and parental lecture you’ve ever received, but how likely are you to fall for the candy trick at this age? I have had to approach strangers in many countries, when traveling alone, and I have never once been insulted, accosted, licked or any other horror parents might fill your head with.  Don’t be an idiot about it; alleys are not for chatting, but don’t be afraid of people. People are generally helpful.
          *SuperNova Sub-Travel Tip: When asking help from strangers, ask simple questions. Even if you all speak the same language, people are more likely to want to help if you start with a short, simple question and follow it up with other short questions if need be. If you hurl all your questions at once or feel the need for a detailed explanation, the person is going to smile, look down, say they don’t understand, and run from you. Simple, short, and don’t forget to smile!
                    *SuperNova Sub-Sub-Travel Tip: Talk slowly. I know it’s a huge stereotype that Americans talk slowly and loudly to foreigners, but the slow part is actually useful if you’re speaking English to someone who might not. Don’t be ridiculous, but speak clearly and make sure there’s a little more space between your words than usual (it's extra hard to understand a language when the words start to all run together). NEVER be afraid to illustrate your question with gestures! I have had entire conversations based entirely on gestures. Slow, clear, simple, short, gesture, and smile and the world will be your oyster!  Or at least you will find your hotel!

We eventually found the theatre (because we talked to strangers, and it is on the river) and we walked up to the ticket counter and asked how people get home after a midnight show.

*SuperNova Travel Tip:  Remember that transportation closes. Whether you’re sightseeing or clubbing, it’s important to remember that eventually you have to get back to wherever you are calling home, and in a lot of places trains stop running at midnight. The last thing you want to do is try to figure out how to walk home at 2am.

The guy at the ticket counter assured us that there were night buses. Thus relieved, we asked what seats he had available. He told us that he had 2 seats in the lower gallery in the first row for 27 pounds, and 2 seats in the middle gallery behind a pole for 22. We all exchanged a look that said, “We are too old to have stayed up this late to watch a pole,” and Mc and I started debating whether or not we should just get the yard (you can see any show at the Globe on the cheap by getting a “yard” ticket, only 5 pounds, and all you have to do is stand through the whole show). We asked the ticket man how long the show was, and he said, “Only 3 hours, and they are the best seats in the house,” which I suppose could be true if you get a spot right up next to the stage, weren’t jet-lagged, and hadn’t walked all day. Just as I was conceding that it might be possible to stand for 3 hours after midnight, the ticket man chatted with the other ticket guy and announced that he now had 4 seats in the lower gallery, first row, which we bought immediately.

We went upstairs, past the gift shop (closed, sadly), through the courtyard past vendors selling expensive food and drinks (as per usual for the theatre) and walked into the actual theatre. It was incredibly cool. The stage wasn’t completely round, so the seats only wrapped around 2/3rds of the stage (they didn’t go all the way around the back), but it was considerably more than a modern theatre. The yard in front of the stage was a wood floor and was already very crowded (so the 5 pound yard tickets are a good deal if you get there very early or are extraordinarily tall). Then you walk up a few steps to the lower gallery and our seats were in the first row, just right of the center of the stage. There are 3 galleries, all made of rough hewn wood and there is a roof over the galleries but not the yard or stage (if it rains and you are in the yard, you get wet as umbrellas are not allowed). The seats are benches without backs and you can hire (rent) a seat cushion or a blanket for around 4 pounds, which was tempting, but we wanted the "real experience" (also, we felt that was crazy expensive).

Hamlet was phenomenal and everyone agreed it was well worth staying up for. I did nod off once before the 1^st intermission (how many monologues and soliloquies do you need to be conscious for, really?), but overall a fantastic experience that I would highly recommend, if for no better reason than to make your high school English teacher insanely jealous. It was a little chilly, so if you plan on attending at night, pack an extra sweater (if you plan on coming during the day, bring a rain jacket and some sunblock, you’ll probably need one or the other).

After the show, we followed the masses to the bus stop on the London Bridge and thus began the madness of trying to get home. It took us quite some time to figure out which bus would take us back to the hotel, which bus connected with that bus, and which side of the street we needed to be on to catch that bus. This is one of the benefits of traveling with companions vs. traveling alone - there are more eyes looking and more people on which to spread the blame if it goes horribly wrong.

*SuperNova Travel Observation:  Transportation in London is really expensive. This was one thing we had not taken into consideration when planning the budget for this part of our trip. The best deal for the underground/tube is to buy a “day anytime” (all day) ticket for 7.30 pounds (this, by the way, will stop working after a couple of uses, just explain that to the bored looking person standing by the gates in the blue uniform and he’ll just buzz you through. It was fun to see whose card would hold out the longest before finally giving us the finger and refusing to acknowledge that we‘d paid for the whole day). We had to take 2 buses to get back to our hotel and had to pay over 2 pounds per person for each bus. So, budget for transportation.

By the time we finally sleep walked from the station to the hotel, it was after 4am and the sun was making good progress into dawn. Mc and I were munching on a boxed sandwich we’d bought at the station (breakfast of champions) while M made the discovery that none of our keys worked to get us inside. V had the number of the hotel on her phone (always carry your hotel info with you!) and someone finally let us in. Check out was at 11am, so with showering and packing up, we were looking at a whopping 5 hours of sleep, which we were grateful to finally have.