The Beginning

Rather than write a laundry list of things I’ve done during the past week, I’ll try to write a decent narrative of the last week. Here goes.

I arrived in Heathrow confused, queasy, but ready to begin my adventure. Finding my travel companion, Nick, was not too difficult. My late plane ended up arriving minutes before his so we actually saw eachother before we even left the terminal. It was comforting to have someone there who also had no idea how this whole being abroad thing was going to work. I guess the European light country that is England, though, is probably a good place to start.

The plane ride wasn’t too bad. It felt pretty short since I slept through a lot of it. I was feeling kind of nauseous for most of it for absolutely no reason. I’ve got to say, though, British Airways has a pretty thorough choice of airline entertainment. Any airline that allows me to watch the last episode of Spaced back to back with the completely unnecessary cinematic excursion that is Shrek the third is okay in my book.

London is an incredible city. The history, diversity, visual splendor, culture, and overall largeness of the hub of the UK are an impressive sight as well as a lot of fun to explore. I’ve never experienced such an awesome public transportation system. It’s pretty easy to get lost in central London due to the short streets, unmarked street names, and constant changes, but figuring out where you are with a map isn’t too difficult, especially with the ubiquitousness of tube stops. Can’t complain about our hostel either. Despite staying in a 28 person room for 3 nights, it was not that bad. Curtains really go a long way to creating a better sleeping environment. The odor could have been improved, however.

I'd like to mention a shout out to Max who played host to Nick and I for two of the days we were there. Unfortunately, his schedule didn't allowing for him to join us on some of our excursions, but his company was much appreciated when it was available. Here, now look at this picture.

I saw most everything I wanted to see, but was slightly disappointed by the closing of several wings of the National Gallery. If I had more time I’d probably have visited the Tate Modern, the Churchill Museum as well as the National Portrait Gallery and the inside of Westminster Abbey.

I’ll have plenty of time to see excellent art elsewhere though, so missing out on the art museums is not too big a loss.


Despite my enjoyment of the place, I’ll be damned if it wasn’t really expensive. Especially when you take into account that I saw two musicals into the equation. As for those, Spamalot was actually somewhat underwhelming, but Wicked was quite impressive. The songs didn’t catch me as particularly ear-catching on first listen, but repeat plays of the soundtrack on my Ipod have been happening recently, so I guess that means something.

Also contributing to my loss of funds was a general ignorance of the way things worked in London. By the time we left, though, I think I basically got the hang of it. Too bad that is when it was least useful.

As for the populace, I was impressed as well as surprised. Brits were more or less friendly, although this might have something to do with the fact that they were robbing us blindly (The smallest bill denomination is the equivalent of ten US dollars. That is asinine!) I didn’t expect too much considering it was an urban environment, having grown up in LA, but London was different. People actually acknowledged the fact that you exist.

We ended our stay in the city of Bath which is to the southwest of London, close to the coast. Although the historic nature of the bath spas and their general condition was not as impressive as I was hoping, the city is quite beautiful. As is often the case, this is mostly the result of a government institution with strict mandates on architecture and building materials. The city does a well job of marketing itself though, what with free walking tours as well as a generally friendly attitude towards tourists.

Other highlights of the trip include a discussion of comparative real estate with our honorary guide on the walking tour, as well as a conversation with a student at the University of Bath who aspired to go to phoenix in order to further his research on public spaces and hot weather.

I kind of wished we had had more moments like that with the locals, but those that did happen were pretty enjoyable, and occurred more often in Bath than in London. Anyway, I’m looking forward to these kind of interactions when I’m settled in to Spain, especially since I read that the Spanish are such big fans of random conversation.

I think it’s true that you can’t really form a valid opinion on travel experiences until while after they happen. While I was in London, I constantly had to sort of shake myself to help myself realize that I was thousands of miles away in a foreign city of vast international significance and such strong influence.

Sometimes it’s easy to get used to the fact that you’re so far away from home seeing incredible sights. Like most anything, you just get used to the fact that you’re far away from home and having so many new experiences.

Anyway, I’m in Lyon now. But I’ve been a homebody pretty much all day. We’ll see how tomorrow goes, especially since I’m venturing by myself and don’t speak the language at all.

Bye!