And in the end, the love you take
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Adventures
Last update from London!
Richard had the day off, so we left the flat around 10 to head over to Greenwich. We walked under the Thames, explored the market, and then walked up to the observatory and planetarium so that I could stand with one leg in the east and one in the west (over the prime meridian). I also set my watch to GMT + 1 hour (because of summer time). It was pretty cool, actually. We then hopped onto a ferry to head over to Tower Bridge (the one I always thought was London Bridge). The weather all day was great – I got a little color, and I think it was almost 75!
Our next stop was the Tower of London. It was huge – I always thought it was one tower, but there are actually 20. We timed it well and were able to catch a 1-hour guided tour. It was really quite interesting. I also learned about the ravens, which I guess you might know about – it’s said that if the ravens ever leave the tower, the monarchy will fall. So there are ravens that are tended to that hang about the tower. We saw where the remains of Ann Boylin are (poor woman). But the coolest thing was the Crown Jewels. Damn. They are . . . they look fake, they are so huge. It’s amazing to think about what they must be worth.
We got a yummy lunch at a pub nearby, then headed to . . . ABBEY ROAD! It happens to be the 40th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper today, so it was especially appropriate to visit the studios. Richard was kind enough to snap a photo of me in the crosswalk (but I wasn’t the only one doing it!), and then we took some pictures of the studio and the graffiti to the Beatles on the walls outside. Very cool. For those of you who’ve known me since I was very young, you know how much I was in love with the Beatles. This was a very cool experience for me.
After than, we caught a bus to do a little shopping, including a stop into Selfridges, a huge department store that also sells food. In there, we found . . . two beautiful young people (one man, one woman), wearing underwear. Waxed and bronzed. Handing out – wait for it – free Krispy Kreme doughnuts. No, I’m not kidding. Seriously. I have photographic proof.
Then it was on to a bar in Shoreditch to catch the friendly between Brazil and England. Beckham was back playing, and he did the free kick that lead to the header for England’s only goal. It seemed that they were set to win, but in literally the last 30 seconds of the match, Brazil scored. It was a good match to watch, and I feel like it helped to have a fuller British experience.
Tomorrow I leave early for Heathrow to catch a flight to Dublin, then I continue on to Galway City. I’ve been there before, and they have good pubs and live music, so that should be nice on a Saturday. Don’t worry, I’ll never leave my drink unattended 🙂
This will probably be the last update until early next week, as Sunday I head to the Aran Islands (Inis Mor specifically), and I think it has some shops, two pubs and two guesthouses. Doubtful that internet is on the menu.