I feel like it has been forever already since I left to come to London today. It most definitely has been a journey. And it is only 8:15pm right now and I am only awake because of a latte I forced myself to drink.
So last night, I took an overnight ferry from the port outside of Caen (a 25 minute bus ride out) to Portsmouth, England. I got to the ferry terminal ouside of Caen 2 hours early because I had to take the bus and the last bus of the night was still pretty early. So I sat in the terminal, got a Cappuccino, and journaled. At first it was just truckers in the terminal, a little unsettling thinking that was who I was going to be travelling for almost 8 hours with on a ferry, but slowely, older couples and families trickled in and I felt more comfortable. Before long, we boarded! I got a stamp in my passport, put my bags through and x-ray, then followed more knowledgable travellers onto the MASSIVE ferry. I know it is not even close, but I felt like I was entering the Titanic. Never having been on a cruise ship or the like, it was insanely big to me. They have elevators on the ferry. So I followed a couple and we entered this big room that slightly resembled a movie theater combined with an airplane. There were probably 10 people total in a room that sat 150, so we got to spread out. I then made myself comfortable in order to sleep.
Worst sleep of my life. The chair would not stay leaned back, and it was just cold enough where my jacket and scarf would not keep me warm (as my body slowed down in sleep mode). So I tried to sleep in the fetal position, in a chair, which gave me random pains in my body. Therefore, every 30 minutes to hour I was shifting, for the whole ride. But it was an experience and now I know what to expect when I take the 19ish hour ferry back to France from Ireland.
Finally we arrived in England! I followed people (a very useful thing to do when by yourself in unknown territory) and found myself sipping a coffee in the terminal waiting for my coach (greyhound ish bus) to take me 2 hours to London. Got on the bus! Read a newspaper in English, tried reading some Rick Steves London chapter, then got a bit carsick and promptly fell asleep.
The next time I opened my eyes I was looking at the streets of London through my window! It looked so...well so British haha. I loved it. Just like Paris, I was in love with London. How cliche.
We got to the station and I quickly got going to find the Tube station to get to my hostel and drop off my (ever increasing in weight) backpack. Found the station. Victoria Train Station which connected to the Tube. I found out later that it is famous? I got in line to get my Oyster Card (a refillable metro pass that is refillable). THen I was off to find my hostel. I was so excited to be able to wander around this new place by myself, such a new adventure.
With a bit of extra wandering, I found my hostel and dropped my bag off, brushed my teeth, etc.
Now I had heard from other friends that this company, 'New Europe Tours' gives free tours around the major cities in Europe. They accept tips at the end, and are supposed to be super interesting. I had done some research, and found a meeting point for one of the tours at 1pm. I found the meeting point, The Arc of Wellington, but I was half an hour early, so I wandered to Hyde Park which was across the street, and explored a 'Winter Wonderland' Christmas market that was set up! It was oddly familiar to the one that was going on in Caen when I left...just bigger, more food, and more expensive.
Soon it was tour time, and I went over to the group of people huddled. 5 minutes or so later, our interesting tour guide led us off on our 2.5 hour tour! I met a New Yorker, and 2 Australians in the course of the tour, all very nice, and our tour guide grew up in Calgary! Fun connections :)
I honestly could not even list all the places we went. It was a 'New London Tour' so we saw government buildings, squares, Palaces, etc. Super interesting because our guide was not only knowledgeable, he was funny. Loved loved it. Definitely look up the tours if you are in any major european city! As we were ending our tour around Trafalgar (spelling is prob wrong) square, guess what we ran into!? STUDENT PROTESTS. The biggest out of the three or four they have had in the past few months over the government wanting to almost triple their tuition costs. I can understand their anger. So we were right in the thick of it. I LOVED IT. It was the early stages of the protest so it hadn't officially 'started' yet. So we just got to walk around the masses of students collecting, and then we got to walk past the police baracades forming because we had our handy dandy tour guide who flashed a pass and talked to them to explain how we were not involved. Oh yeahh. Right as we ended our tour, a few yards away from the main protest point, the riot broke out, we heard tons of cheering and yelling, people running, smoke coming from who knows where, ack, so exciting! We were not close enough to be harmed or involved but we got to watch all of it happening. Legit.
After the tour, I went to officially check into my hostel. I showered, rested, and then forced myself to go get some food and coffee so that I would not fall aslep too early. I walked down a main road and found a mini mall with a, ironically enough, french boulangerie, where I got a sandwich and latte. Mmmm. Food.
Now i'm back at the hostel, in the common room. They are having movie night and "Body of Lies" with Leonardo DiCaprio is playing. And they gave us popcorn. :)
Go London! I am so excited for the next few days!
OH. It is super cold here. The entire tour I was cold, and by the end, my wrists had gone numb. And my hands, but my wrists too! It was super weird because when I would try to bend my wrists they felt super weak and would move in slow motion, and when I tried to enter a number in my phone, my thumbs literallywould not move a the speed I wanted them to, it was super trippy.
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