London Day 2!

Ah, have I mentioned that I love London? I do.

So I woke up, after a long restful 10 hours of sleep (I needed it), and went to get some free continental breakfast from my Hostel. I had some delicious breads, cereals, coffee, juice, etc. I took my fill so it would last me the day haha. Then I headed out to my first destination. The National Gallery. It is right at Trafalgar Square, free, and warm inside. So I used my transportation friend, the Tube, and got there easily. I walked around the entire thing and it slightly resembles the Louvre, so sadly, I did not appreciate the art as much as I should have. But I got to see plenty of Monet (one of his Water Liles paintings), Manet, Van Gogh, Renoir, etc. It was packed. After that, I walked across the street to St.-Martin-in-the-fields church because they were having a free lunchtime concert at 1pm! But I was about 30 minutes early, so I went down to their cafe in the crypt and they had delicious, decently priced, lunches! I got this sandwich that had turkey and cranberry sauce! I felt like I was eating Christmas on a bun. Mmmm. Then I looked at my watch and it was 1:05 pm! I had been planning my day, and lost track of time, so I ran upstairs..but it was too late. They weren't letting people in anymore and I could hear the beautiful 8 person "Cellophony" group. :(

Well on to the next thing! I walked through the streets on London and found my way to Covent Gardens. It was packed. I knew I was in tourist land. I walked through the markets they had up, which honestly weren't that good, walked through a 'Lush' shop, then headed to Starbucks. Don't judge. I planned where to go next, and started reading "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. I definitely recommend it, even though I'm not even half way through.

Also, I love being able to understand the conversations around me. In France, it was a (good) exercise to understand the people around me. Here, although I still sometimes have to decipher accents, I can understand easier haha. Yayy.

So, next place I decided to go was Tate Modern. It is a fairly new museum for modern art in the south of London and so I made my way there. I had gotten a bit tired of art and the like from the National Gallery, but I needed not have worried, modern art is a whole new field. There is no way you can be bored or get tired of art in a modern art museum because it is so random. I did not know if I would super enjoy a museum like this, but I had to give it a try (and it was free), and I came to realized that I LOVE it! It is so interesting, and I am not the best 'art interpreter' but it was interesting to read little tidbits about what the artists were thinking and such. And the people that are visiting the museum are just as interesting to observe haha, trendy, artsy, sometimes a bit odd, people. I spent a few hours there, wishing the whole time Matthew (the bro) could have been there with me because I know he would have enjoyed it with me. Sigh, next time?

By the time I finished at the museum, it was dark out, and I didn't really know what to do next. It was near 6pm, and so many things were closing. I figured I would just start walking and see where I ended up ( in an smart direction of course). I started walking, saw the river, and Millennium Bridge. So I walked across it! It was awesome, and I looked down the river to see a lit up London Bridge heh. Cliche? Maybe. Beautiful and awesome? Yes.

I kept walking, following where the majority of the people in front of me went, and soon I was at a capitol building of sorts with a big christmas tree. Not sure exactly what it was. But then I kept walking and found my self at St. Paul's Cathedral. There was a massive line outside of it for some reason, so I observed, there was a Christmas tree up on the top ledge of it, and then popped in yet another Starbucks to think of what to do next.

I sat down on a comfy chair and commented to the guy sitting across from me how I had attempted reading the book he was reading "The Selfish Gene" but had failed. We chatted for a minute before we left eachother to our own business. After looking at my list of things I wanted to do here, not many could be done that late, so I got comfortable, planned Saturday and Sunday, read, talked to the guy a bit more (he's Dutch, living in Paris, never been to Texas, was waiting on his Friend, had his suitcases with him, and SO winked at me).

I decided then, it was nearing 8pm, to just head back to the Hostel, and grab some food on the way back, if I saw something quick. Which I did not, except for MacDo or Subway, which I respectfully declined.

I have taken a total of 3 pictures here. None of which are good. I really need to work harder at documenting this trip with pictures. I am not a picture taker. I love being in pictures, and taking pictures of other people, but when it comes to taking pictures of just things or just of myself, yeah...does not happen very often.

Anyhow. Today was not stressful, nicely paced, wonderful, and I can't wait for tomorrow!