London, England

So the adventure starts ...

DAY 1 - ARRIVE LONDON
How come everytime you come around, my London, London bridge...

On my flight to London, I met a girl named Britney who is also from BC who is on my Contiki trip. We seemed to have everything in common and yakked the whole 9 hour flight which I'm sure annoyed the heck out of everyone around us. But we didn't care - instant best buddy for travelling around Europe was such a sweet deal for us!
Arriving in London at 11am, we met our tour manager Pete (really hot Australian guy) who introduced us to 2 other girls who were on our trip. Pete took all of us to the London underground, where we took the Picadilly tube line to Russel Square station near out hotel the Imperial.
The hotel was nothing exciting but it was comforting that my hotel room was a single. The most hilarious thing was that our key was this big long metal rod, I was so shocked! Then we found out that we were ment to turn the key in when left the hotel, then show our hotel reciept when we wanted the key back.
Our wasn’t meeting until 6pm and it was only 1pm by the time we settled into the hotel.
Britney and I started our London exploration by walking a few blocks to the Contiki basement. The place was so awesome it had everthing you need. There was internet access, a lounge, couches for a quick nap, a snack bar, tons of info and brochures on travelling. The staff were really nice too. It would definitely be a great place to go if you were planning on extending your travels. Britney was, and she found the basement to be so helpful.

From my memory of the last time in London, Picadilly Cicrus was the place to be. Britney had never been, so she trusted me as I led her onto the tube and we made our way there. Suprisingly it was so easy to get to! I was very proud of myself for remembering. We grabbed a Starbucks (I know we should have gone for something more local but it was so hot!) then wandered the streets to Trafalgar Square. Then eventually we ended up at our hotel, we were so impressed that our hotel was in walking distance from the main areas of London!
When the whole gang met at 6pm, the Contiki crew introduced themselves to us. They explained that at each hotel there was notice board with dates and times of events and departures were listed. Our next event was tomorrow’s breakfast, we had the evening free. Britney and I got talking with the only other Canadian on our trip, Justin from the University of Western Ontario.
Britney, Justin and I decided to go out for dinner together. Amanda, who I met earlier on the tube, wanted to come with but was too tired. Instead she grabbed some groceries, was going to snack on them in her room and asked us to come get her when we were done dinner so we could all wander the town later. The three of us ended up at the Covent Garden Kitchen restaurant, in – you guessed it! – Covent Garden. I only had a chicken ceasar salad, and Britney and Justin had simple food too. But the bill came to 27 euro! Which converts to $70 Canadian! If that wasn’t culture shock I don’t know what is.
After going back to the hotel to get Amanda, we all went down to the river Thames. You could walk right onto this one big ship docked on the river, where there was music and drinks. I’ll never forget the moment I felt like the biggest tourist ever. They had a bouncer at the entrance and we all got in fine with our IDs. But he kept asking what the legal age was in each our countries. Amanda was 20 and from the states, so he said she couldn’t come in! I was so jetlagged and yes I guess I’m a little gullible, and along with her I totally fell for it too. Amanda told us to go ahead without her, just then of course the bouncer started laughing and said he was just joking. We didn’t stay on the ship too long, there was too much more of a London night to see!
The four of us took a nice long walk over the bridge, to a park where the London Eye is. There was salsa music, a carousel and it was such a beautiful hot summer night on the river in London. Somehow we managed to run into the other large group of people on our trip. There was about 20 of them, and yes they we all had wine and beer and were also very much enjoying the night. We introduced ourself and all that jazz, but then decided to keep walking around.
It did take forever from the London Eye to our hotel. But I felt like such an expert knowing my way around the city… with a map’s help and Justin’s experience of course. It was so strange that we walked past the Sherlock Holmes pub and ran into more people on our trip.
Our night ended up back at the hotel. I bought a huge bottle of water and was very happy to take a long cold shower in the hotel. It was amazing how dirty I felt after a day of walking around London. I’m so thankful Vancouver is clean!

DAY 2 - LONDON

I woke up very hot in my hotel room and immediately took a shower. I was kinda early so I made some tea in my room and got my stuff all organized. I felt so English, making my own yummy tea early in the morning in London! We all met downstairs in the hotel for a continental breakfast that was nothing special. It was just good comfort food like cereal, eggs, and toast.
We had some free time to get to know the people on our trip and the broad spectrum of backgrounds was amazing. Some people had never been to Europe before, or even out of their country! At the same time some people had lived in other countries before on exchange. The majority of the people on our trip were American. This doesn’t usually happen on Contiki trips we were told.
We all boarded out Contiki coach for the first time. It was incredibly comfy and the windows were ginormus, so we could get awesome pics from inside the bus. We had a guided tour on the coach of London that was very helpful. Pete, our tour manager, handed out maps too. We were all dropped off near Trafalgar square with a whole day of free time.
Britney and I decided to wander together. Yes, I know it sounds anti-social… because it was! We just wanted to hang out the two of us, the whole group mentality was a bit much to take at first and it was nice to have a buddy. Our tour had 45 people on it, it was a little unbeareable at first.
We went to St. James Park first, where there was a lake and it was the first time I saw a pelican in real life. At a palace on the way there we saw some guards doing some march. The guards were so serious, and even though people were walking around them they we were so focused.
Our next destination was the Soho area of London near Oxford St.. The shops were absolutely endless and gorgeous. But since we didn’t have much time, we didn’t shop too much. We did grab lunch at a Spar (a convenience store), mine consisted of a spicy chicken wrap and a chocolate milk. Eventually we made our way back to the hotel to meet with the group to go out for dinner.
The whole gang of us got on the coach which took us for our included dinner in Convent Garden at Porter’s English Restaurant. It was set meals that we could choose from. I ordered the tomato basil soup, the seafood pie with salad, and a summer berry pudding. Two alcholic drinks were included (which rocked!), so I had wine. It was great to have this all taken care of after a long day and since we didn’t want to find a new place to eat that would cost us $70 Euro again! It was great to sit down with everyone an get a chance to get to know people. We had our first impression of Geoffery from Arizona state, who was opera singing. Yes, we got quite a few stares because of him but it was worth it.
After dinner our coach made a stop at the WalkAbout Club for anyone who wanted to go, otherwise the coach was going back to the hotel. I decided to go, and it was the best choice. Contiki was having a battle of the bands concert and the music was great. People from our trip were having a great time, there were some really outgoing dancers. After all that fun, Britney, Justin and Brian, from San Diego State University, took a taxi back from the club. Britney and I got to sit backwards in the taxi! So we were facing the guys! Yes, I know small things amaze me.
Back at the hotel, Brian decided since we were leaving the next morning he needed to spend all his pounds. So we all ended up in the hotel lobby bar and Brian bought beer. I love beer, but this I could not drink. Justin poured out half of mine, added some sprite and told me it was a shandy – it tasted so much better. It was a great time of realzing and chatting. We heard that other people went out to another club after, but it was a transvestite strip club! I don’t think they cared though, they were right up there on the poles too.