June 21-24: London, England (By Jeff)

We made it to London late, around 10pm, starved and tired. After figuring out how the Tube train works we eventually made it to our stop, found an Indian Kebab place still open, and made it to our hotel (which was nowhere near as nice as the pictures on the website advertise…a reoccurring theme for most of our hotels). The next day was dedicated to sightseeing around the city including sites such as the Tower Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and various smaller things around the city. The beautiful weather we had really made it nice to walk all around the city and get a feel for our surroundings. After walking all over we stopped for a beer at a traditional British Pub. Unfortunately for us, English people tend to prefer room temperature beer which was not as satisfying after our long journey in the heat, but still tasted good nonetheless. That evening we consulted the guidebook for some traditional English food and we found a place that served delicious meat pies. While we had never heard much about English cuisine, we found ourselves very happy with our choice and they went great with our cold pint of cider.


Our first traditional English meal


Overlooking London


The Tower Bridge

The next day started off by heading to the British Museum. They have possibly the most extensive array of world artifacts from Ancient Egypt (including lots of mummies that you see just in the bandages), Ancient China, European, and even North American history. You can get lost in there for hours or until you get tired of dealing with flocks of tourists each direction you turn. We really enjoyed the visit despite not seeing King Tut’s tomb as it was currently on a traveling exhibit around the world. I made sure that we left with enough time for us to get to a bar to watch the USA vs Algeria game that was on at the same time as the England vs Slovenia game. For those that followed the World Cup, these games were critical to each team and much of England shut down to focus on this game as they were on the brink of elimination. We found a bar that some 25 Americans were also in watching the USA play so we felt much more comfortable knowing we were not the only ones hoping England would choke. For most of the game it went the way English fans were hoping as they were winning their game and we were tied 0-0 which meant England would win the group and Slovenia would finish 2nd, and therefore eliminate the USA. You could see the joy in their eyes as they would pass by looking at the screen snickering to themselves as the USA fans were feeling dejected and nervous. When extra time came along we were all but dead until Landon Donovan scored in the 92nd minute and our section erupted with joy. Everyone of us were screaming and clapping as we knew we were going to win the group and edge out England and we let them know that by chanting USA! USA USA! for the entire bar to hear.

After all the euphoria settled in we decided to go check out the remaining sites we did not get to visit such as the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben clock tower, and at least go see the outside of Buckingham Palace as it is closed during summer months. Each of these sites are gorgeous and amazing landmarks within England. That night we wanted to try another bit of English cuisine…fish and chips. We took a train some ways outside the city as our guidebook praised one place in particular. Upon finally reaching it in a sketchy neighborhood we found a very average looking place with the crispy fish pre-made and under a heat lamp, but we were hungry enough to go for it. It definitely tasted better than it looked, but neither of us would have said the journey to find the place was worth the quality of food (thanks a bunch guidebook). We headed home after dinner to start our packing as we took off for Amsterdam that next morning.


The Westminster Abbey


Big Ben Clocktower


Trafalgar Square