6 hours in London...and a bit of Edinburgh!!

So I want to apologize for any grammatical errors/typos, as well as any other inconsistencies in my writing. The keyboard here is a bit different and I have very little time to spend on the internet at once.



I arrived into London yesterday and it was warm and humid (I wrote a couple of entries on my laptop that I will post, assuming my laptop is still at my dorm, when I return to London). After finding my dorm (which is smack dab next to Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben), it started to sprinkle. It was so nice. I explored many parks over in that area and walked around of the old sites. Finally, a bit after 6 PM, I really had to go to the bathroom. I walked forever until I found a public pay bathroom in the tube station. While I am in the bathrom, I hear some shouts, and then some loud noises ("were those gunshots?" thought I). Now before you freak out too bad here, sorry Mom!!, I hope that most of you can find a bit of humor in this story. It is comletely true, and it really scared the heck out of me. After hearing the shouts and the alarm, I am wondering if I should hang tight in the stall or if I should exit. After about three loooong seconds of decision-thinking mode, I decide to exit. While I leave the stall only to find a man in a kilt threatening the toilet tenant with a switchblade. I am not kidding about any of this. I feared for my life right then, and knew I did not want to stand and watch. I ran for the little metal rotator thing that lets you in and out, and it was locked shut!! I was in pure survival mode, and I hopped that thing faster than you would believe, ran outside, up the stairs, and now the man in the kilt and the bathroom steward are right on my tail. I run past some cops, who sort of push me to safety. They ended up retrieving this "bagpipe killer" and arresting him. My heart didn't stop beating at twice its normal rate for close to an hour. It was definitely one of the most scariest things I have ever encountered, especially after I thought I heard gunshots and seeing that knife. But my lfe never flashed before my eyes, so I think intrinsically I knew I would be okay. And please picture this man clad in fll-scale Scottish garb, clutching a switch blade. I really do not know if he intended to hurt anybody, or just wanted to make a scene, but no doubt would the paparazzi have a field day with this one.



Anyway, I left in the middle of peeing, and needed to find another bathroom pronto...so I went to St. James Park, and walked around the entire place, viewing the Buckingham Palace and some royal ponds just before the steady drizzle turned into torrential downpour. I huddled with several fellow tourists under an awning for about a half hour, until the rain let up slightly, at which time I went to a McCafe (I tried to get the Cadbury McFlurry thing Gabby wrote about, but it was too late in the evening), and then I proceeded to the train station.



Aside from that one incident, I felt completely safe in London and am thoroughly enthused about being able to spend four weeks there coming up. The Wigram House (my dorm) seems to be in a great location!!



Unfortunately when I was trying to transfer some photos to my iPod last night, there was a mishap of sorts. My iPod will not play any music now, and I had a nine hour bus ride overnight with no music and no sleep. It was a bit of a drag, and there was one giant raincloud that stretched across the United Kingdom. It absolutely poured the whole way. The visibility was about twelve feet for most of the time. It was beautiful to look at the green close by and the clouds and rain, but I must say that I was hoping to get a fair amount of sleep on the bus ride, and that certainly did not happen at all, despite taking sleeping pills!! :(



I got here a little after 8 this morning, only to wander around town for nearly forty-five minutes in the rain, without an umbrella (thank you so much for getting that parka mom!!). I found the hostel, left my stuff here, and went to a Starbucks where I was served my caramel macchiato in an actual mug. Oh, I tried this Mango Passion Fruit Frappuccino they have in London last night, and it was incredible. You are right Ali. And thank you so muchg for letting me use al of your stuff for this trip--it has all worked out great so far!!



While in Starbucks, the rain stopped and it actually cleared a bit. I went exploring the Royal Gallery of Scotland and went to the Nelson (or some other N name) Memorial. This entire city is so old, and it is so cool to look at the buildings from up close or from afar. The hostel I am staying at, Budget Backpackers, is great!! It was recommended by my sister and I can see why. From my room, I have gorgeous views of the Edinburgh Castle and some other spired monument. It is wonderful. Right now it is kind of cloudy outside and the temperature is in the high 50s. It is so nice!!

I went to this Italian buffet for a late lunch and it ended up being ridiculously expensive. Gabby, you would have laughed at the food they served. Let's just say I will not be going back there, but it wasn't that bad. For my family (minus Jon), it was comparable to the buffet food on the Sun Princess.

Anyway, despite the little incidence in London and my iPod being so uncooperative, I am already having such an incredible time. Thank you to my family for letting me go on this trip, and trusting me to explore the UK on my lonesome. I promise I will continue to be safe, and will update this as much as possible!! I am also taking a ton of pictures, but none will be posted until at least until I am back in London...possibly not until i get home (once again, crossing my fingers that my laptop will still be at my dorm when I return!!)

Oh, and did I mention that the sun came out at like 3:30 this morning (well, the clouds lightened up a bit because the sun was somewhere behind them, anyway)?? It was like Alaska all over again. And tomorrow should be the longest day of the year here, so I wonder how much daylight there will be...probably 18 or 19 hours.

I am going to go wander around town for a bit longer, and then hopefully get a great night's sleep!! So far I have met one of hostel mates. She is from Canada and has been in Edinburgh for four days already. She just spent two and a half months in the UK, and is leaving on Friday to go to Ecuador for three weeks for her best friend's wedding!! Crazy.

I shall write again soon!!

---Jason