Weekend in London

I finally made it down to London last weekend. I got lured into traveling by bus because it only cost £11 for a round trip (compared with £40 for train), which I guess was worth it but fairly painful to sit through the slow ride. I stayed at the International Student House (ISH) on the south end of Reagents Park, which was a great deal, and neat because everybody there was actually a student (as opposed to 40-something cheap asses). Another plus about ISH is the bust of JFK just outside the main gate; pretty sweet place.

In London I actually didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing. I started off at St. Paul's, crossed the Themes to the Take Modern after the Millennium bridge was blocked off (note to self: dont curse at Bobbies). I was at the Tate 12 years ago and remember that Claude Monet's "Waterlillies" filled the main open area, but it was a little different this past Saturday. In fact, there were no pieces out. Instead, there was only the bare cement floor with a long, snaking crack running from end to end. I assumed the crack was caused by the recent earthquake, and asked a docent if this was the case. She said no, "This is Shibboleth". OK. Wow. It really did "strike the foundations of the museum". It was actually quite impressive. So impressive that I skipped the Pollacks and Hoopers and walked right out.

After the Tate I took the tube to Parliament and walked around a bit, going by 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. Neat to see, but really not that interesting. The city was absolutely jam packed with tourists, in the tube, on the streets, in museums, it was just a zoo. And this is March. I cant imagine what August is like.


That evening I met up with my buddy Zandy, who is studying in London for the semester. We went out to his neighborhood of Northwood (took the tube stop "Harot on the Hill", funny name), got some pizza (actually got full for only £4), and went with some girls he met to a pub/club out near his house. Pretty chill place. Pretty chill night. Not much else to say. Kindov a boring entry, but they should get better when I hit Europe in 10 days.