I arrived in London about midnight. I was already overwhelmed with the city. People warned me about the English being in-personable; and, they were right. I almost couldn’t find a way to my hostel. I had no internet and many didn’t seem to want to help me get there. I wasn’t sure how to use the tube, or the heathrow express, so I took a taxi. HUGE mistake. It cost 65 lbs, which is about 130 usd. Awesome, right?
Eventually I arrive to my home for the next six days, and was again overwhelmed. There was an exponential growth in the popular compared to how many people were staying in my hostels previous to this. I stayed in an all female 16 bed dorm. It was disgusting. I didn’t realize girls could be so gross. They burped, farted, quiffed, walked around naked (and they definitely didn’t have the bodies to be doing so, either), coughed, sneezed, gagged. It was nasty. And none of them spoke. It was so awkward. I thought they were mute for awhile. It was bipolar experience, in complete contrast from Ireland. Great.
I spent the first two days just going on tours. Big bus tours, the tourist of tours essentially. I saw Windsor, meh. I saw Stonehenge, meh. I saw Bath, meh. At this point I was completely over traveling. I didn’t prefer this city at all. I just wanted to get it over and done with. It was a horrible feeling. This feeling also probably had something to do with what happened my last night in Ireland, but we won’t get into that gem of a story. I met a cute young couple from LA who vacation together every new years. It was their tradition which they started about four years previous. They stayed in London for a little while, but then were going to Amsterdam for actual New Year’s. I hope one day, I get to be like that with my significant other. They actually helped me figure out what exactly I want to do. I mean I want to be a nurse, but I didn’t know where to go. They told me about their friend who was a ‘traveling nurse’. Basically, you tell your boss where you want to live, they find you work and pay for your housing. Almost all the money I’d make would be pocket money. That’d help when it comes to trying to move to Ireland in four years.
That was only the first day bee tee dubs. The second day I got to see all the tourist areas in London, and learned a bit about the city’s history, which helped spark my interest a minuscule amount. I enjoyed conversing with the tour guide. He was funny, and not in a too British humor kind of way, if that makes sense. He helped me understand the politics that were happening over there, and I did the same to an extent with American issues. It was nice just chatting again with someone.
That tour ended, and I decided to go back home. I once again did nothing that night. I went to the pub, ordered a Heineken and onion rings, like I did almost every night there. I talked to the girl bartender, Maddie, who was nice enough. The cook was an Italian man, who loved/hit on me, naturally. I also met a man named Adam. It sure turned out to be a character that one. He’s an Aussie, just traveling on school grants for about a couple of months at this point. He had no plans, never booked a room more than a day in advance. He was pure craziness. Trust me, you’ll hear more about him later.
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