Journal 33
December 6th, 2004

Sunday: the 5th

Mom and I got up early today to go do the London Eye. I had still not yet been over to be on it, and she was the only other one willing to do it. So we caught the Tube in the morning down to Westminster; I had to buy a daypass since my Travelcard was expired. We bought coffee and hot chocolate from Cafe Nero and headed to the Eye. Once inside you almost don't realize it's moving. It's a very slow loop that takes 30minutes to complete your trip. The views are amazing though. I was able to recognize most of the stuff around London though; and was able to point out building and structures without needing a map to tell me what I was looking at. Mom and I posed for the picture it takes toward the end of the loop, and bought it afterward. From there we walked to Waterloo station and caught the Tube to Bond Street. We walked down toward Marble Arch first so my mom could see what the Marble Arch was, and two because I was looking for a gift for my sister for Christmas. After that we headed back to the hotel to meet up with my aunt and grandmother to go out for the day.
I realized that this was going to be the last chance I would have to do laundry before I left. So I passed on the museum trip that my family was doing and stayed at the hotel to get stuff done. I took my laundry down to the laundry mat and got ready to do wash. I didn't have enough chang... damn... I went to little foodmart and bought a Fanta...ok, now I have change. I put my clothes in the machine, and then proceeded to read the directions. A girl (who I'd asked if there was a coin machine there a few minutes before) walked up and asked if I needed help. She pointed out how to start it and stuff for me, and then said "put your soap in there...". "I get soap from that machine over there, right?" I said and pointed. "Yes.. but it's not working." she replied. "oh... hmm... well, no soap then I guess." "Hold on, I'll give you some of mine. What are you talking about 'No Soap'" she said. So after I did my laundry I needed to dry it. Great, I didn't have correct change for this machine either. Well I didn't feel like buying more stuff from the guy down the street, so I just brought my clothes back to the room. I started to iron out my shirts to help them dry. Well, the knob on the Iron was broken and I couldn't tell what I was setting it to. So I gave up on that idea and instead hung my clothes all around the entire apartment/room. After that I started to seperate out stuff I was taking and stuff I was leaving; but I couldn't get too far because my clothes were still all wet. So I went out to Oxford Street and again looked for Christmas gifts. After finding nothing I went back to the hotel to eat. Mom called and said they would meet me at 6pm so we could go to Ealing and they could meet my homestay family. Well when it started to get close to 6pm I walked down the Tube station and met them there. We caught a Tube out to Ealing Broadway, having to get off part way there and buy some extention tickets for cheaper. Haha, I love knowing the Tube and knowing how to get around extra fees.
Well we got to Ealing Broadway and then walked the 3/4mile to my homestay. Ian and Sue were very happy to meet my family and they all sat and talked for a couple hours. Everyone compared stories of where they had been and stuff like that. As it got later though we decided we should probably head back to the hotel. Ian gave us a ride to the Tube station so we wouldn't have to walk. I said good bye and thanks for everything; I had already thanked Sue before we left the house. We caught the Tube home and that was pretty much it for the night.

Monday: the 6th

My last full day in London was today. I got up kinda early with my mom and aunt and headed down toward my school. I wanted to show them the buildings I was in so they could get a look around; plus my mom had found the building in May when she was in London but wasn't sure exactly which one it was. Anyway we got down to Russel Square Station and walked to a bank for money, and then to Starbucks for coffee. This was the first time my whole of being in London/Paris/Barcelona/etc. that I ate something from an American Fast-Food-type place. I had been boycotting them since I got to Europe. Anyway, I figured I'd try it since it was my last day in England... it tasted exactly the same. Anyway, after that we went to my school and I showed them around. We went into AIFS so I could show them that, and also have a chance to send a few emails I had to send before I left the UK. After I got my email done with we walked around the shops near Goodge Street Station, and then wandered to The British Museum. I was able to give them the majority of the tour that I was given months before when I was taken there with class. I remembered most of the details about what was said, which helped get through the stuff quicker than trying to read all the placecards. The lady that we asked to help us locate the discus player was kind of a bitch, she wouldn't point us in the right direction and instead made us go to the line next to her and ask the info desk.
After the Museum we met up with my grandmother and headed to Camden Market to walk around there. Unfortunately a lot of the stuff there was closed because it was Monday; but it was probably better because my grandmother doesn't like huge crowds. We spent a while though going through the little shops as my family bought little things here and there for gifts for people back home. I bought some curry chicken and rice for lunch.... sooooo good, I'm going to miss Camden Town food. There was a whole back area we walked through too that I had never actually been too, but my mom had so she brought us there. I looked at jackets again... I've realized I like jackets a lot, and at home I'm accumulating a collection. After Camden we headed back to Covent Gardens, as we seemed to do each night. We sat down at a little coffee shop there so my grandmother could get dinner and we could get a snack before seeing The Producers. Well the place we were at was a nice little shop. But the girl was rushing around so fast she only gave us two forks for four people, and she kept forgetting to bring my aunt's cappacino.
After eating dinner I went to watch the street performers and everyone else went around to shop. The first guy, whose show I saw only the end of, was a juggling artist. The second guy was alright, he was actually more of a dancer than anything else. And the third guy was gymnast; he actually called me out to stand holding my arms in a hoop while he ran and jumped through them, hahaha. My mom found me after I was done watching everyone perform, we grouped up with the family and then headed to the theatre. The show was amazing. We were on the Balcony but had really good seats. Nathan Lane and Lee Evans were hilarious, as was the rest of the cast. We ran into Vivian who had also bought a ticket to the show (from AIFS) so she was sitting right next to us. OH, I had a ginger cookie from Ben's Cookies... it was really bad. I figured it would be like ginger-bread... no... it wasn't. Anyway, the show was great..... go see it.
We then headed all the way back to the hotel... the reason I say that was I still had to sepearate out some luggage and then return to Russell Square to check my bag in at one of the hotels there while I travel through Europe. I rushed around the hotel room dividing up what I wanted to take through Europe, what I was sending home with my mom, and what I wanted to leave in London. Mainly, I needed to keep the Absinthe in England while I travel. I have no problem picking up alcohol for my friends back home. But there is no way in hell that I'm going to drag it through Europe for the 10 days I'm going to be traveling. I left the hotel at 11:30ish to get back to Central London; my mom came with me to talk and keep me company. We got off the Tube station and had to wander around a bit to try and find the street it was on. We looked at a few bus-stop maps and figured out where to go. The guy in the hotel was nice, it cost me 5pounds to check my back for two weeks. Hopefully everything will still be in when I pick it up, hahaha. We also managed to catch the last Tube home, thank god.
Finally home for good for the night I now had to pack my bags. I also had to call London Transportation to figure out the best way to get to the airport in the morning. Basically, I had to get a 4am taxi to take me to Liverpool Street Station. Then catch the 4:56am Stansted Expess Train to the Airport. That would get me there around 6am for my flight to Rome at 7:30. Well, I was up packing and getting stuff organized til about 2am. My whole family stayed up to talk and keep me company before I left too. I finally got to bed to try and get about an hour of sleep before I had to be up and ready to leave.