London, Day 2

After a long day of touring some major sights of London, I'm wiped out. Because we walked practically everywhere, my feet are killing me. Yet, it's 11:00 at night and I'm here drinking a latte. Who needs sleep when you're in a city that never seems to sleep? The cars are zooming by the window outside, people are enjoying a beer and good conversation in the cafe at our hostel. Despite being tired, I can't seem to get enough of this beautiful city. I'm still trying to take in everything we did today...and wow, we did a lot.

I thought about my last post and I realized I failed to mention certain things. So, I'm determined to remember them now, while trying to recall my busy day today.

We walked into our room late last night because we got carried away blogging and uploading pics last night, so we were unable to meet our last hostel-mate. Walking in, we tried not waking anybody. It's the weirdest feeling sleeping with two other people that you don't know. Nonetheless, I fell asleep right when my head hit the pillow. We apparently missed our alarm because we didn't wake up to it...

We woke up to a cloudy day. I got ready and headed to Costa coffee house down the street, to later be joined by Maggie as we enjoyed a vanilla latte on the bar overlooking the busy streets of Kings Cross! One thing that I particularly like about watching people here is that the majority of people here dress nice. There are so many different styles, yet everyone looks put together--and well-dressed. It made me realize how much Americans don't necessarily put much effort into the way they dress.

Coffee made us ready to go! We hopped back on the bus--this time we were headed to Oxford Street to catch another bus to Liverpool Street where our next destination was: Spitalfield's Market. Arriving at the market, we found many booths full of clothes, bags and accessories. We were disappointed that the organic fruit and vegetable stand that we thought was going to be there wasn't. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and continued on to London Tower and London Bridge. Expecting it to be too long to walk, we tried finding a connecting bus to London Tower. After asking around, we found out it was a five minute walk.

This is where I must pause to reflect on the confusing layout of London. It's SO confusing. The maps look simple enough, but the streets are not set up in a grid like most cities in America, so it makes it more difficult to travel. For us, we always get turned around. I cannot tell you how many times Maggie and I have walked in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go because the maps confused us so much. But, we're slowly getting the hang of it--we've seen everything we've wanted to. The little detours along the way are only opportunities for exploitation and happening upon cute shops that slways seem to distract us.

I was excited to turn the corner around London Tower to Tower Bridge--what a sight. I have to say it was one of my most anticipated sights of all of London--pictures just don't do it justice. We were able to take pictures of practically every angle. To inquire about a tea shop that we wanted to see in the area, we stopped by a hotel (pronounced "oh-tell") to get directions. We were directed across the bridge to Butler's Wharf!

The Tea Pod was a down the cute cobblestone road that led behind Butler's Wharf. This was no doubt my favorite area. Right across the street was a cute little bread/meat shop where one could go in to buy some nice produce for dinner: pasta, meat, braed, and fresh veggies!

The Tea Pod was even more exciting. Maggie had heard that this quaint, not well-know tea shop was a keeper--and it was. On the wall is a clock supplying the time for brewing the perfect pot of tea! The menu was perfect--the whole store was perfect. Maggie ordered clotted cream and jam on fresh scones. I ordered Greek Yogurt with granola and fresh fruit with Dark Vanilla Leaf Teas! Delicious. The little colorful pots that they're served in provide the perfect amount of tea for tea full cups. I'm beginning to gain a real appreciation for tea! It's so relaxing and warming! One thing I did notice here in London is that one rarely finds tea bags here--everything is sold as tea leaves. I quite like the idea of brewing tea leaves!! Everybody needs to go the Teapod on their next visit to London.

Our next stop: Bourough Market, Vinapolis, then on to London Eye! To our disappointment, Bourough Market had just closed--we arrived to vendors taking down their tents. You can only imagine how disappointed we were after anticipating fresh cheese, bread, and fruit for dinner. Yet, we persisted on. I rather enjoyed this part of the city--the many cobblestone paths led to so many cute and quaint bars and restaurants where people lined the buildings enjoying a pint. One thing that astonishes me is that people stand outside, whether it's for drinking beer or coffee. They collect outside and just stand and talk. Brits LOVE to talk! So was it with these bars we passed by. The streets were lined with people drinking, talking and enjoying life! As we approached Vinapolis--a world of wine--we noticed that it was a little pricey, so we decided to continue on to the London Eye--the big ferris wheel of London. The London Eye was huge! Little bubbles took us up on an enjoyable 45 minute view of the entire city. My favorite view from the top was looking down on the Big Ben and Houses of Parliament. We didn't really plan to do it at night, but seeing the seeing from so high at night was absolutely gorgeous. Seeing the lights of London for miles and miles was breathtaking!

We arrived back to the hostel. Even though I was tired, I really wanted to write some postcards, journal, and upload pictures, so instead of going to bed, I ordered a latte and am here now typing away. But, of course, the latte didn't last long. Maggie and I ordered a nice bottle of Magner's Hard Cider to split!