London: Spamalot, Sterling, and Starry Nights

I think I got maybe three hours of sleep last night. Which made me really, really tired today. But it was okay...the important thing was that I actually got up in time to catch my cab to the Galway Airport. It was quite a distance away: the cab ride cost me nearly 20 Euro! I made it there pretty early, got checked in, bought a bagel, and read Harry Potter for an hour and a half before boarding the flight. The weather was kinda stormy, but what else is new in this city?

The flight wasn't all that bad - all I did was read the whole time. Loving the book so far. Once I landed in London, I got my baggage and went to get money out of the ATM. My Bank of Ireland card didn't work, so I just used my American debit card and figured I'd sort it out later. The important thing was catching a bus to the train station to get a train into the city. Luton Airport is a bit away. I suppose the train was about an hour, during which I read some more. When I got off at King's Cross, I wandered around until I saw Shelby and Amanda. It was great seeing them again! They took me via the Underground (Subway) to Victoria Station, and their nearby hotel.


I put down my stuff and all of us went out to Oxford Circus to do a little shopping and get some lunch. We ended up at this place that had an Italian Buffet (unheard of in Ireland) that was pretty darn good. Yay for pasta and lasagne! We also got tap water to drink. It's so odd not being able to drink the water in Galway (Have I mentioned that yet? I can't remember. If not, let me know and I'll fill you in). After that, we wandered about in a few shops before meeting up with Thomas at Debenham's.


From there, we took the Underground and walked to the West End, where Shelby and I bought tickets for Spamalot - the Monty Python musical! Thomas and Amanda had already seen it, so they went to see Mary Poppins. Shelby and I got excellent seats in the third row, and sat down to enjoy the show. It was so hilarious! We were practically falling out of our seats from laughter. They took most of the stuff out of "the Holy Grail", but added in some bits and pieces from their other works, like "Life of Brian" (Always look on the bright side of life, do do, do do do do do do). Definitely worth going to see, even again! After some pictures and meeting up with the others, we headed back to the hotel to relax.


I ended up falling asleep on the floor (guess I was quite a bit more tired than I thought) for an hour or so, before we all got up to go out. We stopped at a pub nearby for dinner, which was good, but it took FOREVER to get the order placed, and then even longer to get the bill. Ah well. I've also realized at this point that my Bank of Ireland card simply does not work on these ATMs. I've heard that there are Bank of Ireland ATMs out there...I just have to find one. Until then, my American bank account is hating me for this 2.02 conversion rate. *sigh* Why does the dollar suck so much compared to the pound?


We relaxed for a half an our or so at an internet cafe after that, and caught up with the world. Soon enough, though, we headed out to catch a bus for a night tour of the city. We sat on top of a double decker, which was roofless, and enjoyed the night air. Except for a ten minute rain where we went downstairs, the weather was lovely. We got some excellent views of the city, and I enjoyed trying to take pictures of things as we moved by. Unfortunately, my camera battery died towards the end. I didn't bring my charger...so hopefully I can either find another battery or something tomorrow.


When we got back to Victoria Station, we caught a bus downtown to see if we could go to the oldest pub in London. When we got there, however, we discovered it was closed. So we caught the bus back to Victoria and walked to the hotel. After we all got ready for bed, we read a little bit and then fell fast asleep. Man, I did a lot today! Cheers!