I was flying Ryanair for the first time this trip, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had read article after article on bOINGbOING about what a shitty, miserable airline it was, but I am not the sort of guy to need anything from a flight besides a seat and a safe landing. Once I got on the plane (after jumping in line quickly to make sure I got a good seat - there are no assignments, and I didn't pay extra to go in the fast line), I realized I was on a flying flea market. From the instant the stewardess said, "This is a smoke-free flight," they were trying to sell things to me. Smokeless cigarettes, lottery tickets, pizza and burgers, beer, you name it. But whatever. I slept through it and CEO Michael O'Leary didn't even try to charge me for it. I flew into Luton, which is a "quaint" airport for cheap airlines about 50 km north of London. Jenna and I got on a bus and went to foggy London town. I was actually in London!
The hotel we stayed at was the off-shoot of EasyJet, the British version of Ryanair. Easy[hotel, bus, jet] loves the color orange. Everything was orange there. We had a great location about 2 blocks from Paddington Station, near a hospital, halal markets, restaurants, and chip shops. From Paddington, we could get nearly anywhere on the Tube (subway) very easily. Sometimes - 2 of the lines were closed all weekend, but luckily we didn't need them anyway. It was a hefty one time price, but we got week passes for the Tube. In the end, it saved us a lot of money and our feet a lot of unnecessary walking. By the way, I am fascinated with the Tube. The graphic design is very appealing, from the maps to the logos and the commissioned art in some stations.
First stop was the Westminster stop. This is where Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament that Big Ben is attached to, are Westminster Abbey are. I walked out of the Tube thinking, "Now it says Big Ben is right around he... Oh!" It was right there in front of me. I was standing at the base. It may be just a big clock, but it is a damn cool big clock right next to a damn cool building where many of the most important people in history spent a lot of time. It was a great spectacle. Since this is where the British government operates, this is where people come to express their opinions on policy issues, you know, like how the Freemasons are killing dozens of innocents. Wait, what?!? Yes, there were a few protesters across the streets demanding action in the deaths of several people at the hands of the ever-implicated Freemasons.
Also a great spectacle, although an expensive one, was Westminster Abbey. That's why they can charge a lot for it, thought! Inside, there was so much to see. There were chapels and shrines and tombs practically stacked on each other. There were several Kings buried around the place from far before my lifetime (to say the least). Admission comes with a really good (and for no additional cost) audio guide, which helped make up for my lack of knowledge of English history or anything Anglican. I didn't need any additional help to figure out that seeing the tomb of Elizabeth I was pretty damn sweet, nor that the Poets' Corner encapsulated a lot of the best writing ever (with shrines to Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Dickens, and more).
Jenna and I were in the Abbey at dusk, so there was a spooky, dark hue to the whole place. The spooky ambiance was helped along by the choir at Evensong. We sat down in the service for a few minutes, and soon proceeded to leave. There are no pictures allowed in the Abbey, so here are the pics from outside or snagged from the 'net.
After looking at how mesmerizing things look when they are colorfully lit up at night, Jenna and I went over to Buckingham Palace (coincidentally, another mesmerizing things colorfully lit up). We had to walk through Green Park to get there from the Tube, which strangely, has only 1 dim light in the whole park. It contributed to the now recurring theme of spookiness. As we approached Buckingham, I realized why there were so few lights in the park - the government blew the lighting budget on the 2 huge walls of lights focused on the Palace. They even rotated between blue, white, and red! It was an impressive thing to see, but there's not much to do there at night. Jenna and I would be back on Friday to see silly men in moleskin hats march around.
Back in our neighborhood, we found a reasonably-priced joint to fill our stomaches called Garfunkels. It was tasty stuff - sit-down restaurant type burgers, pizzas, and English food.
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