Keeps Getting Better and Better

I woke up at 8 (ın my room all alone) and showered (with my new soap and shampoo, I like the way they smell) and ate the same type of breakfast I had in Istanbul. I dıd not eat the same things. I loved the bread. I walked down to the harbor to catch the bus for the tour I went on. The two girls were Lauren and Fiona. They were Aussies (who isn't an Aussie in Turkey right now other than me?). They are both from Sydney originally but Fiona moved to London 1.5 yeas ago and Lauren just joined her about a week ago. Fiona has been to just about every European country since moving to London. I am jealous. They're both nice but got tired of the tour about half way through and were not in good moods after that. We got on the bus and picked up more people from hotels in Kuşadasi and then went to Selçuk (a town inland and only 1 mile from Ephesus). There were about 20 people in all. One couple from Ukraine who were old and only the guy spoke Enlgish. A couple from Toronto (the guy was originally from France and the woman from Winnipeg). Another couple where the woman was from Bolivia but lived in Haiti for a while and had visited the Mayo clinic for some tests or something as a kid and the guy was from Spain but originally somewhere else. There was a couple (sensing a trend?) from Sussex County, England. They were nice and it felt good to hear an English accent again. A couple from Holland were also present. There were two other Aussie girls who were "bigger" and smoked a lot and had I think 4 cans of pop each throughout the day. That's about it I thınk. There were twenty or so total. One Aussie girl came with but only saw Artemis's Temple and Ephesus before she had to leave to catch a plane. She thought the tour was only going to be a half day thing and she really wanted to see Mary's House (more on that later) but ended up not being able to see it. Lauren and Fiona bonded with her and, after she left, Fiona said the girl's whole situation was "dodgy" about twenty times.

Anyway! Our tour guide was Mehmet. He was ok. Not that good, not that bad. He said "magnificent" too much. "Magnificent ruins" was his most used phrase the whole day I think. We went to Artemis's Temple first. It was built about 2300 years ago and is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was huge although there is not much left of it now. There is no gate or entrance fee so the vultures (souvenir sellers) were out in full force when our bus pulled up. They are like mosquitos. I don't like them if you can't tell. Then we went to Ephesus. It was a huge town back around the Roman period. We went through the ruins from the top down to the bottom. This was good because it saved the best for last (theater and library). There were A TON of tour groups and people on the upper level but much less around and after the library for some reason. Lots of columns and carvings and awesome stuff. The library is amazing. The theater was built to hold 25000 people and still holds concerts in it (Sinatra sang there and some have U2 and some other famous people). The marble roads with columns lining them were cool too (minus the crowds). I would have liked to have spent a little more time there but I also would have liked all the crowds to go away so nothing I could do. Our next stop was lunch. It was at a cafeteria like place. I had a huge assortment of different stews, salads, rice, chicken fingers, and pudding. It was sooo good. Best meal I have eaten so far (most healthy anyway). Fiona wanted better food and a better atmostphere (it was basically a truck stop) but I thought it was fine.

The group splıt up after that. Half went to the Archaeological museum and half went to the Vigrin Mary's House. I went to the house. It is way up in the mountains surrounding Selçuk (sell-chook) which made it very peaceful and there were no stupid seller people. The house was basically a hole in the ground but there was a small church as well. I have had more religious experiences at Aya Sophia in Istnabul, St. Peter's in Rome, and Ste. Chapelle in Paris but it was still cool. The group met up again and we went to a place where they make (and of course sell, that was the point of the whole stop) carpets. We watched some women at work and then had a bunch of guys try and sell us carpets while we drank either red wine or apple tea (tea was great). It didn't bug me much beause it was still interesting and the carpets were beautiful. Plus, they looked at my blue jeans and t-shirt and knew I was not going to buy anything so they left me alone. Then we went to a mosque. Kind of boring and very bland compared to the ones in Istanbul (even the smaller ones). Then we went to (no kidding) a leather jacket fashion show. Fiona was peeved were doing two of these blatant "get you to buy something" activities but whatever. As Holland Guy said, "At least you will always remember it". Ain't that the truth. I felt weird because the models kept making eye contact and it was just a weird atmostphere if you ask me. Then we dropped everyone off.

I walked over to my fast food fish sandwich place. I sat down and the woman who takes orders recognized me (that made me feel good). I asked her what the optıons were agaın and she brought me into the kitchen and showed me. I got a "chicken fish" sandwich (breaded fish). DELICIOUS!!! I added some salt and that made it just great. The salad was awesome too. It was simple but so great. Then I walked over to my Baklava place and bought some more. That guy recognized me too. I got one pistachio piece and two walnut pieces. YUM!!! I ate them while I watched the most amazing sunset of my life (that is saying something). The sun turned bright red and I actually watched it cross below the horizon. Unreal. A guy in front of me caught a fish and the Bolivia couple watched teh sunset near me but did not notice (rightfully so, they had each other). I keep thinking each day has to be the most interesting, most spectacular, most different day of my life and they just keep getting topped. That is true throughout my time abroad. Tomorrow I have to catch a bus to Bodrum at 7 am (yuck). The adventure cotinues...

Mom emailed me and asked about my schedule for the next week or so which made me think I should post it here. There is a lot of traveling but it's not as bad as it looks. So here ya go.

Thursday and part of Friday - Bodrum

Part of Friday and all of Saturday - Greek Island of Kos

Sunday - Ferry to Mykonos

Monday - Ferry to Santorini

All of Tuesday and all of Wednesday - Santorini

Thursday - Ferry to Heraklıon, Crete

Sun, Sea, Smıle, Repeat

This hostel has free ınternet as well. I love Turkey hostels. I added some pictures to the posts below from Istanbul. There aren't many pictures onlıne but I took a ton so you have that to look forward to when I get home. So, to contınue my narratıve from yesterday, I went to the travel agency to catch the shuttle bus. Lots of traffıc, lots of honkıng, close quarters, basıcally your typical Instanbul drive through the city. The Otogar (bas station) was very busy. I figured out where I needed to go and got on my bus. There were leather seats that were comfy as well. There was a "flight attendant" a guy that walked up and down the bus serving us water, tea, coffee, and a delicious choclate cake wıth hazelnut filling. It was better than an airplane because he gave us seconds. I had three cups of tea throughout the ride. We took a ferry whıch I wasn't expecting. We drove through some mountains and the sunrise was spectcular. The guy behınd me snored a lot. I listened to my Zune for quite a bit of the ride. I probably only slept for an hour maybe a little bit more. Overall, it wasn't bad at all.

I got to the bus station in Kuşadasi and took a taxi to my hostel. They paıd for half the fare. There were people in my room still so I just set my stuff in there. Activity was everywhere. People were leaving for tours or coming to check in or checking out. Crazy. I really like the place though. I got settled and realized I left my shampoo and soap in Istanbul... stupid. I bought some more for only a lira so the financial burden wasn't bad, it's just annoying not having my usual soap and shampoo. I walked down the harbor. Kuşadasi has two bad things going for it. One, it's a stop for cruise ships. Two, it's a major holiday package town. It is still amazıng. It is set on some hills which lead down to the Aegean Sea. I walked over to the castle which is out on an island but still connected to the mainland. Speactacular vıews and I loved the palm trees. The weather here is the complete opposite of Istanbul. Sunny, seventy, not a cloud in the sky. I walked around the harbor some more. There were lots of people trying to sell things. I walked back up to the hostel and added the pictures to the earlier posts. I came back down to the harbor and sat on a bench and colored and finished reading Tell No One. a crime thıller that Mom picked up from Granada. It is pretty good actually. Then I walked around the town proper and some of the back streets. that was really nice to get away from all the tourısts stuff and see the real town.

I went back up to the hostel and napped for a while. I needed it. I woke up and went back down to the harbor (I did this like twenty times today) and ate dinner at a little restaurant looking at the cruise ships. I had a sardine sandwıch (fried sardine wıth lettuce and tomato on a french bread) with a wonderful salad. For dessert, I bought my first baklava (terrıble for you, flaky, nutty pastry) and watched the sunset. Just, I don't know, spectacular? Awesome? Amazıng? I walked back up to the hostel and caught up in my day to day journal. Then I hung out with some Australians and am now doing the blog and headıng straight for bed. Tomorrow I am going to see Ephesus (bıg ruıns). I am doing it through a tour provided by the hostel. It was kind of expensive but they provide lunch and a guide and it is the easiest option.

Bye!!

How Bazaar

I woke up and went through the same breakfast routıne. I decıded to go to the Blue Mosque agaın thıs mornıng. The Australıan woman I talked to yesterday saıd that she went on a Monday ın the mornıng and that ıt wasn't very busy. There were about half the amount of people but one tenth of the noıse. Much better. I left there and walked over to Topkapı Palace. Another palace lıke Versaılles and Alhambra but for the Ottomans. It was buılt ın the 1500s. There are four courtyards and tons of places to go and see. I went ınto the Harem fırst. It was an extra charge but totally worth ıt. Agaın, ıt remınded me of the Alhambra because ın the Alhambra we had to get a specıal tıcket for the Nasrıd Palaces. The Harem was where all the concubınes and wıves of the Sultan lıved. There were TONS of tıles and paıntıngs and decoratıons and just stuff. It ıs kınd of hard to descrıbe and I don't thınk my pıctures dıd the place justıce. There was poor lıghtıng because ıt was cloudy so the pıcture-takıng was not easy. I saw the bathroom and a bunch of sıttıng rooms. The best room was the Sultan's dınıng room. It had small paıntıngs of flowers and fruıts all over the walls. It was so awesome. The crowds ınsıde were nuts. There was a lıne to get ın and then lınes throughout the area you can walk through. It was probably what the Alhambra was lıke before they ınstıtuted the tımed entry and restrıcted number of people. I dıd not go ınto the Treasury because the lıne was probably an hour long. I donit feel bad about ıt. I went ınto the Muslım Treasure room though. I saw Davıd's sword and Moses's staff (or so they say, I thınk I belıeve them but that ıs pretty outrageous). The maın treasures were a lıttle bıt of Mohammod's beard and one of hıs tooths. Agaın, sounds weırd but whatever. It was pretty cool. There were some nıce vıews over the Bosphorous from the Palace as well. By the end of ıt, I was kınd of Iznık tıled out and arabıc wrıtınged out whıch kınd of makes me feel bad but ıt was just so much at once.

I left the palace and got lunch, a chıcken pıta. I went to the Grand Bazaar next. It ıs a HUGE market thıng. It's lıke a mall on steroıds. There are tons and tons of lıttle shops that sell jewelry, carpet, souvenırs, glassware, electronıcs, toys, everythıng. It used to be all open streets I thınk but now there ıs coverıngs (domes) and stuff over teh streets. The jewelry shops were so pretty. It's a good thıng I'm not a gırl and don't lıke jewelry. Someone could spend a lot of money there. I bought a lıttle bowl wıth a guy playıng a guıtar paınted ın ıt. The guy saıd ıt was 8 lıra and I was lıke, "What? How about 5?" and kınd of haggled. HE dropped the prıce. That made me happy. I stıll probably paıd too much stıll but ıt was fun to get hım to get the prıce down. Whıle I was walkıng around the lıghts went out but busıness went on as usual. Eventually the lıghts came back on. I left and walked over to Galata Brıdge agaın. I decıded to rıde the ferry over to the Asıan sıde and then back just because I love boats and wanted to get a water level vıew of the cıty. It was awesome except for the raın. I stıll lıked ıt. Plus ıt was cheap, only 2.50 lıra for the whole thıng. I got back and walked around the Spıce Bazaar for a lıttle bıt. I dıd thıs the day before as well. I walked ınto a couple mosques along the way. Really pretty ınsıde. Then I got some kınd of wrap thıng for dınner.

Actually, the fırst thıng I dıd thıs mornıng was buy my bus tıcket. It leaves at 9:30 tonıght. I am NOT lookıng forward to sleepıng on the bus but ıt wıll be nıce to be ın Kusadası. The weather ıs supposed to be 65 and sunny both days I am there. I have really lıked Istanbul but the weather has been not good. Fıfty and raıny ıs not my kınd of weather. Oh well. It can't be sunny everday. The forecast for Bodrum (where I wıll be on May 1) ıs 75 and sunny so there's somethıng to look forward to! I should clear up somethıng, I am eıght hours ahead of MN so I am goıng to post thıs blog about Monday at 7:00 pm my tıme. That ıs 11:00 am your tıme. It's kınd oıf screwy because I am postıng about a day that ıs not complete for all of you but that's the way ıt ıs. I have had a couple bouts of homesıckness here. The worst was when I was tryıng to fınd a cheap place to eat dınner today. Rıght before I left I saw on facebook that some people are home and eatıng steak and stuff. I was pretty jealous. Overall, I am havıng a great tıme though. I am so lucky and I have met some pretty cool people so far. Um, I guess that's all for now. I thınk my hostel ın Kusadası has free ınternet as well, I can't remember so maybe a post tomorrow maybe not. Love and mıss everyone!!!!

Güle güle! (goodbye ın Turkısh)

Intense Istanbul

I got up and showered today before eating the free breakfast. The breakfast consisted of a tomato, cucumber, cheese, bread, jelly, and a hard boiled egg. I only ate the bread, jelly, cucumber, and tomato. By the way, that is a typical Turkish breakfast. I headed over to Aya Sophia first. It is a church built by emperor Justinian around 600 AD. It was changed into a mosque when the Ottomans conquered. It is huge and I loved the mosaics in it. There are only a few but they are fantastic and beautiful and just awesome. I can't wait to show you pictures. It was pretty busy even at around 10. I walked over to the Blue Mosque next. After Mecca and Medina, maybe the most famous mosque in the world. It is called the Blue Mosque because of all the Iznik (where they were, very famous kind) tiles inside. The tiles were spectacular but the people were not. It was PACKED. Only about 25% of the mosque allowed people to walk around and they really needed the whole thing. The dome were amazing and so were the tiles. It started down pouring so I waited it out under some cover in the Blue Mosque courtyard. I went over to the Basilica Cistern after that. It is a huge underground place to hold water. It was built for the palace that used to be here. There are tons of pillars and some of them have red and orange lights on the bottom. It had a very eerie feel to it. I liked it a lot. Even though there were tons of people there, it was still calm and pretty quiet inside.

I followed a walk detailed in my Eyewitness book. It went from the Bazaar district, across the Golden Horn to a neighborhood called Beyoglu. The walk started near a bunch of streets with shops lining them. Guys would call keep in my yelling out stuff in turkish. I had no idea what they were saying and thus just walked right by. They sold everything on these streets. TV remotes, cell phones, jeans, shirts, stuffed animals, fish, nuts, cheese, anything. It was crazy walking around with all these Turkish people while they shopped. Sunday is their day of shopping I guess. I followed these shops down to the Golden Horn which separates North and South European Istanbul. The Bosphorous separates European and Asian Istanbul if that makes sense. I walked across the Galata Bridge which has shops and restaurants along the bottom anda ton of guys fishing along the top. Beyoglu is on the other side. This neighborhood has always been associated with international people. I walked up the very steep hill along some narrow roads to Galata Tower. I did not ascend it. The last part of the walk is Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrianized street with a historic tram thing running along it. The tram looked a lot like the cable cars or whatever in San Francisco. For lunch I had some of those granola bars again and I bought some ice cream (banana and strawberry) from a place. I walked along the street which was busy with people but nice. The sun came out for a while and I loved that. I went walking down a side street and a shoe shiner guy walked by and dropped a brush. I picked it up for him and handed it over. He grabbed my hand and forcibly tried to shine my shoes. If anyone has seen my shoes, they know that my shoes cannot be shined. I walked away. Later in the day, another guy did the SAME THING! I did not pick up the brush though. I hate that those guys try to exploit my niceness. I really do hate it. Oh well.

I walked back down the pedetrianized street and down the hill again to the bridge. I decided to walk along the water for a while. It was really cool looking at the Asian side of Istanbul and the Bosphorous. It was so beautiful. I went into a mosque which was really great as well. I was staring at the ceiling when one of the guys who was praying but stopped to watch me called me over. He was smiling and said, "Allah is everything." He said it a couple more times. I didn't know what to say to that so I smiled back and nodded. I continued walking along the water until I got to a port where I thought ferries went back to my part of Istanbul. Turns out they don't so I took a bus instead. I had a kebap and fries for dinner. I bought some peach-o's for dessert. Yum! I talked to an Australian girl for a while in the hostel and then finished reading NYPD Blue. I am leaving it in my hostel before I go and swapping it out for another book tomorrow. That was my day. It was very exciting and I loved all of it. Istanbul is very intense and pretty tiring but really fun too. My last day here is tomorrow and I am planning on taking a night bus to Kusadasi tomorrow night. I am going to find a place to buy my ticket first thing tomorrow. Miss everyone!

See ya!

Stıckıng Out Lıke A Sore Thumb

Hı everyone! The hostel I am stayıng at ın Istanbul has free ınternet so here I am, bloggıng agaın. I dıdn't sleep at all last nıght before I went to catch the nıght bus to Vıctorıa Statıon. The bus I wanted passed by rıght as I got to the bus stop (ıt was 15 mınutes early from what ıt was supposed to be) so I took a dıfferent one and just walked the last half mıle or so to the statıon. I got on a coach bus to Luton Aırport and slept most of the way there. Luton was newly reopened ın 2005 so there are nıce restaurants and comfy places to sıt. I checked ın just fıne and waıted to board. Mom, you'll lıke thıs, I sat ın an aısle seat near the front and ıt worked out great. I sat next to a couple from England who had been to Bodrum before but not Istanbul. They were nıce. We landed on the Asıatıc sıde of Istanbul and I bought my vısa and got my bag. I dıdn't know what to do next (lıke how to get to the European sıde) so the wıfe of that couple found a cop for me who told me to get on a cıty bus and rıde ıt to the end where I would get on a ferry to get to the European sıde. The cıty bus rıde took well over an hour. I had no ıdea where we were goıng or how much further to go. Plus, I was for sure the only non-Turk on the bus. It was an ınterestıng feelıng. I dıdn't mınd ıt. The bus fınally arrıved at the ferry and I bought a coın to get through the turnstıle to the ferry. Whıle we were waıtıng to get on the ferry, a lıttle boy was commentıng to hıs mom and the people around about the bags I had on (I had my red backpack stuffed full plus my gray backpack strapped on to the back of ıt, I wıll admıt, ıt looked rıdıculous). I dıdn't know what he was sayıng but I dıdn't care eıther. Most people at the ferry termınal were gıvıng me sıdeways glances.

So we all got on the ferry and yet agaın, I was pretty much the only non-Turk. Except one young woman who talked to me. It turns out that she ıs ın Istanbul for 6 weeks as part of her teachıng program for a college ın Canada. She ıs teachıng Englısh to students on the Asıatıc sıde, just lıke the woman from A Teacher's War. I walked from the ferry to Sultanahmet, the area wıth all the cheap hostels. It was raınıng and I was exhausted. I went ınto one hostel and ıt was full and then another and then another. I ended up goıng to fıve before fındıng a bed. I was freakıng out a lıttle bıt. Oh well, I found one. It's called Istanbul Hostel. I learned from a person stayıng ın my room that all the hostels are full because ıt ıs the annıversary of a WWI battle called Gallıpolı not far from here. That battle ıs really ımportant to the New Zealanders and Australıans. The person ın my room saıd that over 5,000 kıwıs came to Istanbul yesterday and today. I got settled ın my room and then went out walkıng around. I walked around Hagıa Sofıa and the Blue Mosque, two huge mosques rıght by my hostel. Both are extremely famous. There were sooooo many coach buses full of people. It was gettıng too crowded for me so I walked ınto a back street. I found myself ın a resıdentıal area. As I was walkıng, three dıfferent people asked ıf I was lost because tourısts NEVER come down that way. I almost lıked that area better than Sultanahmet. One guy ın partıcular stopped me. Hıs name ıs Nıle (I don't know how to spell ıt) and we ended up talkıng for over an hour. He bought me some Turkısh tea (after talkıng for a whıle I thought ıt would be ok for hım to do that). He has a gırlfrıend ın North Carolına. He was really nıce and ıt was awesome talkıng to hım.

I came back to the hostel and got a sandwıch from a push cart guy whıch was delıcıous. Then I went to my room and read more from the book I started on the plane, NYPD Blue (mom, haha). It ısn't so bad but I fell asleep from tıredness. After wrıtıng thıs post, I am goıng to go to bed. That was my day! Very excıtıng. Tomorrow I am goıng to go ınsıde Hagıa Sofıa and the Blue Mosque for sure. I don't know what else I wıll do yet. I wıll thınk of somethıng. Hope everyone ıs havıng a good Saturday!

Bye!

Last Time Again

I couldn't think of a better title than that because I am feeling a lot of the same feelings right now as I did almost four months ago when I was getting ready to go to London. The fear and anxiety combined with the excitement and happiness was in both. Also, what I wrote about doing things for the last time definitely applies to today. Like when I was showering this morning. "I am showering for the last time here." was a thought that went through my head. Or when I walked to Our Lady of Victories for the last time today. Or when...

I decided to go to mass one last time because I really liked the church and just because I felt like it. The woman who has always sat in the pew in front of me and to the left was there again. The priest talked soooo sssllloooww. I didn't really mind but it was noticeable. The mass was fine although I missed the singing. After the mass, that woman came up to me and said how nice it was to see me at mass all the time. I broke the bad news to her that it was my last time. She said that it might not be and that I should come back sometime. It turns out her name is Susan. Haha, I saw her basically every Sunday for 4 months and I did not know her name until today. That's the life goes sometimes. She said, "All joy and happiness to you," as we parted ways. I said "Likewise". I am so poetic sometimes. I walked over to Kensington Library (not the last time, I am going to have to go there before I come back to drop off a book). I dropped off a bunch of books and just looked to see if they had any books that I wanted to take with me (library picture 1). Nope. I left and walked over to Foundation House where my classes were held. I took a picture of the classroom where I had Sociology and Senior Sem (picture 2). Fancy, no? . I bought a couple snacks/breakfast for the plane ride tomorrow morning. I also bought some sunscreen (I'm optimistic about my travels being sunny) and a little bottle to hold some laundry detergent. I made lunch. My last PBJ here in London. Pretty depressing (who am I kidding? SWEET!)

I came back to the flat and packed. It didn't take that long because I knew what I wanted to bring and what I wanted to leave. I did the post about yesterday and then walked over to Safe Storage to put my bags in. That was a little bit of an adventure because I walked with the little roller suitcase and a bag full of stuff. The bag ripped and a lady walking by gave me a new one. I like people sometimes. I dropped my stuff off and then walked back. Since then, I have been looking up and booking a couple hostels. I am only booking ones that look really good and are what I want, I am still without a place to stay for most of the trip. I plan to find stuff as I go. I've got some travel books so I will be fine. I also looked up ferry schedules and checked to make sure they were all hunky doory. I made dinner. I had tortellini and sauce. Yum. I took some pictures of Metrogate so I can remember it. That includes the laundry "room" (it's smaller than a closet), my bedroom (picture 3), my bathroom, and the kitchen (picture 4). I don't care what anyone else says, I didn't mind it here at all. In fact, I kind of liked it. It was centrally located and it fit my needs just fine.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I talked to my boss at Champlin Public Works. He "interviewed" me. By that I mean, he asked when I wanted to start. Haha, so that's really, really good news. I have a job this summer. Yay!

I was out when Mo left so I didn't get to say goodbye. That's too bad. It's weird being one of the only people left. The computer lab has been empty all day.

I am about to go to lay down for a few hours. I might sleep, I might not, but I need to do it so I can be alert when I land in Istanbul in about 12 hours (woah). I will probably add a little bit more before I leave.

I didn't sleep at all. I ended up watching some tv. I will update as much and as often as I can on the blog so check back often! Love everyone and um, see you all soon!

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

I planned today to be my "goodbye London" day and it was was (the title of the post is a David Gray song). I woke up and got ready and did a little, tiny bit of packing. My plan was to walk. A lot. I was a little depressed because it was raining when I left but I didn't let it get me down because I had no choice. I had my plan and I was going to stick to it. I took the bus to Piccadilly Circus and walked from there to Stanford's. I bought three guidebooks. Frommer's Greece, Eyewitness Istanbul, and Rick Steves's Belgium and Netherlands. I am also bringing Rick Steves's Switzerland and my big Let's Go Europe book. Those are going to be my main sources of information. I like having the variety of types of guidebooks. I would have just rented all guidebooks from the library but they had a pretty poor selection. So I bought the books and then stopped at the same pizza place I usually do in Leicester Square. 1.50 pounds for a slice. It is sooo good. Leicester Square was getting all geared up for the Iron Man premiere. I really want to see that movie. I'll have to wait until I get back though.

I walked down the The Strand and happened upon a big collection of people walking down it (picture 1). Apparently, it was a Teacher's strike and they were marching to get more pay or something like that. I just read the signs so I don't know much more about it. There were a lot of them though. I stopped at Tesco's and bought a little feast for lunch. That chicken and bacon pasta salad my mom and I had for Easter, a banana, a dinner roll (I love dinner rolls), two white chocolate cookies, and some lemon-lime spring water. I was very excited to eat it. I walked down The Strand until I got to St. Mary-le-Strand Church. You might remember that this is one of my favorite churches. I went in and took a couple pictures. The priest came up behind me and asked if the pictures were good. I told him of course. He proceeded to give a history of the church in about 2 or 3 minutes. He told me about a chapel in the college across the street. I went over to that chapel and looked around. The stained glass was cool. It had very bright colors and interesting faces (picture 2). Each window had a major person from the Bible. I continued walking down the Strand taking pictures of the highlights like St. Clement Danes Church and the Royal Courts of Justice. I walked around the Temple area but the church was closed. I continued on to St. Paul's Cathedral (picture 3). At this point it started really down pouring and hailing so I hung out under the cover of the church until it let up.

It was still raining a little but I was getting antsy so I continued along until I got to the Tower of London. I stopped under the awning thing where the ticket sales are and sat down and ate my lunch. It was raining really hard and there was some lightning and thunder as well. Those are not common in London. By the time I finished lunch and got done digesting, the rain had basically stopped and I saw some blue sky on the way. Yay! I traversed Tower Bridge and then set out on the next part of my walk. The next stage was walking along the Thames to Westminster. I passed by all the usuals: OXO Tower, the Golden Hind, London Bridge, Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, Millenium Bridge, Jubilee Bridge (love picture 4), London Eye, and finally Westminster. The sun was shining finally and the clouds were spectacular. This was true for everything I walked by today but it is mind-blowing to me that all of these places have a memory attached to them. It was like walking through a lot of my time in London. I was amazed at how many little facts I remembered about all the places and how much I loved every single place. I was so sad when I finally turned the last corner and the Tower Bridge went out of view for the last time. It was like that with every place. The funny thing is that even though I have walked along different parts of this part a bunch of times, there were still new things and stuff I had never noticed before. Like Southwark Cathedral. I didn't go inside but I don't remember ever really seeing it before. It has black pebbles and smooth cream colored stone all over it (picture 5). I really liked the look of it. It had a nice little garden as well.

I got to Westminster and did my final salute to Big Ben (picture 6) and Westminster Abbey. I walked up Whitehall, past the horse guards, and up to Trafalgar Square. This was maybe my favorite spot to sit in all of London so I sat for a little bit on last time then went into the National Gallery for a last tour of my favorite pieces. Just like what I said about Southwark Cathderal, I saw all the paintings that I really like but I also noticed some new ones that I had not seen before which was fun. From Trafalgar, I did my usual walk home through St. James's Park which had some AWESOME flowers (picture 7). At Buckingham Palace, all the tulips that surround the traffic circle were in total and complete bloom (picture 8). They were stunning. I walked by Green Park and saw Vanessa and her boyfriend Lucky. It was a crazy coincidence to run into them. My path went through Hyde Park Corner and into Hyde Park next. There flowers here were fantabulous (I just made that word up) too. I saw some dark red/purple colored tulips which I had never seen before; they were interesting (picture 9). There was a canopy thing with vines all over it which would have been perfect for some portraits or something like that (picture 10). I walked by the Serpentine and the Albert Memorial for the last time as well. Sad to see them go. Then it was back down Queen's Gate and onto to Queen's Gate Terrace and Metrogate.

I would estimate I walked over 8 or 9 miles today. It was extremely tiring but totally worth while. I reminisced and saw some new things. I am really sad to see London go but I know that I have to see it go so that I can have some more new adventures. Someday I'll be back though! :-) I didn't write that much about what I was feeling or thinking because I was thinking and feeling a lot of things: sadness over leaving, happy for all the memories I have, lucky to be able to have seen so much in London, anxiety over leaving a place I know, tiredness from walking so much, ecstatic that I am only about a month away from seeing everyone, nervous about all the stuff I still had to do. All of those emotions are thoughts were running through my head at once. There were a couple times when I just stopped, took a deep breath, and cleared my mind. Of course, it was cluttered again in about 2 seconds but that 2 seconds of peace was nice. I'm complaining about that, just saying that it's hard to write about. Anyway, continuing on...

I spent the evening making dinner, doing the post about Kew (I love the title of the post, one of my best ones if you ask me), calling people on Skype, washing clothes and trying to get a little organized. I didn't do a ton of packing today but I figured I had time tomorrow. The main accomplishment I did was wash my clothes so that I could pack them. I didn't do this post last night because I was up talking on Skype until about 2:30 or 3. Tomorrow is my actual last day in London. Yikes!

Hakuna Matata

I woke up today and studied a little for the final test in Senior Sem. It is crazy thinking that I won't have that class ever again. I went to class and it was raining pretty hard on the way there. I took the test which I think I did kind of bad on. Oh well. It is over and done with now. No more school until August. After class, I went with Rachelle, Vanessa, Nick, and Peter to Leicester Square to buy tickets for The Lion King musical (picture 1).

We bought the tickets and then walked around killing time. It was St. George's Day. St. George is the patron saint of England. There were people walking around with white t-shirts and red crosses (the symbol of St. George, he slayed a dragon by the way, weird reason to be a saint). Trafalgar Square had a big thing of English food. We continued walking and stopped by Piccadilly Circus. We all bought a banana and nutella crepe. That was my lunch and it was a great lunch. We walked back to the theatre and watched the show. It was amazing. The costumes are out of this world (Simba and Nala from the internet picture 2). It brought back so many childhood memories that I hadn't thought about forever. I got super duper sad when Mufasa died. Simba looked so lost. The singing was out of this world. Rafiki was hilarious and talked for a little bit in the clicking language that some Africans use. Like I said, just a great show and it was really fun to see it with the people I did.

After the musical, we all split up and I walked over to Stanford's bookstore again to scope out the guidebook scene. I almost bought a couple books but I couldn't make myself do it. Tomorrow I will though. I promise. I am really excited about the books and wish I had them now. Like I said, tomorrow. I decided that I am going to spend the last week of my travels in Belgium and the Netherlands. I was swayed by a couple things. I read up about the museums there and they sound great. Peter and Nick told me that the Eurostar train from Brussels to London is only 35 pounds or so and it takes 2 or 3 hours and drops me off right in London at Waterloo station so I can catch a bus or the Tube really easily. No hassling with Stansted or airplanes. So, there you have it. I pretty much have the whole time planned out. It feels good.

The weather today was typical London. It was raining a lot in the morning and then wonderful in the afternoon and evening. The sun was perfect on the buildings. I took one of those old style double decker buses back to my flat (picture 3). I actually took a picture of it this time. I spent this evening working on the blog some more. I posted the second and third day of my Paris trip. Click on the links or just scroll down. They are kind of long reads, just to warn you. I love some of the pictures I took. I will not get a chance to do Tuesday's post but I will do that tomorrow.

A bunch of people are leaving tomorrow and a couple left today. That is so weird. Rachelle is leaving tomorrow. We said goodbye tonight. Nick leaves tomorrow as well. Everyone is leaving at different times so I don't know who else is but I know there are more. I think Christina and maybe Amy too. I am sad to see them all go. It is kind of lonely down in the computer lab now. All this evening there have only been a couple people. This computer lab probably sees this all the time. The ebb and flow of traffic. As the Lion King says, "The Circle of Life".

Hakuna Matata!

I Love Kew

I woke up a little earlier than normal and wrote a tiny bit more for my Islam paper. Then I went to class. Our final class was just spent talking about a news article about Western views of Islam. That was about it. It was kind of anticlimactic. Oh well. We said goodbye to Hadi (I really liked him) and then left. It was a magnificent day out and I really wanted to go out and see one last new thing around London so I went to Kew Gardens. It is just a short Tube ride (20 minutes) west of London. I got off in the town of Richmond and then walked along the Thames to the Kew Gardens entrance.

Richmond takes its name from a palace that Henry VII built in 1500. There are a lot of houses from the 1700s and still retains a very village feel, kind of like Greenwich but different. I got out of the station and walked around the town a bit. I saw the Richmond Theatre which was built in 1899. I really liked the red brick (picture 1). It is right across the street from Richmond Green which is a big expanse of grass where people were hanging out and enjoying the sun. The town really owes itself to Henry VII. The part of the palace he built is now a bunch of homes so doesn't really look like a palace anymore. Elizabeth I died in that palace which is cool. I left Richmond and spent a large chunk of time walking east along the Thames. The path had the Thames on the left and a creek on the right with trees and stuff (creek picture 2). The creek reminded me a lot of Shingle Creek park where I used to run in high school (kind of by Park Center and Brookdale Park for those who know the area). It made me miss it. The river was at low tide which made it pretty much ugly but that's ok. It was still pleasant with the sunshine and loads of people walking, running, and biking by. I finally got to the village of Kew and walked by some of the houses on my way to the gardens. The houses had wonderful gardens and plants in their extremely tiny "front yards" (picture 3). They were still cute. I made it to Kew Gardens. It was 12 pounds to enter but worth every pence.

The Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew are the most complete public gardens in the world. They were started by Royalty but have since become public. There are 6 greenhouses (yes, 6). Therea re over 40,000 different kinds of plant on display (!!!!) and it is a center for research.

I am an ambition person sometimes (that is an understatement) so I wanted to hit all the major sites which means walking around basically the entire complex. That's about three miles. I started my tour at the Secluded Gardens. There was a little grove with a stream and bridge. The flowers were very nice (I could say that about everywhere). My next stop was also my favorite place, the Princess of Wales Conservatory. It is a really cool looking building. It has different levels and is very angular. There are 10 climate temperate zones inside. Everything from heavy rainforest to arid desert is represented. Like I said, this was my favorite room. It seemed that everything was in bloom and the sheer variety of plants was astounding (picture 4). I saw a sign that said, "Don't throw your money in the pond, it's hard to get out. Throw it in the gift shop." I thought that was funny. There was a really big pond inside that had stingrays. You could down below water level and look in at them. They are very interesting creatures. Just tons of awesome flowers and plants in this place. I left the greenhouse and went out into the Rock Garden. This had rocks, obviously, and other plants (picture 5). I liked the set up a lot and it was cool walking around the stepped rock formations. I walked through the Grass Garden (pretty obvious what that was). It was on to the Bonsai House next. AMAZING. There were 10 Bonsai trees but they weren't the normal Bonsai trees. There was a maple Bonsai tree and a pine Bonsai tree (picture 6). They were awesome.

I walked up to the Temple of Aeolus next. It is set up on a hill in the Woodland Garden. The guy who originally designed the gardens liked having these little Greek Temples all over the place. A few are still there. I walked to the Palm House next. It is pretty obvious what this is as well. When the building was built in the Victorian Age, it was held as a perfect example of Victorian ingenuity and craftsmanship. It was stifling humid and hot inside. The palms were massive. They were hard to take pictures of though because there were so many leaves and they were so tall. I did get a picture of one of the sweet palm things (picture 7). I walked up some stairs and got a bird's eye view of the palms. The rainforest must be spectacular. I walked over to the House next door which was the Waterlily House. It was really small but had a pond in the middle of it where some HUGE waterlilies were growing. They bloom in late May/June though...

The flower garden outside the Palm House was awesome (I am going to run out of adjectives). There were SO MANY FLOWERS!! I don't know the name of a lot of them but they were all so pretty. The color combinations were great too. Pink, yellow, orange, green, red. I loved it. I walked on and past some trees and grass areas until I arrived at the Temperate House. This house had wood type and other plants arranged by where they come from. Every continent was represented (except Antarctica). I didn't like this one as much except one set of flowers (picture 8). I was getting tired so I sat down outside the house on the steps looking over the Cherry Walk. The Cherry Walk is a path with cherry trees along each side. I ate lunch here. Two men and a little boy were walking down the path (picture 9). The boy didn't want to keep walking so the two men left him there and kept walking. They never turned around and the boy got the idea and ran after them. Funny.

I walked over to the Pagoda next (picture 10). It is a five story pagoda designed by an Englishman. The English were kind of obsessed with Asia for a while (like at the Royal Pavilion at Brighton). It was cool but very strange to see. I walked by a Japanese Garden. This had a real rock garden where there is no grass but pebbles instead. It was interesting. The next part was along a woodland gland which had some flowers growing among trees. Very pretty. I got to Queen Charlotte's Cottage. This is where that Queen stayed when she visited. The house is located among a bunch of flowers and woodland scenery. I walked some more to the Bamboo Garden. I didn't know there were so many kinds of bamboo! I thought there was only like one kind of something. There are tons of them. I was nearing the end and walked through the Rhododendron Dell. Rhododendron bushes lived both sides of the path. The reds and whites and pinks and greens created an incredible atmosphere for the path (picture 11 is not a rhododendron but it was on the path and I liked it a lot). I stopped off for a little bit at the indoor kids playground, Creepers and Crawlers. Little kids running around all over the place. Reminded me of the Beacons field trips (the after school program I worked at last year). From there I walked by Kew Palace (picture 12). It is a big red building. Admission price and I was tired and not interested so no go. I sat down on a bench before I left and soaked up the sun. It felt glorious.

I left the gardens and took the bus back. I had to take a bus to Hammersmith and then change for the bus to my flat. It took longer than I thought it would but was ok. Lots of people getting on and off. It's amazing to me that after all the places I have walked and scene and explored in London there are still so many areas that I don't even really know exist. One could spend a lifetime getting to know this city.

I came back to the flat and ate dinner. I did the second and third days of Paris blogs and then was all blogged out and went to bed. I loved Kew Gardens and I picked a great day for it.