My First Time

No, not that first time! My first time in London by myself! I was 18, it was 2003, I had just graduated high school and was on my way to Israel with a ten-hour or something like that stop-over in London. I was looking through my old yahoo email account and stumbled across this email I had written to friends at home describing my ten hours alone there. Here it is, recreated in its entirety, no editorial changes made. Oh how the times have (sort of) changed.

I thought it woudl be best to just write one big e-mail to y'all about London instead a bunch of individual ones. But before I continue, 1) please excuse any typos, you're all smart people and all will be able to figure out what I'm writing and 2) the space baron this computer doesn't work too well so if there aren't spaces between some words sue me, OK? Anyway,contimuing
onto London.Oh my gosh, it was so much fun! I went to the airport in LAX and flew over to Heathrow (after buying a magazine with Shane West on the front, and a poster of Orlando Bloom in teh middle). The inflight entertainment wasn't working, but that's OK because it gave me the opportunity to sleep. Once in Heathrow, I bought an all-day undergroudn pass and took it first to Piccadilly Circus.

At Piccadilly there's a little water fountain in the middle that I looked at and then I headed first down Regent's street (nearly getting killed becaue I forgot to look the correct way when crossing teh street- thank goodness for the reminders painted on teh street curb!)and then Pall Mall to Trafalger Square where there's the beautiful blue fountain and the huge lion statues. There was an anti-abortion rally going on therewith a bunch of speeches and I listened while I looked at St. Martin's in the Fields and the National Portrait and NationalGalleries.After hanging around there and watchign the happenes, I headed down the long walk, under the Queen Victoria and King Alberto Monument, past the huge tall colum with a statueof Horation Nelson (who beat Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalger) on teh top all the way down to Buckingham Palace. I saw the awesome guards there and actually the flag was flying which meant the queen was at home (sadly I didn't see her this time... oh well, once was enought).I continued around through St. James park (where a street vendor got mad at me because I bought a 1.7 pound (money, not weight) ice cream with atwnety pound note. It was the smallerstI had!~)

Anyway, I saw the barracks where the guards who are not changing were and then Westminter Abbey, which from teh outside is absolutely beautiful and from the inside even more beautiful. I walked back up the other side of St. James park and past Whitehall, the queen's other and smlaler residence where theguards sit on horses and back up to Piccadilly (the rallyer had by this time marched past carryin white and yellow balloons).I gotback on the the tube station adn tookitto Baker's Street, where I saw a statueof the famous Sherlock HOlmes. I went to his museum but it was closed so I got back onto the tube and took it to St. Paul's. I got out and followed signs supposedly to the cathedral but didn't find it so decided to find the Barbican. After gettign sadly and misguidedly lost, (I ended up at some random hospital where little kdis waved to me through the windows adn the fence, I swear) I finally found the Barbican center, which was not what I expected. But it wasstillamazing and I loved it. After resting my tired adn weary feet, I attempted to find my way back to the infamous St.Pauls. I past a huge underpass thing that was being constucted on,four smart cars, a really cute guy who looked just about the sameif not more lost than I was, a police station, the central courts place and St. Gilse without Newgate when I finaly found St. Pauls (which is, by the way, the place in Mary Poppins where the old lady with the birds sits, I beleive) which was not what was expected because there was tons of construction due to a renovation for the 300th annivesary. I saw the back and lo and behold, saw the Tube station that I had first gotten off at. Needless to say, that frustratedme (and my feet) a bit, but it wasall good. I got back onto the underground and went to teh London Dungeon but it wasclosed, so I went to the Tower Bridge.

I went to the grassarea first next to it and saw this huge, new metalically, metal buidling that was like notstright up and down and was like a bunch of discsstacked up one upon another but not straight. I have noidea with this building is and if anyone does, please let me know [note: It's the London City Council Buildling... in my pictures, I entitled it "Cool London Building"] .As I was there, this guy was getting arrested but the police and his friends were pitching fits and one copper went up to him (I'm standing lik a foot away readingmy guide book) and says "look, mate, there's no reason to pitch a bloody fit, this is a public place with public people adn there's no use for this kind of language, so please refrain from using it unless you'de like to join your friend". One of the fridens had the thickest accent ever that I swear I thought he was speking another language. Anyway, I then went onto teh bridge and as I was crossing, they stopped us, raised the middle of teh bridge and let a boat through, which was interesting.I walked past and observed the tower of london, which was awesome and then headed back onto the tube. I took it to Knightbridge in hopes of seeing Harrods, the bigiest dept. store there, but the walkwayup was closed, so I headed back onto the undergrodnu adn took it back to London. The three hot guys of the day were Dominic, the guy who exchanged me moeny for me (hegave me a good rate too!), Daniel, oneof teh stewards on theflight to Tel Aviv,and COnstable Robbie Baron,oneof the police officers that I talked to about the werid building next to the bridge that I'mstill unaware of the name. [note: again, London City Council]

Some thoughts:

-Shane West and Orlando Bloom... clearly these were my celeb crushes at the time

-hot boys of the trip? wow....

-it seems like a lot of things were closed... St. Paul's, the Dungeon, the Holmes Museum, Harrods. I wonder what day I was there... if it was a Monday, that would make sense...

-I had totally forgotten about the guy getting arrested! I love how in one of the pics, it looks like I'm taking a picture of his friend and the tower. Let me be clear, I do not know this man.

-I love how I didn't really know what most of these places were... and that I hit up the "Greatest Hits" of London, basically. Also, no Camden! What was eighteen-year-old me thinking!?

-the in-flight wasn't working? SUCKS.

And I just found the pictures from that first trip.... enjoy!