AMSTERDAM! (July 1, 2006 - July 5, 2006)

Ugh, totally one of my all-time most favoritest cities in the world, despite its horrendous reputation.

I love it love it love it and it always brings back special memories.

I also totally should be sleeping right now - or at least in bed, resting, trying to get horizontally unconscious.

Oh well. I do things when I feel like I have the energy for them and that's how anything at all manages to get done. Besides, it's pretty much been a week since I last posted after such a spate of posting frenzy, so I want to, and I also feel as if I should!

When we last left our plucky young heroine, she ...

Hm. What the heck was she up to again??

Oh yes!! Getting lost in the great big monstrotrepopolis of Lone-done! Boy, that was a seriously LONG day. And a LONG night. When I stunk up the rail car in the dead of night with sharp stink of old, sour, doused-and-drowned-in-vinegar fried cod and mmmm, chips! Chippies!! I still (ask Lex) reFUSE to eat any stinkin gray slimy fish skin. That simply must not be done. Disgustimo!!

So I think I got up in the morning, the rest of the family went out for lunch or something with a family friend, and I stayed at home to clean and get organized and sorted out for the backpacking trip! Such fun! So full of promise!

I totally remember sitting in the living room with pack and ALLL the stuff I was gonter bringeth wiff me spread out over the floor. See, I don't think they do things like that at my Uncle's house. It was verily a spectacle. Oh yeah, I also spent the whole morning doing all my washing and hanging it out to dry (thankfully there was a nice hot sunny heatwave at the time - I heard it lasted for months ;)) so I'd have clean clothes on the trip.

I finally managed to get everything to fit, and I'm pretty sure I ended up walking my dang self met pack over to the train station, hopping the train two stops over, and checking in at the airport. I took the little shuttle they had between North and South Terminals at Gatwick. It was very futuristic. Hee. Reminded me of like Gattaca and stuff.

I was semi-earlyish, and hungry, so I bought super over-priced fried artery attack at McDonalds.

Then I stood with the crowd at W.H.Smith's (a book and magazine shop which is commonly found in train and bus stations and airports) to watch the England vs. Argentina game! Argentina?? Spain?? Portugal?? Now I think it was Portugal! Guess what!! Does it really even matter? You can TELL that this World Cup was of the super uber dull and totally inconsequential because I can't even stinkin' remember who was playing!!

All I know was it was a tense game and I wanted England to win and then they DIDN'T. After it went to penalty kicks!! And a dude from the English team made a goal BUT THEN THE REF DISALLOWED IT FOR SOME INDISCERNIBLE REASON. Pooooooooh.

I did the self check in, and didn't see any luggage tags print up, but remember being directed to having to take the big backpack to oversize luggage anyway, so I took it there, the guy checked my boarding pass, and threw my backpack on the belt.

I then accidentally tore the zipper off my super old purple hand-me-down-from-my-sister's-high-school-days backpack, and then stuff started spilling out the side, and I started feeling terrifically embarrassed, so I walked into a sale at some bag store and bought!! A backpack to match my big backpack!! It was yellow and black like a bumblebee and made by Jeep. It matched the nice yellow stitching on the backpack to contrast with the lovely deep blue.

Well, in case it has not sunk in yet, did I mention that I DID NOT have a luggage tag on my backpack? I didn't. I had a nametag on it before, which I took off, because it kept falling off, and I thought I'd just write one at the check-in desk, except then I did self check-in!

So after I got on the plane, and while one of the most horrible and scarring experiences I've ever been through was unfolding, I saw this:

This was on the way from London Gatwick, England, to Amsterdam Schiphol, Netherlands. It looks like a castle far off the distance in the clouds. So pretty!!


Sunset over the water off the coast of Holland. The black dot in the upper right quadrant (whoo, pre-algebra jargon strikes again!) is actually a buoy in the water. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuooooooooooy!


Coming into the Netherlands, on the coast. Maybe Zaandfoort? Like heck if I know for sure, I ain't never been to no Dutch beaches b'foh.


Yay!! Land!! I didn't realize Holland was so green. And guess what. I use Holland and the Netherlands interchangeably. The funny thing here was you could actually see aaaaaaaall the rivers and inlets and dikes and things criss-crossing over the land.

And then. It was the horribleness.

We arrive at the airport. It's late, like 10:30pm. Freaking Saturday night. I make it through immigration, I go to the luggage claim, I wait and wait and wait, and never, ever, ever see my backpack. Everyone gets their stuff, they leave, and honestly, it's all deserted. Then it's down to me and this one other young guy.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My bag never made it!!! I filled out a report, and thought maybe it just got lost or something ... :(.

In short: they totally and completely lost my baggage because there were NO tags whatsoever on it. And yes, I never ever ever see it again and get no compensation. Yet. I am working on it.

Ugh, honestly, it was one of the worst things I have ever been through, it was so bad. And I kind of don't like talking about it. But somehow I made it. Though Schiphol Airport will never be the same for me again.

And - slight non-sequitur- AirBerlin is the freaking suckiest, raunchiest, most horrible, grating, BOTCHED UP airline to have to deal with "if you DECIDE TO BUY A VERY CHEAP TICKET." Quoting them, btw. Yeah, I totally deserve to be punished FOR BUYING A VERY CHEAP TICKET. More on that later, beeches!

Of all the places to go into without any stuff, on a crowded Saturday night, good thing it was Amsterdam! I just had my newly purchased yellow backpack with all my goods stuffed inside, and I knew where I was going, didn't have to ask for directions, I knew there would be people around and it wouldn't be all scary and deserted, and I got to stay at the Shelter!!! I love this place. I worked here straight out of college for 4 months and it totally changed my life. I come here every chance I get.

Welcome to The Shelter!

So I got to stay in a smaller room, maybe 6 people. All girls. It. Was. So. Stinkin. Gnarly. Hot. Un-be-freakin'-lievable. I was all looking forward to a shower and resting and whatnot. Um, it didn't much happen. Amsterdam was HOT! And MUGGY!! Yes, I was a bit miserable. No shower cuz I had no clothes to change into anyway. But it was so nice to be back there and I like that place a lot.

I was debating which church to head to on Sunday, then I heard about a service in THE EVENING (yay!) so decided to go to that so I could sleep in a bit and hang out and stuff. I honestly do not really remember whatall I did during that day. Probably got out and walked around a bit. Probably went to Albert Heijn (my faaaaaaaaaaavorite supermarket there because they have amazing frickin' kipcurriesalat which blows my cotton-pickin' mind - chicken curry salad, that is. And Fanta! Don't you? Wanta? Fanta?!?)

And I am pretty sure I probably walked over to a gorgeous, calm, and serene little park that I found when I stayed there in '99. I used to walk there with my guitar to play and sing and relax and sit on the green, grassy banks next to the canal, and wave back at the people going by on boats. I loved that place.

This time, when I went back, I found out the name of the park - Wertheim Park. I'd always known it was in the old Jewish quarter, not too far from the big Portuguese Synagogue, but this time I noticed a big glassy monument. Apparently, the ashes of Jewish victions of the Auschwitz concentration camp are interred there. Wow! I never knew! No wonder that place was always so calm and quiet, with an underlying tinge of sadness. I am so totally all about it, and it is now probably one of my all-time favorite corners of the earth. Even more so because of the history attached to it. One of the panels of the monument was boarded up, and I don't know if it was vandalism or repair, or what. If it was vandalism, I hope that person gets some strict justice, because that's just sick and wrong. But I love that park. With the cute little gorgeous fencing and gate. And tinkly drippy fountain.

When I went there I did see, and smile at, and nod at this lady walking her dog. There is a circular path in this little park, and I remember going one way while she went the other - then we met up in the middle, near the water. She stopped, and started looking around behind her, and I thought she lost or dropped something. I walked up to her, and she asked me if I'd seen a little dog. Um, there was a dog totally standing behind her the whole time. I pointed this out to her, and asked her if she had two dogs. Nope, just the one! She laughed and started teasingly scolding the dog. I know I heard the name of that ditzy little dog but for the life of me I cannot remember what the dog was called. It was two syllables, though. I'm too lazy to check my journal now :P.

So a group of us got together at the hostel in the evening to walk to the church. Zolder 50. I think. We were told it was a 10 minute walk away. I'm like, that's fine. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It was all the way across the entire dang city!! What kind of Dutch 10 minutes were they talking about, I have no freaking clue or idea. Apparently Zolder means "attic" in Dutch and that is where the church is. Steep, steep, practically ladderlike steps up to the top floor where it was unBEARably sweat-inducing dripping hot and then people would shut the windows for - I don't even know why.

I met a nice Dutch guy who was working as a cleaner at the sister hostel to the Shelter City, who had just become a Christian the week before. I wished him a happy birthday!

During worship I saw a big black man in the corner (no, not a demon, an actual person!!) with his hands in the air, shaking them around and jumping all around and I have NO idea why but the very memory makes me want to weep even now. Just watching him worship that night sent me in rivers of tears and tears and drippy drippy tears. I still don't get why I react this way, but I totally do. There was just something really special, and happy, about it.

I saw him later at the hostel, and found out he was staying there while waiting for a flat and job and other stuff to open up - I think it was already in the works. I forget his name. But his accent threw me so I didn't know what the heck he was saying when I first asked him where he was from. He was from Sierra Leone!! Wowee. The place where during the civil war they would chop off people's arms and legs and mutilate them. Ugh. He was so peaceful and calm and smiley, though.

And he told me that he used to be Muslim, but became a Christian when someone invited him to hear a preacher. And he actually had no interest in hearing any of it, but he went to be polite, and became a Christian then and there after hearing the preacher speak. Hm.

You just meet cool people in Amsterdam, you really do.

So then.

So walking back from the church, we saw these huge ole flowers! Someone said they were hollyhocks. I choose to believe them because I have no green thumb or any such thing approximating it.


The entire street was lined with them.


This was at a street corner, and then I took a closer look at the window.


I love all the architectural and structural details of this fascade, and you wanna know the cool thing about the flower-surrounded building?? It's a ballet studio.

balletstudio
Marieke van der Heiden

:) How very very frenchy, and appropriate.

Since we were in less of rush leaving the church, and since it gets dark there much later, we stopped along the way and took pictures. I simply MUST show you the befores (above) ...


and the afters. Several of the pics you've seen so far have already been edited from being big black blobnesses. Yikes, eh??? I am so glad I found photo-editing stuff. How the heck did people used to do this before computers and automatic adjustments with the touch of a button and a click of an icon? Huh? Huh?


I love gorgeous quaint Amsterdam - this is the view over one of the many bridges, to the tree-lined streets/canals.



The famous!! Amsterdam! Bikes! Which get stolen all the time so you have to lock everything up. And everyone goes everywhere on bike. Even tourists.



I somehow really like the neat row of boats parked to the side. Tour boats? Rentals? I don't know.



Now they look like shoes.



This was on the way back trying to trek back across the city. I have a feeling this is near Kalverstraat, a big shopping street. With like three H&M's on it!! (Best store for clothes, I think, overall in Europe. ) I LOVE this building! And the McDonald's right next to it. :) If you noticed the big "fish hook" at the top of the McDonald's building, those are on pretty much every building. They built the houses and doors so narrow, and the steps and stairs inside were so steep and narrow, that you couldn't bring furniture in through them. They actually used a pulley in the big hook and tied furniture with ropes to swing it up and through the windows. Thusly, all the houses are built leaning outward slightly, toward the street, so the furniture wouldn't scrape up against the front of the house when they were hoisting it up.

I also met a couple of other very nice American girls traveling alone as well, and they were part of the group that went to Zolder 50. (Now I think 50 is just the number of the church building.)

I told them about one of my favorite places to eat in Amsterdam - I went several times in my other stays there, and the food was good, and cheap, and there was a beaaaaautiful terrace out back along a junction of 3 canals. So you got good traffic there and a wonderful view!! It is called ...

So we stopped there and had a bite - and I had the tom kai gai, which was one of my first experiences with Thai food. Yes, in Amsterdam.

Me, Hannah from Indiana, and Dawn (from San Diego and only 17!! Travelling by herselfs!! Whoa.)

Night shot! I love the moon out that night.

We were all big picture takers, and I was still getting used to the camera, so we stopped (OK, so mostly it was me stopping) for snapshot moments. The building here is De Waag, the old weighing house. It now has a coffee shop (actual coffee, at this one) on the lower floor. It is in the Nieuwmarkt square, one of the city's landmarks. The hostel where I stayed is on a little side street just to the left of the weigh house, along the bridge which is in front of De Waag. It so totally looks like Disneyland to me. It looks like Cinderella's castle.

And as I was trying to find the actual PROPER spelling of "Nieuwmarkt," I found the site for De Waag.

This is along the street/canal walking back to the hostel, and you can see De Waag at the far end to the right. I think it is a famous building, but I forget what it's for. I think we are along Oudezijds Voorburgwal. It's either that, or Oudezijds Achterburgwal, but honestly - with names like that, who can remember? One is by De Waag and the other is in the Red Light District. That's all I know. :P

Dawn and I arranged to do our own thing in the morning the next day, but meet up to go through the Anne Frank House in the afternoon. The line was long and the house and sun were both mightily hot. It was mostly tourists. But the line moved fast. And no student (or teacher!) discounts! I now wish I had gone to the Anne Frank Huis in either 1998/1999, or 2004, when I was last in Europe with my sister. I know they have done major renovations. In 1998, it was just the one building, and the exhibits were different. In 2004, I think it was under construction and not totally open. It just would have been neat to see and make comparisons on how they have changed it. I spoke with other people who said they liked the original exhibits better, they were more organic and authentic. The original building where the Frank family hid was 3 down from the corner - the museum has now expanded through the two adjacent buildings down to the street corner, and it's all silvery and spacey-looking. It's worth a look if you go and are interested, though. I find myself drawn to all the museums of Jewish history now, for some reason.

So I snuck a picture of Anne's room, though that is not allowed. And lemme tell way, I waited a GOOD LONG WHILE for people to stop streaming in and crowding the rooms, so I could get an empty room shot! Dawn ended up leaving first because I got stuck so far behind. Hee. But I think it was worth it.

They have left her pictures that she put on the wall, just protected by the plastic, but per her father Otto Frank's request, have left it unfurnished, as it was when he returned. I think shortly after it was turned into a museum, they did try to reconstruct what it looked like while the family and others were living there, with period pieces and such, but Mr. Frank preferred it like this.


This is the view directly in front of the house, from a bench along the street.

Do you SEE why it is NOT a good idea to swim in the canals???? I swear, if you fall in, they take you IMMEDIATELY to the hospital and give you shots for like 77 different diseases. EW! Wanna know why???

Because houseboats like this little beauty dump waste directly into the canals, that IS the sewage system!!! This is just a little ways up the street from the Anne Frank Huis. It's actually not a lived-in houseboat, but a floating advertisement for the Tulip Museum up the street. Hence all the flowers.


At the end of the road, near the Westerkirk, is this Memorial to Anne. Someone had laid flowers there on the day I was there.



The corner, showing the street sign for the Westermarkt, Centrum (meaning city center).

Anne's spirit, flying away?? :)

It's a pretty cool shot, but that's what I get for despising pigeons and kicking at them - cool shots. ;)

Not far from Dam Square, the main open square in the city, I'd always walked past this sign for a TAIWANESE RESTAURANT in Amsterdam! I usually would cross on the other side, and I never made it to actually go in and check it out. So I did, finally, this time, and realized it was just the same old weird gross greasy shiny junky Chinese stuff that everybody has. And once again, with the ubiquitous bikes.


The corner of ... the Rathaus? Or is that German? That's German! Never mind! I think this is a back turret of the OLD City Hall/Post Office ... which is now totally a giant mall inside. 3 levels. I nearly got my hair cut as a model there, in 1999. At least, that's what I tell myself, when I volunteered because they were looking for people to demonstrate haircuts on. But I ... accidentally gave them the wrong number of the hostel, since I didn't have it memorized.

There are just SUCH cool details on the building, and beautiful skies. Though I remember it being hot. Like in the Anne Frank Huis. So I had to go and sit in the shade in free benches near the Westerkirk. And people watch. Yeah, spying. I love it.

See? I totally spied on this guy. NO clue in Hades who he is, but I made a guess that he was Italian. I just got that vibe. There was something about the way he was sauntering down the street in his jaunty little way that caught my eye. And I always like a suit! Especially when it's 95 degrees out and I'm sweltering in t-shirt and shorts (yes, the same t-shirt and shorts that I'd arrived in the city with 3 days prior, because that was the situation I was in!!!!). Him, in that heat, with that amount of clothes on, was definitely impressive.

Ooooh, stalker. :)

You can see how truly narrow the streets are, though, and how crowded during the summer. I still love. I would so love to actually quit and take a year off and work there or something. But it'd be weird, because most of the people that end up working at the hostel are like, barely getting out of their teens!! Ack, culture gap.

More on Amsterdam next time. And then ... WORLD CUP GERMANY, 2006!!!! :) My prime reason for this summer's trip. :)

End Amsterdam part 1.

London by bus - three cheers for a travelcard!

(Also, this is my longest post yet. You have no idea. No, really, I mean it. You'll see when you get to the end of it. Also, in advance - congratulations for getting to the end of it.)

And a big frickin' boo for the absolute DISASTER of a day I had the Friday before I left London for the rest of my trip. I think it was June 30. Bah! Curses!

My friend Pam (whom you will see in later pictures) made plans to backpack this past summer as well, but she headed out later than I did because she had a conference to attend. She'd only previously been to Prague, and then some day trips from that area, so she really wanted to spend a good couple days in London exploring. Well, since I was there as well, we decided to meet up and I told her I'd meet her at the airport when her flight arrived. I invited Lex along, so the plan was - I'd meet Lex at Euston station like before, then we'd take the tube over to Heathrow.

Ok.

So firstly, I left the house like, 15 minutes later than I'd planned. Well, that's not usually a problem, and I have patient friends that know what a terrible time I have with punctuality, but things I did not bargain for on this particular day:

1. Peak. Hour. Traffic. And. Schedules. Meaning, at the times when commuters need to get into the city (I think between like 7 and 10, or something), the trains run at the same time as usual ... BUT THEY MAKE SO MANY MORE FRIGGEN STOPS!! LIKE, 15 MORE!!!! Ah! gah! HOly canNOli! :(

So this put me an additional 30 minutes behind schedule. I was starting to get worried about meeting the Lexnoid.

WELL! Since I was running late leaving the house, I'd just hopped on the first train heading into the city and hoped to find a conductor to buy a ticket from, instead of getting thrown off the train after getting berated for not having a valid ticket.

Apparently, the conductors like to avoid the morning rush hour anyway because there's probably just way? too? many? people?? And with the crowds getting on and off at all sorts of various extraneous random teeny podunk stops anyway, they'd be done checking/selling tickets and then have a slew of people come on the train again.

So I never saw a conductor to buy a ticket, and being the nice, honest, conscientious citizen/foreign traveler that I am (oh yeah, well, I also needed an all-day pass for the underground, which could all be put on the same card), as soon as I got off the train at Victoria Station in London, I went to one of the conductors manning the exit gate to see about buying a ticket for the trip I just took. He directed me to a conductor at another platform next to another train. So I flag this guy down and explain my situation, and he sells me a ticket, fine and dandy, la di da.

At Victoria, you must put in your valid ticket in order to exit the inter-city train platforms to enter the train station and make your way to the adjoining tube station. I put my ticket that I'd gotten A MINUTE BEFOREHAND in, and the gates wouldn't open. I tried this about 2 more times, while feeling increasingly embarrassed, incompetent, confused, and stressed because I was already monumentally late.

I go again to one of the train conductors manning the gates, who, along with another handful of colleagues, apparently has nothing better to do than sit and chitchat. He looks at my ticket, tries at the gate nearest him, and it still doesn't work. He checks the ticket again, I direct him to the TIME in which I had bought it - it should be valid!- and THEN he points out to me that the ticket I'd just been sold was for off-peak travel only. Meaning, I couldn't use it until like, 10 o'clock.

It was currently 9:30 at the time. Apparently he also had no convincing answer for my question of why a conductor would sell me a ticket that I couldn't use for another 30 minutes. HELLO!!!!! Men! tal! mid! gets! *nearing the state of hysterical sobbing and hyperventilating*

I really think I had arranged to meet Lex at 9. I think this was to be the day we would partake of fatty fast-food breakfastiness and bring it on the tube with us.
Good glory.

So I ask the dude, "Well, how much would it cost for me to buy another ticket that would be valid at this time?"

"About twice as much."

Freaking! Rip off!!! I have no idea how they can run the country like this.

So in the end, the conductor tells me he'll "be nice" "since it was our mistake" and he opens the manual gate for me to pass into the station. That's good. I decide I will just go into the tube station, purchase a one-way ticket to get to Euston, and by the time I get there, the daycard travelpass will be valid and it won't even cost me too much extra.

I get down there, the line is millions of feet long, especially to buy from the ticketing office, so I look over at the automated machines, and there's about 5 people waiting in front of each machine. I give a tremulous sigh of resignation and get in line, KNOWING that I have some spare change in my wallet. Well, guess what. I get up to the machine, start digging around in the wallet, and for the life of me, cannot find a single coin. No nothing. I think all I have on me is a £20 note, which the machine will not take. Which means, I need to go to the ticket office. Which will take, at least an additional 40 minutes of standing in line with loudly talking Americans.

Stress stress stress!!!

I get out of the line, take one last look in my purse, AND FIND THE STINKIN' CHANGE!!

Oy vey.

The lines are once again, 6 deep.

By this time, there are seriously like less than 10 minutes before 10am, and I decide - frekkit, I'll just wait until the ticket is valid, and go then. I wait, and hem and haw, and try the ticket a few times and see that it is rejected, and realize that there is actually a digital clock in front of the turnstiles, and rush to enter at 10 but it's rejected again!!!!

So the time on the clock and the time according to the turnstile they like totally don't even match, because it was 10:01 on the display clock before the goldurn dratted OFF-PEAK ONLY stupid daypass would work.

It takes a little bit longer than usual to get to Euston. I get there. I look around. I don't see the big giant hulking person. I wander around. I check the clock. I wonder how the HECK I am going to meet Pam's flight at 10:30. I don't blame him for not being there, and I wonder if he's left for the airport or decided just to wander around the city or what.

And I decide to just forget it and head over to the airport already since at least I can meet Pam. In times like these, it SUCKS not to have a cell phone!! Ugh @ the meeting people in a gigarntic metropolis like London!!

2. Apparently, taking the tube into Heathrow is a really, really, really bad idea.

Here's why. Um, hello!!! The lines which are SUPPOSED to go to Heathrow don't always actually go there! They can just randomly stop at any station in between and not go on any further! And you are supposed to know this! And change trains! And a whole lot of silly hogwash!!

And the worst thing: IT TAKES AN HOUR AND A HALF TO GET FROM CENTRAL LONDON INTO FREAKING HEATHROW.

This day was SO unimaginably bad.

I totally stood up Lex, and I was hoping he would not be furious at me for wasting his day/time/money, and I wonder how I will explain to him, and honestly, by the time I got to Heathrow, after waiting at various stations for the train which would ACTUALLY go ALL the way TO Heathrow instead of stopping 2 stations from it and parking there ... I was like nearly 2 hours late to meet her. And they have these giant people movers and huge-arse terminals all far away from each other and it just takes for-freaking-ever.

In the end, I find the gate where her flight should have arrived, and she's not there, and I check the monitors and see that her flight has arrived and all the luggage has been unloaded, and I look around for her, and get in line at the information desk to page her ("Mallard ... like the duck?") and wonder what the heck I am doing making such a mess of things, and wasting the entire day when I was looking forward to seeing her before we were to meet up for the World Cup in Berlin ...

Seriously near tears.

So in the end. I gave up waiting for Pam. I decided to explain to Lex as soon as possible after I got home and hope he wouldn't totally refuse to speak to me ever again. And I remember that the night before I'd bought a ticket from Denmark to Lithuania with SAS but it wouldn't let me do e-ticket, and I had to go to an office to get a paper ticket, but since I was American with an American passport, all the offices that they'd forwarded to me were in America (Yes, please choose either San Diego, Chicago, or New York!). So I decided to hunt down the SAS ticket counter to see if I could get a paper ticket printed up there, and at least get something out of spending THE ENTIRE DAY on the ugly-boogly-weird-and-not-even-scenic-tube-to-Heathrow.

So I did that, and had the paper ticket, and that was fine.

I headed back into the city and had the address for where Pam's hostel was located, and thought I could maybe catch her there.

By the way. People watching on a tube to Heathrow is kind of interesting. You get individuals with all their luggage, and people that LOOK like they are well-off, like older couples and stuff, and you wonder where they are going ... And I also saw these two young guys with backpacks (theirs were SO much lighter and not even stuffed to the gills like mine was) who somehow along the way picked up some blond chick that I am not convinced they really knew before meeting on the train but they were awfully awfully friendly with her so that made me wonder if she wasn't actually a friend of theirs that met them on the way???? Despite the grins and giggles, I still think they didn't know each other before I saw her get on.

Anyhoo!

I check my little underground map to see where the heck a "Swiss Cottage" would be in the middle of freaking London. I get out at the station, I see an ADORABLE outdoor market right before me!! Wowee!! It's like a farmer's market!! And there's food!! And I'm so famished!! (Now I wonder why I didn't take a pic ... but I guess I didn't.)

So I wander up and down the stalls to get a good full look at what they have to offer before I spend my swiftly-dwindling stash of cash. Off the top of my head, I think I went with potatoes au provence - there was a giiiiiiiiant vat of brownish-sauced chopped potatoes with peas and chicken. It just looked soooo rustic and inviting. And I got a mini-fork, like what they sometimes give you in England for fries (aka chips) because it's gauche to eat those with your bare hands??

Then I felt greedy and decided to ALSO get a ham and cheese crepe AND a chocolate crepe. The man was so nice and friendly. And his French accent was so garshk-darn adorable and cheeky.

And the crowd of (college?) kids sitting on the steps of some random building were totally unhelpful when I was asking for directions to this hostel where Pam was staying. I had NO map and only knew the name of the street ... College Crescent and had a devil of a time trying to find it. I ate as I walked. That helped. But by the time I was on the chocolate crepe it was a bit cold and I was really stuffed and it just wasn't feeling so good.

So I asked at least a dozen people where this thing was ...

The nice young man said, "Gosh, I really don't know, I'm afraid you've asked the wrong person!" But I didn't mind because he seemed so very sincere and was smiley in his little business attire sans-suit coat. So after he left I stood and watched him walk away up the street because I felt like it.

The young couple told me it was up the street, and to the right, and past two stoplights, and across the street but on the left, and then follow the signs but that was as much as the woman could remember offhand.

The very svelte and European-looking young woman I asked the other side of the street told me in some weirdo accent, "I'm sorry, I don't know, I'm not from around here."

The unshirted construction worker I asked yelled, "NOOOOOO, this isn't XYZ Street!!" with a terrific sense of impatience before he stormed away up the stairs of some house in the middle of renovation.

:(

After literally walking up and down the street 6 times, and crossing down into every side street I saw, and back to the tube station, and across the other side just in case, I decided to go into a huge giant apartment building just to ask for directions. And the guy at the front desk told me it was 2 buildings up the street.

And then, Jiminy Christmas, I finally found it. And it is a GORGEOUS building! Like a giant Swiss Chalet with nooks and bay windows and wowee, beautiful inside as well. And quiet and serene. So I just asked if Pam had checked in, which she had, and then I asked if they knew if she was in or not, and they said she had checked in an hour ago. So I asked if I could go up to her room and they said no because I was not a guest. Well, fine.

So I wander up the stairs anyway because they did not kick me out and I sat and took a break on the landing in the window seat of the bay window and I started writing her a note. And I saw a young Asian woman check in and start lugging her big suitcase up the stairs and (whoo hoo for strict security!) I followed her up and she even held the door open for me to go into the card-keyed hallway. I knocked on Pam's door but heard no reply. I wandered up and down the hallway hoping to get a bright idea, but no. So I finally just shoved the note under her door and decided to use the bathroom while I was there. Um, it was the teeniest one I've ever been in. Literally no more than 2-feet wide - I couldn't even turn around in there without taking my backpack off. And it wasn't even real walls, it was like thin temporary camper-type plasticky cubicle thingies. Ew Ew EW!

Ugh, so frustrating.

So, I decided, since it was my last day in London before heading to Amsterdam, I might as well make full use of the travel card which was good for all tubes and buses, and I got out my handy dandy bus route map and took a look at which buses went past nice sights and landmarks. They do have good transportation maps for this sort of thing - and basic public transporation "sightseeing routes."

I swung by Portobello Road again (aaaah, Octopus!) and decided to walk up the whole street to see if there were any more antique shops (there were, but I never got anything) to go by Notting Hill since it was mentioned in a movie once.

I think the tube station for Portobello Road is Ladbroke Grove. So guess what. I get out, go up Portobello, check out Octopus, go BACK to Ladbroke Grove to try to take the tube ... and take a picture of the place where Lex and I had lunch, actually, our first day - whoo, fish n chips:

then I see a giant sign in front of the tube station, a whiteboard, upon which is written a message saying that the station is now closed because of something that happened along the line. So I can't even take the tube. Wretched!!!

So I decide to walk to the next tube station in the general direction I'm headed ... and I see some nice cute things, actually.

This was near Portobello Road. There were ... Japanese, I think, though they could have possibly also been Korean ... models doing a photo shoot in front of a vegetable stand. I came around so I wouldn't be in their shot, but that's when they decided to pack up and move on down the street!!! These girls were very "typical Asian model" and all kitten-faced and doll-like and super-teeny-built-like-a-bird. You can see the head of one of them (there were two) between the girl in the hat and skirt and the bleached-headed guy in the lime green shirt. The guy on the very right was the photographer.

I love this door and gate. The hinges and scrolly metal accents are great. I want something like this someday. And it goes so great with the cobblestone!


I also came upon the teeniest little side street. I don't know if these were all houses. There was actually a giant barred gate between the main street and this little side street. I got this shot by sticking the camera between the bars. I love how it looks totally like olden days, and little, London.

Gorgeous! Frenchy! Looking! House. Great colors, great shutters, great roof and I love the flowers. :)

Hee hee. Y'all know why I took a pictures of this, right?

Some random shop window: My favorite is the one on the bottom far left. Go, big London style. Who the heck would want to wear a GYNECOLOGIST patch, though??

I got on a couple buses, and missed stops because I didn't know what they looked like and it was hard to read the little bus stop and street signs indicating the stops, but this looked too gorgeous to pass up. Kensington Gardens. Lots of people strolling around in the afternoon, I took a picture for one cute little couple.

Somehow ended up going past Picadilly Circus again; this was the Eros statue.


Another French-looking building. These pictures are mostly taken from the city bus - a big red double decker, actually! I love the colors of this building. No idea what it was but I did see cafe tables along the street and ground floor.

Is this the British Museum down below??? I have no idea and have never been. But there was a big concert. Some woman was singing. Nobody I recognized. Maybe I could have looked up a concert schedule for that day. At any rate, I STILL don't have ANY clue what this "Mayor of LondON" thingamajig is.

The Tower of London!!!

So I wanted to take the bus all the way back to Victoria Station so I could see more. I'd seen Tower Bridge before, but that was about it. It was actually quite difficult trying to switch bus lines, and find the right stops, especially when there were one-way streets and I wouldn't know which way the bus was headed, necessarily, especially if the stop was around a traffic circle :(.

However, I did find buses which went past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. I will definitely have to spend more time there next time because that building is GORJAMUSS!

Trying to get back to Victoria station ...

This is the London Eye on the left, and in the middle are the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Whee.

So, since it was getting dark, it actually became MUCH harder to find anything. As a matter of fact, I got waaaaaaaaay seriously lost. Lost for about 3 hours. Got off at the wrong bus stop, couldn't find the alternate bus stop for the next route, decided to get fish n chips one last time. Ended up half-eating my fish at the bus stop outside some art school with loads of students milling around about to go out clubbing or something. Ended up in the pitch black on some unknown street wandering around just trying to get my bearings. Asked a young African woman if I was on the right side of the street to catch a bus to Victoria station - she told me to go to the other side - so I did - then I asked the bus driver before I got on, if it was right - and he tells me I'm on the wrong side ... :/

I do finally get on the correct bus. I'm in the back, top deck, and wave to random people in double-deckers behind me. I swear they waved first. Two young girls with long hair. They got a kick of out of it. It's also weird to be 15 feet up in the air but 3 feet away from someone in another bus - because that's how far away you are from the people in the bus behind you, when you are in the last row on the upper deck.

Gah. By the time I got back to Crawley, it was freaking MIDNIGHT. And I'd been trying to get to Victoria since SIX PM. :(

Woe is to the me-ness!

I walk back to my uncle's place all freaked and skeeved out, since it's midnight, and dark, and I'm alone - but mostly it's safe. I knock on the door, and then window, because I'm not trying to wake up the whole dang neighborhood. I have to knock like 5 times before my uncle opens the door. He pokes his head through the curtains to the living room window, first, though. He's totally up, and randomly playing guitar there. Also had been drinking, so I don't think he heard me, lol. I apologize to him for coming back so late, and tell him I got majorly lost, and he nods and goes back to the living room while I head upstairs and just CRASH.

The next morning he says he's glad to see me, because he says he doesn't remember hearing me come home the night before. Haha!! I told him that he's the one that let me in. He admits to drinking a bit too much and says at least I made it back safely.

Truer words were never spoken!!

Portobello Road and Camden, London - late June, 2006

I figured I should kinda start dating things before I totally forget everything!

Before we left Portobello Road (and after I totally. like. resisted. buying. a cute little leather keychain shaped like CHERRIES!!), I saw a neato lil corner:

I love the eclecticism of London architecture. I think what first caught my eye were all the flags in the windows, and they also had loads of Asian accents inside. No idea what that big thing on the corner of the building is supposed to be, but there were figures of children all over it. I think at first I thought it was a giant peacock with tail.

So I crossed the street to take better pictures of it and then I saw ... apparitions!!!

Aaaauuugh!! A ghost in the window!!! Staring a baneful, deathly glare. I like watching people in windows. (My name is Luka - I live on the second floor ...)

And then!!! He left and she came. And stood there. And looked. And I took a couple shots. Then she smiled in this one (you probably can't see it too well) but about 2 seconds after I took this picture she started waving at me across the street, which was pretty cute. I might need to go try that restaurant next time I'm in town. Friendliness in a foreign country is super nice.

Then Lex suggested we head on over to Camden. By then shops were closed and stuff but it was still kinda of interesting. We did go there again later in the summer, before I flew back to the States, and it is totally different during the day when things are open - I almost kind of like things better quiet, and deserted. You can wander around and not be aggravated by hordes of peepholes.

A lot of the shop facades had giant things above them, such as ...

We headed on over to an older part of the street, and wandered in towards little cafes, and shops, and all sorts of nooks and crannies. Towards the back we came upon this:

I love antiques, but pretty much nothing was open at that time of day anymore. I guess in the olden days it really did used to be a horse hospital, and after they converted it to quaint (and actually, very Goth and super vampy/trendy/pricey) shopping, they retained the name. I felt quite an affinity for all the stonework and the old buildings and stuff. They'd converted the old stables into various antique and global goods-type shops.


I love this view!! Maybe they used to use it to lead sick, ailing, lame horses to the two different levels. It makes me wonder what it used to be like back in the day.

So we walked around the back, and started back towards the front, and I saw this cute little red rick-shaw!! It was outside this store that ended up being HUGE inside (when I went back later), with stuff from Africa and hand-wrought copper sculptures (neato seashell-shaped candlestick that I thought was £17 but was actually like £300 or something, ha) inside. So I took a pic.


Then I walked around and looked again and got a huge shock, cuz seriously:


What the heck, dudes. I mean, what is that supposed to mean?? How macabre. And amusing. Because I think there was a monkey in there as well. And maybe even a shrunken head.

Then of course, Lex has to quip: "Are we therrrrre yet???"

Ha!!

One last pic on the road before we went our separate ways:



Hah. I took this pic at the station while the doors were open and that was it!