London, U.K. November 9th, 2016

Wednesday, November 9th

London, UK

I reached the airport groggy and jet lagged. I only got two hours of sleep and was fairly tired when the plane landed in Gatwick Airport. I took a 1 hour train ride south to London. When I got to London and got out of the "tube" or the "underground", as they call the subway in London, I was greeted by a man with a "free hugs" sign. It was the day after the election, the results had come out and it appeared trump had won. We talked and he revealed he was Swedish born and had lived in the states for a good while. We hugged, talked about the election then went our separate ways. It seems as if a Donald Trump presidency was as big of a surprise to me as it was the rest of the world. As I walked I saw newspapers and overheard conversations all focused on the election in America. I never thought that American affairs made such a difference, but in reality it affects the whole world.

I walked to the hostel, safestay Holland Park, which was located in a beautiful and wealthy part of London. After hanging out for half an hour I met up with my friends and new travel mates, Sarah and Hannah, whom I had previously known in Denali, Alaska. Here we were, together again 5 months later and 7 thousand miles away from the 49th state. 

After putting my things away and freshining up, we went on a walk around London. We walked over to buckingham palace and enjoyed the splendor of the queens palace. Although, it makes me sad to see homeless people in the streets yet a family lives in this huge palace with servents, butlers, chefs and all the other luxuries the queen has never went without. The palace was a very obvious symbol of monarchy, as well as a beautiful statement of fine architecture. We walked from there down a cobble stone road to a large complex of old buildings with large pillars and expansive grounds, yet I forgot what it was. Next we headed to Big Ben and the British Parliment along the Thames River. What a beaut! That was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen! The constructors of Big Ben spared no expense nor did they spare detail. It was absolutely stunning. Next we headed to the eye. We wanted to go on, but it was 25£ per person. A little out of our budget, so instead we headed to the nearest pub. After drinking a beer we walked up the street and found a pub with happy hour! Here we bought two bottles of wine, drank them, got drunk and left. Next we took the underground to a grocery store near the hostel and bought some food and another bottle of wine. Hannah and I sucked down the bottle of wine and after being awake for nearly 30 hours, I finally fell asleep.