Second day

Today it was off to the Camden Markets and then my first shot at the British Museum.

Bradley mentioned that I should go to the Camden Markets. I had no idea what they were about, I didn't read anything, I just went. Off to the tube...

The underground system here is amazing. It seems like a model of how mass transportation should work. Also, when they say "Underground" they really mean it. When I arrived at the Holborn station on the underground I got off and found the exit. After a short set of stairs I got on my first escalator. It went up and up and up and up. Then I got off of that and found another sign that said "Exit". Turned a corner and there was another monster escalator. I must have been 12 stories under ground.

Also, the tube system here is amazing easy to understand. I think the hardest part was figuring out where to buy tickets and how they worked. And it wasn't difficult at all. I never had to wait more than a couple minutes for one to show up.

Anyhow, back on the Camden Markets. Off the tube I was thrown onto a street scape that I could only describe as a post-apocalyptic goth-punk mecca. Tons of stores that were selling leather body suits, not the BDSM ones, the "I am punker than you" type leather body suits.

From Camden Market

With no map I just started walking around checking stuff out. People were sort of filing into this area with a few stalls of things for sale so in I went. I just kept walking and walking and walking and there was no end to the little stalls with things for sale. Anything that you wanted for an Alt lifestyle was found here. From Candles to wind chimes, from Rave gear to Antiques, from jewelry to Japanese items. Hundreds upon hundreds of stalls. I was just completely overwhelmed. I realized that when I got back on the Underground to come back that I didn't buy anything.

From Camden Market

Back in on the tube and it was off to the British Museum. I was pretty beat by this point so I only spent about an hour in the museum before heading back to the hotel room to chill out. I will give the full details after I spend more time there.

From Camden Market

After the conclusion of day 2 I am really impressed with London although I don't think that I would live here. The cost of living is through the roof.

Here are all the the pictures:

London - More than half way around the world

The First Day:

My trip to London is starting off great. The flights from New Zealand involved a 3 hour flight to Sydney, then an 8 hour flight to Singapore, then finally the long haul of 13 hours to London. Luckily I magically got upgrade to Business class on the flight from Singapore to London. Business class is much nicer than premium economy since the seats fold almost flat and I got to live out one of my life's dreams which was to ride on the top floor of a 747.

In the airport in Sydney there was one of the new Airbus A380 planes. From the side it doesn't look all that big, then when you see it from behind it looks like a monster. Supposedly my flight that I have back from London is an A380 on the days other than my flight.

I left New Zealand at 1:30PM and got into London 26 hours later at 6:30 AM. It sounds like hell but it wasn't really all that bad, maybe because I was in Business for the worst of it.

Check-in to the hotel room wasn't until noon so I had a half day to check out the sites. My first stop was Trafalgar Square.

From First day in London

Just on the walk from my hotel to the square the history was amazing. The buildings are mostly ominous big stone constructions which are ornately designed. The detail on them is amazing.

All of the sites that you have seen in movies or pictures are larger than life. When you see Westminster Abbey in the distance or Big Ben come looming out from around a corner it is an unmistakable experience.

From First day in London

I heard that the weather here was bad, they weren't wrong. Rainy and cold with a hint of depression in the air. People are just hoping for the sun to come out. But as Kevin always says "Hope is not a strategy". Now here is an optimist:

From First day in London

Buckingham Palace was pretty cool:

From First day in London

There was no shortage of pubs:

From First day in London

I think that the highlight of the day was Westminster Abbey. As most of you know, I am not the biggest fan of churches but I really wanted to go see Charles Darwin's grave. The abbey's construction is really a wonder of the world. The whole thing seems to be constructed as a monetary pissing match between rulers. All of the monuments to the leaders needed to be more grandiose than the previous one which caused an almost nuclear war type escalation waged with money.

I did get to stand on Charles Darwin's grave which was awesome. My brain couldn't comprehend the awesomeness of that.

From First day in London

Big Ben at noon:

From First day in London

Now my goal is to get my body clock back on the local schedule. I slept from 10:00 until about 3:00 so I am almost there.

Today I am off to a couple markets and then to start my expedition to the British National Museum.

Here is a slideshow of the rest of the pictures from the day: