I arrived in the late afternoon, and I have to drop off my luggage at the hostel, so I couldn't really do much today. I stayed at a B&B/bar (convenient huh?!) called New Market House B&B close to the Caledonian station, which is a convenient enough location with a much cheaper price. A pretty decent room (why does it matter anyways? I ended up spending less than 7 hours there everyday.....) and a shared bathroom with just one other room next to me. Not bad.
Not surprisingly it was pretty cloudy here in London (well, that's the real London, right?). Spring is definitely a good time to go because it's not too cold, not too hot and it doesn't rain much. Since I have a whole night, and the night view of London is amazing (so I was told), I decided to go check it out! The London Eye, the Big Ben, etc. Yes, all the cliché tourist spots. On the way there, I passed by this awesome food market! If I haven't already gotten a pie before I saw that, I would have had so much fun here munching on all the snack food. That guy in the picture below saw me taking that picture, and ended up giving me a free bruschetta!
When I finally got to the river. Oh God, it was mesmerizing. I caught the last ride up the London Eye, but too bad the lights for the London Eye and Big Ben were off when I was up there. I think it was due to some international energy saving thing, so they turned it off for an hour. I totally support this, but I just wish I could have seen the lighted view when I was on the top of the London Eye. What surprised me was that the capsules were huge! So, it is not like 2 people can go up to enjoy a romantic moment like other Ferris wheels. Instead, there are 10-20 people inside each capsule at once! It wasn't crowded inside though, and there was enough room for everyone to see the view.
Before I headed back, I walked to the Big Ben and it was exactly how I imagined it. I was dazzled. This is the most beautiful clock tower I have ever seen. I thought I took enough pictures at the time, but when I got home, I was mad at myself for not taking more pictures! Most people thought that it's enough to see it in person, but not me. Maybe I don't have a very good memory? No matter how great it was, the images in my head faded after a while, and only my pictures can take me back.
I am joining a tour tomorrow, and the tour includes the Windsor Palace, the Roman Bath and the legendary Stonehenge. It is going to be an exciting day! Tomorrow happens to be the equinox (perfect time to go to Stonehenge!), but too bad that it's going to be cloudy tomorrow...... can't exactly see the sun.