I arrived late last night in London, and after a rather unpleasant experience in getting through the UKBA (Border Agency), I missed my train from Stansted into the downtown area, where my friend, Chris, lives. So I ended up taking a bus, which took about 90 minutes. With the free Wi-Fi on the bus, I tracked our progress as we drove through London.
By the time, I met up with Chris at the bus stop, it was already nearly 1 AM. But, whatever, I'm just glad I was in London and had found Chris. So who exactly is Chris? He's a fellow HIA Senior Fellow, whom I met three summers ago, when we both were selected for HIA together. In fact, one of the memories we recalled today was how the two of us played basketball on a grass court with a soccer ball in some small resort town in Denmark when we started out in HIA.
Chris played football at the University of Michigan (which is a big deal, if you didn't know), was a Fulbrighter last year in South Africa, and is now working on a Master's degree at the London School of Economics. Needless to say, Chris and I always have fascinating conversations. Last night, we stayed up till about 4 AM chatting about everything from sports to politics. He's got a cool apartment.
Today, I woke up around 10 AM, about an hour after Chris. And then we went out to find a bank, pick up a Tube card (public transportation), and get breakfast at a great cafe. I had a full English breakfast, which frankly was okay except for the black pudding (which is made of blood) and the sausage, which was entirely mushy. Otherwise, it was really filling.
After breakfast, we walked around a bit and decided to head to the British Library. It's pretty modern looking, but it's full of great stuff. They have exhibits and whatnot on various topics. Really impressive.
First, we decided to go to King's Cross St. train station though. I had thought platform 9 and 3/4s from Harry Potter was there. But if it's anywhere near platform 9, I was wrong because I couldn't find it anywhere. I just checked again online, and apparently we were in the right spot. I don't know how we couldn't have found it.
After checking out the train station, we headed back to the library, so Chris could do work. I just chilled in the library and did some of my own work. Pretty fun. The library is quite impressive.
We spent a few hours there and then headed out. We ended up walking through Hyde Park and to Buckingham Palace. On the way, we saw some other cool stuff.
At Buckingham Palace, you could see all the decorations being finished for the wedding. Nuts, I tell you! The Palace itself isn't all that pretty really. But it's impressive nonetheless. What I liked more was St. James' Park, which was really relaxing and beautiful.
We grabbed a few beers like the Londoners do (drinking outside the pubs/bars on the street) and then had dinner at a Brazilian restaurant by Chris's apartment. It was really dang good. I was so stuffed though. Oh, and I'd say beer is still way better in Germany. :)
After dinner, we decided to head out to a club or something, and we ended up finding a place where we stayed until about 3 AM, when it closed.
I don't really dance, so I spent much of my time chatting with the security guards. One argued with me about U.S. foreign policy, which I was glad to do. And the others just wanted to chat. Overall, I felt like I did a good job of supporting the American perspective. :)
I am quite tired now as it's nearly 5 AM, and we're ready to pass out. So I'm going to bed now.
Until next time,
Sam
By the time, I met up with Chris at the bus stop, it was already nearly 1 AM. But, whatever, I'm just glad I was in London and had found Chris. So who exactly is Chris? He's a fellow HIA Senior Fellow, whom I met three summers ago, when we both were selected for HIA together. In fact, one of the memories we recalled today was how the two of us played basketball on a grass court with a soccer ball in some small resort town in Denmark when we started out in HIA.
Chris played football at the University of Michigan (which is a big deal, if you didn't know), was a Fulbrighter last year in South Africa, and is now working on a Master's degree at the London School of Economics. Needless to say, Chris and I always have fascinating conversations. Last night, we stayed up till about 4 AM chatting about everything from sports to politics. He's got a cool apartment.
Today, I woke up around 10 AM, about an hour after Chris. And then we went out to find a bank, pick up a Tube card (public transportation), and get breakfast at a great cafe. I had a full English breakfast, which frankly was okay except for the black pudding (which is made of blood) and the sausage, which was entirely mushy. Otherwise, it was really filling.
After breakfast, we walked around a bit and decided to head to the British Library. It's pretty modern looking, but it's full of great stuff. They have exhibits and whatnot on various topics. Really impressive.
First, we decided to go to King's Cross St. train station though. I had thought platform 9 and 3/4s from Harry Potter was there. But if it's anywhere near platform 9, I was wrong because I couldn't find it anywhere. I just checked again online, and apparently we were in the right spot. I don't know how we couldn't have found it.
After checking out the train station, we headed back to the library, so Chris could do work. I just chilled in the library and did some of my own work. Pretty fun. The library is quite impressive.
We spent a few hours there and then headed out. We ended up walking through Hyde Park and to Buckingham Palace. On the way, we saw some other cool stuff.
At Buckingham Palace, you could see all the decorations being finished for the wedding. Nuts, I tell you! The Palace itself isn't all that pretty really. But it's impressive nonetheless. What I liked more was St. James' Park, which was really relaxing and beautiful.
We grabbed a few beers like the Londoners do (drinking outside the pubs/bars on the street) and then had dinner at a Brazilian restaurant by Chris's apartment. It was really dang good. I was so stuffed though. Oh, and I'd say beer is still way better in Germany. :)
After dinner, we decided to head out to a club or something, and we ended up finding a place where we stayed until about 3 AM, when it closed.
I don't really dance, so I spent much of my time chatting with the security guards. One argued with me about U.S. foreign policy, which I was glad to do. And the others just wanted to chat. Overall, I felt like I did a good job of supporting the American perspective. :)
I am quite tired now as it's nearly 5 AM, and we're ready to pass out. So I'm going to bed now.
Until next time,
Sam
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