An American In London....

Ahhhh...the sweet sounds of the city; a jack-hammer against the hard concrete, sounds of hammers hitting metal; the clang of metal banging together at heights well above ground, and the whir of a saw. In my dreams, it reminded me of the show Stomp. As I woke, I realized that it wasn't the sweet choreographed sounds that I was hearing from Stomp but the annoying sounds from the construction site just outside my hostel window. This was repeated every morning in London....an alarm clock of construction sounds beginning around 0700.

Thought of changing hostels were disregarded when I thought about packing up all three of us girls and trekking across the London crowds to find something new....so we stayed.

I think I fell in Love with London this week. There is something about being able to feel lost in the hustle of the crowd that draws me in. Thoughts of how much it would cost to rent a flat crossed my mind. The fact that you can get anything you want or need just around the corner is enticing to me. There is an abundance of culture and your never far from an event or something to entertain. London reminds me of San Francisco which will always be one of my favorite places.

We never made it out of London during our trip. I would love to return to see the British countryside and probably will some day.

Two shows were booked and enjoyed. Stomp and Wicked. I think we all agreed that we enjoyed Stomp best. It's so full of energy and excitement. Wicked was good as well, on a different spectrum. I only wish that I could have had a bit better seats and I think that Wicked would have came far up on the 'wow' factor.

London Pride was amazing fun; made more so by new friends we met. For a great little drag show go see Bette @ Molly Moggs This little pub was ultra friendly.

Miles of walking through the city streets, our feet were not happy. I never feel like I get to see as much as I would like; I guess that is reason enough to return.

The 4th of July was spent without fireworks this year but I don't think any of us even gave it a second thought; we were too busy enjoying the London sites.

Trinity's birthday was celebrated (somewhat weakly) with an amazing cake purchased at Caffe' Concerto. It was the most beautiful and delicious cake I have ever purchased. It was shared with new friends at the hostel...

A few tips that I want to note (mostly so I don't forget for my return trip):

- Cheap and good lunch food can be had at the local groceries. I like Simply Food the best (Victoria Station). M&S was also good as well as the local Tessco
- Great cheap clothes shopping can be found @ Primark on Oxford Street
- Get the Oyster Card....no worries about transit.
- Discount theater tickets can be found all over town, but make sure that you check the prices against the theater first.
- Sandeman's free Tours again.....great! If your hostel offers a pick-up for the tour, you can save about 30 minutes of walking by finding out where the full tour meets and taking the Underground! If your like me with sore feet from walking the 30 minutes spared will be worth it.
- Silly American that I am; please note that the London Bridge is NOT the Tower of London! We walked all over to find the London Bridge only to realize that it is a tiny little bridge over the river with no real interest. The Tower of London is further down the river. Spend some time here...it's a great place to people watch.

Link to London Pics
Link to London PRIDE Pics