Britain in Fall Day 5

This morning I went with Trevor & Stacy to their new house for the signing of the papers and all that good stuff. I got to check out the new place, it is pretty nice. There were still some things needing to be done, both inside and out, but overall it looked like it was pretty much ready for them to move their stuff in tomorrow.

Trevor & Stacy encouraged me to get out of town for a few days while they did the bulk of the moving, so I obliged and caught an afternoon train out of town. After switching trains in Ipswich, I arrived at London Liverpool Street. From here I headed to Baden-Powell House, a hostel I had heard about at camp.

The hostel was in Kensington, so I had to take the tube all the way across London to get there. But I just wanted to drop my things off and secure a place for the night before heading out. B-P house was pretty nice, certanly much larger than the other hostels I've been to before, but it certainly fits in London. Unfortunately I had neglected to bring my scout membership card from the states, so it cost a few more quid for the night.

I claimed a bunk in the dormitory room and headed back out the the tube, I took the Piccadilly Line a few stops to Hyde Park, where I walked down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace. I had no idea what the whole changing of the guard was about, so when the signs told me there would be a changing tomorrow at 11, I figured I would come back then to do the right touristy thing.

I walked up through Green Park to Piccadilly. I found a hole-in-the-wall internet place and plunked down £1.50 for an hour of catching up. After that, I headed down through Piccadilly Circus (the closest thing London has to Times Square, I suppose) and to Leicester Square.

Walking up to Leicester Square, I saw that there was quite a hubub! There was a fenced-off part of the street in front of one of the theaters, with red carpet laid down and limousines parked in front... a movie premiere! It was the London premiere of "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". I stayed around a bit, wondering if I would catch a glimpse of Gwyneth, and possibly Apple. Alas, I was a bit late and all the celebs had already left, as I didn't recognize anyone getting into the remaining limos. When they started taking up the red carpet, everyone got the hint and the crowd broke up.

I stopped for dinner at a pizza place. They had different types, I tried some pizza with corn on it. Actually not too bad!

September 27, 2004 11:23 PM