Gold Nuggets.

Good things today. For starters, sixty degrees and sunny. Can't ask for much more from London in February, huh? We slept in - mostly on accident, but foreign sleep still feels really nice.. Anyway, we decided to join the tourist crowds (which I'm sure were much smaller than summer months) at London Tower, where we spent a good 3 hours reminiscing on past AP Euro studies as we walked through the Old Fort. We followed a tour given by a Warder - a guard of the Tower - and were cheerily reminded of the rich, powerful, gory, English history - a history that, according to the Warder, could have been American's history as well if we had only paid our taxes...

Anyway, London Bridge isn't nearly as cool or stylish as Tower Bridge. St. Paul's Cathedral is really huge and Catholic. "Wellingston's" is the best place for some good fish-n-chips; my video camera is the best purchase I have ever made; Tim still doesn't know how to use a payphone, Starbucks in London makes life better - yes Wayne, better; the Crown Jewels are a bit excessive in my mind - who would enjoy walking around with two tons of gold nuggets strapped to them?; beheadings, hangings, stretchings, and quartering must have been quite the show for the mindless minions of the British Monarchy, bringing scooters with us on the trip would have been a solid decision, they always have to put ridiculous gift shops in every nook and cranny of historical buildings, Mind the Gap, and for real, God save the Queen.

It's been a long day and tomorrow we leave for Paris at 7:30 AM, so I am done for now. London has been a great time and an excellent choice for our first stop. But don't take my word for it - check out Tim's blog at http://www.xanga.com/terickson44 if you feel like reading something a little more witty...

Walking.

Today we walked a solid 7 hours, stopping at various places but mostly just getting lost in London. A highlight was when we accidentally stumbled in to the Household Cavalry Museum and caught most of the Horse Guards Parade. We had no idea what was going on - just a bunch of guys in red coats, guns metal caps, riding horses, but eventually figured it must be an everyday occurance. We also strolled through St. James Park, tried to gain entrance into Buckingham Palace (no chance), and stared in awe at the magnificent Houses of Parliament and Westminister Abbey. How they built those buildings is nearly unthinkable.

All the walking we did had to easily break in my shoes and is seriously preparing me for the Appalachians and if we keep going at this rate I'm going to be skin and bones before we even get there. My face took a nice wind-beating as well...

We went to Zorro: The Musical - on London's version of Broadway later and it rocked! I didn't expect the show to be as good as it was, so it was a very pleasant surprise. There was a very large cast and we got pretty good seats - at a cheap student price as well, because everything here is cheaper for students. Artemiz and two of her Turkish friends joined us for Zorro, so it was fun to meet and hang out with some new people. And who knew I'd make Turkish friends in London?

We have one more day in London tomorrow and then we head out for Paris on Saturday. We are working on securing a place to stay at a hostel in Paris, but it might end up we just walk around until someone lets us in...or we will just sleep with the pigeons.

Me and Tim also had some good discussions today and came to three good conclusions:

1) Boxes of crayons are meant to be shared.

2) Israel and Palestine should chill and be friends, because hey, can't we all be friends?

3) More things in life should be free - like train tickets, hotels, food...

Beginnings.

Well, here in London the sun sets just as in any other country, and tonight I find myself both exhausted and exhilirated after a long day of travel and two days of getting lost in London. My journey is well on its way and the transition from home to afar couldn't have gone better and London has been fresh and new, but for the sake of this blog, before revisting the first two days abroad, I had best start with the story of how I actually ended up abroad...

A few months ago, getting bored with the everyday things of school and work - who doesn't? - I . I had just graduated with my AA from the CC and knew where I wanted to pursue the rest of my college education. But I also realized I was in the perfect time in my life for an adventure - a grand escapement; a fresh experience; a Great Sojourn.

So, without hesitation, I pulled the trigger.

My friend Tim Erickson had also been balancing the rift between stages in life and, after coercing him perhaps just a little, he glady hopped aboard my Adventure Train. Together we set about planning what will, in the end, take 3 months to accomplish. Here is our master plan:

Starting in London, we are to traverse the whole of Europe on the Eurail train. From London we travel by Eurostar to Paris, where we hope to enjoy some good food and much history. From Paris to Rennes - a city west of Paris where Tim has family. From Rennes we move down by train to Barcelona, Spain, which rests near the Meditteranean Sea. Then, taking a ferry we will sail to Italy, where we will spend a good week or so exploring places of history and discovering the secrets of the many famous Italian cities. Next we journey to Swizterland, where a visit to the Alps will be my number one destination. We continue on through Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, stopping wherever we feel, and will eventually end up in perhaps what I think may always be my favorite country, Norway. We will be there about two weeks, reuniting with old friends and hopefully making new ones.

From Norway we are to fly to Roanoke, Virginia, where we will begin what has always been a dream of mine (since being inspired by the famous Kelly Gorman) - hiking the Appalachian Mountains. Tim and I have been researching and purchasing hiking equipment for the past two months and I feel that we are completely ready for this challenge (except for not being in the best of shape?) We will, from Roanoke, hike about 750 miles to Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania on the Appalachian Trail. I will hopefully be blogging throughout the entirety of my trip, although while hiking it might be tough

So, although we have only spent one night of our many on our trip, I feel like I am well on my way. The weekend prior to leaving was spent (sick most of the time) in Minneapolis filming a wedding and making some final preparations for our trip.

The 8-hour flight from MSP to London went very well. There were very few people on the plane, and most were sleeping, so me and Tim watched a few movies, read and tried to sleep. When we got to London, Artemis Tankas, an old exchange student of Tims picked us up and brought us to where we are now - the International Dorms for King's College London. She is kindly letting us take over her room and is rooming with one of her friends, leaving me and Tim in our own International dorm room.

Our first day was a tired one spent walking around London. We ate a two different restaraunts - an "English diner" and a place that specialized in chicken. Both were good, and surprisingly paid for by our host. Having friends in different places definately has its perks...

Today, after sleeping 13 hours straight last night, we were at the British National Museum, which was really big and awesome. We spent 4 hours there but barely covered half of the museum. Huge exhibits from ancient Egypt and 14th century Britain kept us very entertained. The rest of the night was spent walking around enjoying the sights and eating at a at "Pizza Express" a very good pizza place.

So, that's it for the first update. Hopefully I will be able to write more soon! Hope all is well back home!

Oh and another thing I've found, is that it seems it would be easy to get hit by a car here in London, so I hope I make it through the next few days...