Rob and I woke up at about 9am and went straight to breakfast. We took showers after and checked on the guys from last night. They weren’t so big on seeing the sights as early as we wanted to, so we left on our own. Our goal was to see the changing of the guard, but we came out pretty far from Buckingham Palace and only caught the end of the change. From there we walked down the Mall and St James’s Park, the horse guards, the Spring Garden, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Westminster Bridge. It took quite a while to walk the whole section, but it was well wroth it. I got some great pictures of giant lion statues and guards (who must hate people like me taking a million photos of them).
We walked from there over the bridge and to the Eye of London. It would be about 30 US dollars to go on the giant Ferris wheel, so I decided I would spend my money somewhere else more worthwhile. We grabbed a cheap, quick bite to eat at McDonald’s (which had a very different menu than America). We went next into the London Aquarium. It was therapeutic really to see all the fish. There were plenty of screaming kids, but mostly it was peaceful. I got to touch several stingrays in the pool they had there. It was strange; the stingrays really seemed to enjoy all of the petting and attention.
Afterwards, I had a choice of seeing Dali’s sculptures or a Star Wars exhibition. Before I say which one I obviously chose, let me explain my reasoning. Dali’s paintings I love, but his sculptures are really just poor representations of images more beautiful in his other works. A Star Wars exhibition I have never seen, and I probably would never see except at this one place. I chose Star Wars. They had all of the costumes, a star fighter set piece, a pod-racer, concept drawings, a 30-minute documentary on the history of Star Wars special effects over the past 30 years, and much more. I took pictures with peope dressed up in costumes and watched people put on costumes and sword fight professionals against a green screen that put the two people inside the movie. It was worthwhile.
We went back to the hotel and rested up for a while. Brent took Rob and I out to eat at a Southwestern restaurant called Navajo Joe’s that was exceptional. I had a tostada that was unreal. Everyone met up with us at the restaurant before we went to a club called Roadhouse. It was okay, but the crowd was a little bit older. Three of our friends studying abroad and traveling met us there, so we had a big reunion. I took a cab with two of the girls to make sure that they made it home okay.
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