Category: 2010 Backpacking Trip

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London, Part 2

It has been a busy couple of days here in London! I’m pretty exhausted and I probably won’t be too detailed in this post. But, I have pictures!

Saturday, August 14th

We started the day out by walk to Trafalger Square, visiting an info centre there, and grabbing some breakfast:

We then took the tube up to Nothing Hill to visit the Portobello Market:

We then took the tube to Earl’s Court to visit one of the city’s few remaining Police Public Call Box’s (Because we’re enormous Doctor Who nerds. Don’t judge!):

After that we got on the tube again and went to Picadilly Circle and wandered around. We then strolled over to Buckingham Palace:

After that we wandered around some shops, got some dinner, and walked along the Thames at night:

Sunday, August 15th

This morning we walked to the Globe Theatre and took a tour:

After that we walked to the London Bridge to go through the London Bridge Experience and Tombs. It was terrifying! I didn’t get any pictures since they weren’t allowed.

We then walked down to Tower Bridge:

Followed by Tower of London:

And finally a 2.5 hour cruise down the River Thames. I took too many pictures and can not decide what to post! I did get a picture of the 500 year old pub where we had dinner:

We have another busy day tomorrow, so I really need to get to sleep. I’m so tired! But feeling great.

Hope everyone is doing well!

~Spencer

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London Calling

Greetings from Londontown! After a long and somewhat painful journey, I finally made it! Exhasuted, cranky, and sore, but, still, here in one piece!

The trip did not start off well, unfortunately. My bags were too heavy and I was charged quite a lot to check them. Thankfully the guy working at the counter was very nice and lied about the weight to save my about $45. That made me feel a bit better, until my debit was declined when I went to pay for the baggage charges. Not what I want to hear when I’m about to board a trans Atlantic flight!

Can I also just mention how much I absolutely hate Toronto Pearson Airport? It’s ridiculous. I kept getting turned away at security lines because my gate wasn’t in that section. Fine, but there’s no signs telling you that you need to enter from certain ports for certain gates! And then, of course, I misread my gate as C23, instead of C32, and start to panic because C23 doesn’t appear to exist! Good news though, I used my debit to purchase a bottle of water and it worked. So, I was relieved about that.

I also forgot how much I hate trans Atlantic flights. Long, and cramped, and noisy, and just, ugh. Not fun. I had a window seat though! Not that you can see anything at night over the Atlantic, but, it meant I didn’t have to get up to let the people next to me up. Which made me happy enough.

My view this morning. I wasn’t able to sleep much, but the clouds were lovely to watch this morning. And then of course they start playing Two and a Half Men on the cabin televisions. That annoyed me more than it should have. But, I know a lot of you understand ;).

I had some more stress once getting to London, including getting on the wrong train (the ticket checker on board was very nice though! He didn’t fine me, and told me what to look out for next time.), and having my Visa not work at the hotel. I’m hoping it’s just their machines. I’ll try it out somewhere tomorrow. The last thing I need is to be here with a Visa card that doesn’t work!

I’m feeling much better now, I’m happy to report. I got the hotel, napped, showered, and wandered around for a bit. I just picked up some dinner, and am anxiously awaiting Orla’s arrival. If she ever makes it! Her flight was delayed, so I hope she isn’t stuck too long.

Anyway, I took a few pictures today on the Waterloo Bridge:

Today is pretty overcast and cool, but, since I can’t stand the heat and humidity at home, I’m loving it! I can’t wait to explore the city again. I can’t believe it’s been over 4 years since I was last here. I’ve missed it! Tomorrow Orla and I are going to Portobello Market and possibly starting a hop on, hop off tour. It’s funny, for all the time I’ve spent in London, I’ve never done most of the touristy things. I’m excited! So long as my Visa works…

I think that’s about everything from this end! Hope all is well with everyone!

Cheers, Spencer

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The Final Countdown

Hello!

Welcome to my new blog! I somehow managed to deactivate my original blog and can’t get it up and running again. Hmph.  So, here we are. New address, new layout, the works. Ah well. Better to happen now than halfway through my trip, right?

Speaking of which: Two weeks to go! I think I’m just about ready. I have everything pre-booked, confirmations are printed, tickets are waiting, money is exchanged. I still need to pack, but no need to get on that one quite yet! Thank goodness. I’m loathing that bit. Six weeks in one backpack? Major stress occurring in just the thought of it!

I’m not sure that I ever posted a finalized itinerary. I may have, but I don’t remember and can not check! Either way, it’s a new blog, so whether or not it’s been posted before is quite irrelevant. Where I’ll be going:

England -> Scotland -> Northern Ireland -> Ireland -> Czech Republic -> Austria -> Germany -> Italy -> Northern Ireland -> Spain -> France -> Sweden -> Finland -> England -> Home

The trip will take 6 weeks and I’m insanely excited!

The next two will weeks are going to be quite hectic, so I don’t imagine I’ll be getting the chance to blog before then. That, and I likely won’t have anything exciting to blog about! Everything is booked, so posting a blog to tell you that I purchased travel insurance doesn’t really seem necessary. Heh.

Anywho, I’ll be leaving on Thursday August 12th, and will land in London on the 13th. Talk to you then!