Day 2 (Cont'd) and Day 3

So we're still exhausted and come bearing bad news - no pictures for the next few days. Our hostel doesn't have an accessible USB port. BUT, as promised, we'll tell you all about our day yesterday and what we've been up to today as well. (For your viewing pleasure, we have inserted internet pictures of where we visited...the real ones will come later.)

Our day got off to a bit of a late start...and by late, we mean we slept until 12. We think that our time schedule is still really messed up. It doesn't help that we were up until about 4 am...but hey, we don't want to miss anything! And people in Europe just stay up that late. Bars are open until 3 or 6 am sometimes...yes, including Wednesday nights. But our day went rather smoothly for the most part. We expertly navigated our way to Westminster (ironic, since finally we figured out the Tube system, and we left less than 24 hours later for a whole new country, a whole new system).

In Westminster, we walked out of the Tube station and immediately saw the monumentous Big Ben. Gorgeous tower, so much detail up so close. Westminster Abbey was...breathtaking. The architecture and the overall presence of standing in front of the big wooden doors was an experience hard to put into words. We were disappointed to find that the Westminster chimes only ring during special occasions (especially since that was just about all we new about the Abbey...AND they chimed at 11 that morning...when we were sleeping, of course).

In our attempt to get to Buckingham Palace, we walked about two miles in the wrong direction - come to find out later, it was right where we were. But that's okay because it gave us the opportunity to ride on a double decker bus. And of course we sat on the top level! The drivers of those things are crazy!!

We walked down Palace Road, past hundreds of people standing on the side of the road drinking after work (apparently that's a normal pasttime in England), and finally made it to Queen Elizabeth's Buckingham Palace. The grounds were beautiful...covered with red and purple flowers and perfectly manicured lawns (Ashley's dad would love that - he really has a sickness when it comes to grass). In front of the palace stood huge iron gates lined with intricate gold lions and monarchical symbols. And in the center of the courtyard was a massive monument surrounded by various statues and fountains. We of course posed with all of them. And even took off our sneakers and stuck our feet in the cold fountain (Liana stuck more than just her feet in), which was a much needed, refreshing break from all the walking we've been doing. We are now starting to realize why Europeans are so skinny.
Last night was...interesting, to say the least. We met up with some locals we had met the night before. Went to Chinatown and ate the crappiest Chinese food EVER...with even worse service. Apparently you can't order chicken with stir-fried vegetables. And if you try, they get very upset. Ashley found this out the hard way. Then we made our way over to Covent Garden, which looks very similar to Boston's Fanueil Hall, and had a drink at a bar called Punch & Judy on a balcony overlooking the square. We then decided

that since we had been staying in Piccadilly, which is known as a very sexually expressive and LGBT-friendly area, we should experience a gay bar - a first for both of us. Club Heaven was...definitely...an experience. On top of dancing like crazy all night to house music, we got to witness a competition of sorts. Let's just say the expression "full frontal" doesn't even cover the show we got last night. They certainly do things differently around here. And no, we don't have pictures of that - but so many of the other club-goers do, and so a quick search on the internet could probably suffice.

After getting back to the hostel, we walk to the front door covered in caution tape. Turns out a pipe burst and the ceiling collapsed into the front lobby. No one was hurt luckily, and our floor wasn't affected. But either due to the drinks or the fact that we were so overly tired, it really did seem amusing at the time. We decided it was too late to go to bed because we had about an hour and a half before our train left for Paris from Kings Cross station. So after a half hour or so of conversation, we convinced the cute South African hostel worker on duty to make us a pot of coffee, and according to Ashley, it hit the spot.

During our South African conversation...no, literally, some of the conversation was IN South African...we found out that the Tube doesn't open at 5 like we thought. It opens at 5:30...and, the train wouldn't get to our stop until 5:42...a little worrisome, but not nearly as worrisome as getting to the station only to find out that the one line we needed to use to get to Kings Cross was suspended. So with 50 minutes before our international train was to leave and no pounds on hand, we stumbled along the streets with our suitcases in hopes of finding a cab...and to our surprise, we found one! Of course, he was a bit of a jerk when we tried to pay with U.S. dollars, but we figured it out with a credit card...plastic always works ladies and gentlemen.

So the train...freezing. And extremely uncomfortable. It wouldn't be so bad if the person in front and facing you didn't have to be on top of you in order to fit properly. After many failed attempts at different positions trying to sleep, we gave up, but not too long after, we found ourselves pulling into Gare du Nord - the Paris train station. Deliriously tired and in physical pain, we made the long treck along the platform (longest platform ever, by the way) and into a pretty classy McDonalds, believe it or not. Unlike the U.S. where we often try to accommodate people who speak other languages, Paris does not and we could NOT figure out the McDonalds menu...so the poor worker had to bring up the poster-sized menu while we pointed out the items we wanted for breakfast.

We dropped off our luggage at the hostel, but couldn't check in until later, and all we wanted to do was lay down. The receptionist led us to this incredible church on the top of a steep grassy hill that overlooks the city...we come to find out this is Le Sacre-Coeur. We got a bottle of water, parked it on the hill, and took a much-needed nap (well, Ashley did...Liana, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky). After our rest, we split a chicken baggette for lunch and made our way back to the hostel.

On the way though, a man grabbed money from a random person and took off down the street running. We held our bags even tighter than usual the rest of the way home. And here we are, in the hostel after checking in, writing the longest blog ever. But that pretty much covers the last two days.

We will write again to share our sightseeing in Paris and Mont St. Michel. Au revoir!!

Love you,

Ash and Liana