London Town Count Down

Well, I haven't been quite as successful at keeping this blog updated whilst traveling as I had hoped, but we must all remember that until just hours ago I was functioning on either hostel computers, friends' laptops or half and hour of internet cafe use (I hadn't watched a youtube video in WEEKS) so I won't judge too harshly. Now, where did we last leave off in the tale of the Grand Tour? Ah yes, in Cannes. Well...

After 3 days in Nice and Cannes, I took a magical 5 1/2 hour train ride to Paris. I say magical because after the first 2.5 hours we had only made it to Provence (Google maps tells me this is only 174km) and yet just 3 hours later, we were in Paris (762km away). The most boring, magical experience I have ever had by far. I think this is because I was so excited to get to Paris where I was meeting my friend Katie Davis who was ending her 2 week trip in Europe following her 5 month study abroad experience in India (for details see ). We stayed at a very swanky hostel in Montmatre and went on many delightful excursions including a trip to the Eiffel Tower my first night in Paris and the next day, deemed the Day of Decadence, we went to Versailles. After Versailles we ate at a cafe near our hostel and continued the decadence with literally two of the most delicious desserts I have ever tasted and an adorable bottle of wine. Thankfully, no french peasants noticed our indulgences and no one was guillotined. That night Katie took an overnight bus to Amsterdam and then a plane to America.

Being in Paris was very refreshing to me because, having lived in London with a very simple and reliable underground system, I find myself totally at home with other subways. It was lucky too to be in a city with such good public transportation because at this point in my trip, continuing even now, my left achilles tendon and subsequently my left ankle began to hurt and swell I think due to all the walking I've done in the last month. In any case, I hobbled my way through Notre Dame and the Louvre for a day, and then the next day before I left I hobbled to the Moulin Rouge and for one last glimpse of the Eiffel Tower before I made my way to Amsterdam.

This last part of my trip has been very different than the middle section; for a week and a half or so I was traveling totally alone, staying in hostels alone, eating alone, etc., but after Paris with Katie Davis I went to the city in Europe where I probably know the most people. I think there are something like 6 or 7 Occidental College students studying in Amsterdam this semester, and while I was there 4 other Oxy students, including myself, were there visiting. Because of this, I was constantly entertained. In my four days in Amsterdam I think I had a full sampling of the Amsterdam experience. I rode a bicycle, I rode on the back of a bicycle (side-saddle, the way the dutch do it), I saw canals, I saw legal prostitutes in the red-light district, saw some dutch painting, smelt the pervading smell of marijuana everywhere I went, and ate Indonesian food. On Monday the 25th I woke up at 5am to get on a train that would take me from Amsterdam to London, via Brussels and Lille.

I've been back in London since Monday. My first two nights here I stayed in a hostel over the Green Man pub in my old neighborhood where, though they didn't really advertise this fact on their website, they have triple bunk beds, which seemed very unsafe to me. Now I am staying just south of London in Brockley with my friend from my Whole Foods days, Alex Terry who is here at Goldsmiths University getting a graduate degree. Since being back in London I've been trying to squeeze in as many final London experiences as possible. I've already been to Primark (a wonderful, super cheap clothing store), Camden Market, Hyde Park, the National Gallery, eaten at Wagamama and "the french place" near LDA for the last time, saw All's Well That Ends Well at the National Theatre, I received some final words of wisdom from Richard Digby Day when I picked up the suitcase I had been storing at the school. I have a few more things I want to see and do, but it is definitely beginning to feel like it's time to go home. I'll be back in Denver on Monday, so if you want to see me silly and jet lagged, stop on by!