An Emmy update

Yesterday, at 4pm, Emmy's hotel suffered a fire. She is fine, just a little shaken and smoky, and has moved to another hotel.

It's not all bad news, she was rescued by a naked tattooed hero (!)

[posted by Jonathan]

Saturday: The day I did everything and nothing.

Well, this morning we set out to see the London Eye. The queue was about 25 minutes just to buy tickets. I'm not the most patient person about waiting in line, so we embarked on a jaunt around the city. We saw (get ready, get ready) Big Ben....Parliament....look kids...BigBen...Parliament....Look Kids (WE KNOW, BIG BEN)...Parliament. We then walked to Buckingham Palace and got to see a bit of a parade. Those guys in the furry hats REALLY don't smile. This is the second or third day where we've decided that it was warm enough to just layer up and go out without coats. It's also the second or third day where we were completely frozen. We walked from the Palace to Wellington Arch and then to Knightsbridge. We went to Harvey Nichols, then hit had wine at Peter Jones in Sloane Square. The nice thing about being on holiday? Drinking a bottle of wine at 2 in the afternoon while people around you are spending ungodly amounts of money.


After this, we hopped the tube and went to the Greenwich foot tunnel, which goes under the Thames. This led us to Greenwich, which is amazing. The market smells like heaven and the wares are gorgeous. Now, we are heading to dinner at the same charming Italian place where we ate last night.

Friday: The day my brain is too tired for witty headlines.

Well, today I did something REALLY cool. Jonathan was out this morning and got tickets for us to go on the slide at the Tate Modern. Which slide? Why, the fifth floor one! OH. MY. GOD. Absolutely amazing. It winds down and is enclosed, but the top is clear so you can see the lights and such. The guy at the top who sends you off was trying to scare me before I went in. It worked.

We also went to St. Paul's for about 30 seconds. It's £8.50 to view the church. Those of you that know me know I would never give money to a church. Instead, we dipped into St. Martin Within Ludgate, which is free and gorgeous. What I've learned so far about London is you're rarely far away from a building that can take your breath away. Tomorrow, we're going to shoot for the London Eye and Tower Bridge. (I hope you guys are googling all of these things so that you can be properly impressed with what I've seen).

For you Farkers, the party last night was a huge success. Kudos to David for organizing it, although his claim that the Nag's Head had inexpensive drinks was...false. I think paying £8.26 for two pints (that's about $16) is akin to highway robbery. The people there were quite nice and there were a few Americans and a Canadian.

Ok, we're off to dinner.

Thursday: Fark Party Day!

Let's see. Today we returned to the Natural History Museum to take some photographs and visit the AMAZING earth gallery. We also did the very disappointing Science Museum. My vote: Skip that if you come to London and spend twice as much time at the Natural History Museum and the British Museum. The area smells wonderful because of the Christmas Fair outside. I do think that roasting chestnuts probably smell better than they taste.

We also had lunch with Drew Curtis today. He's taller and better looking in person. Obviously, he's got Lexington charm. Tonight, the fark party is in a really neat location called Covent Garden. It's kind of a touristy shopping place, but quite lovely. I got photos of Trafalgar Square and Nelson's column. Dad, you'd be proud. I'm trying to take photos of all the weird things you'd pick up on.

Sorry this entry is short. We really need to get back to the hotel because it takes me forever to get ready.

Yes, there's even a hump day in England.

Ok, so since I last posted I've had some adventures. Last night I met up with some guys doing asbestos removal at Wembley Stadium. I understood about 50% of what they said, but they've invited me out drinking on Saturday night. I know this will shock MANY of you that this happened.

Today I walked all through Kensington Gardens and also did the Natural History Museum. I did have a complete blonde moment, though, because I missed an entire section. I've met up with my English friend and (so far) he seems not to be a serial killer. Tonight, I'm taking him to the dive of a pub I found near my hotel. Yes, mother, I'm making him play Scrabble. Proper board game initiation. Tomorrow, we are hitting the Science museum and **TADA** having lunch with the celebrity, creator of Fark.com, Drew Curtis! Tomorrow night is the London Fark Party, so that should be a blast. I'll most likely need a nap before it starts. My sleep schedule has been completely screwed up. Last night I only managed about 3 hours or so. I'm sure I'll have just adjusted when it comes time to go home.

Thanks for all of the comments. You all really need to visit this city. It's incredible.

Tuesday: The Day I Discovered I Am Claustrophobic

So today I went to The Tower of London. Dad will be proud: I took a bunch of photos. I also discovered something: tight spaces make me want to puke and pass out. The steps leading up to the Bloody Tower are narrow, steep, enclosed. Thank GOD you don't go out the same way you come in. I spent damn near the whole day at the Tower. It's fascinating. I then had amazing food at a Japanese noodle shop.

I've not had the best luck on the tube. To add to yesterday's issues, today I was on a train where the doors wouldn't open. Eventually, they had to pry them open and force everyone off of the train...IN RUSH HOUR! Lucky for me, I'm not on a timetable, so it didn't matter how long I waited for a non-crowded train to come along. Still, the tube is amazing. I think if Cincinnati had better public transportation, I'd be richer and skinnier. There'd be no reason to own a car. It's also funny how you don't even think about the walking (until my fat out-of-shape arse gets back to the hotel at night).

I've mastered walking without looking like a tourist. You just set your face, put on your headphones, and walk hard and fast. Now if I could figure out a way to get my maps inside my novel, so that people can't tell when I'm frantically checking cross streets every four blocks. I'll say this: a no-agenda vacation is the way to go. There's no stress. Also, the travelpass for the tube is great. If I miss a stop, I dont' have to worry about paying again to get back on. I can just ride it to the end and turn around or get off and on 1000x.

Tonight, I'm going for a beer at the pub. I know it sounds odd, but I've been too tired to enjoy a proper pint yet! I've had wine with dinner both nights, but nothing off a tap!

Ok, internet time is up!


Cheers!

And I would walk 500 miles ....

A note: Anybody purchasing shoes to wear on a trip should buy them AT LEAST a month before departure and break them in really well.

Today was a great day. I was up and out of the hotel by 7:45am. I walked to the British Museum (from Bayswater in case y'all want to map it). I then spent from around 9am until 4pm at this wonderful place. Afterwards, I got on the tube and got off at the wrong stop. I wandered into a wine bar where I was abused by some French bartenders. Seriously, every person I've encountered so far speaking French has been completely rude, from these servers to just people walking down the street not paying attention to anyone or anything. The glass of wine went straight to my head and I screwed up my tube stops going home. After trying to get back to "home base", there was a train broken down, so I hoofed it from Kensington to Bayswater. Spinning class has nothing on my day!

I took a few photos in the British Museum. By far, the coolest thing I saw were some stone reliefs depicting a lion hunt in Assyria. I have discovered, though, that I can't get my camera to capture a night image. It's a Casio exilim, so if any of you have a suggestion ... I missed a cool shot of the London Eye tonight because it wont' take photos in the dark.