Ruston's European Vacation

Details of my time in London.

Sunday, November 10, 2002

Saturday: Drove throughout the country side. Went to Windsor where we had lunch at a pub, and then played frisbee on a field near Windsor Castle. Didn't go through it as it's a 4-hour tour, and time was of the essence. The thing certainly looks huge from the outside, and I can imagine why it would be so long. After that, we drove up to southern Wales, and stayed at the Abbey Inn, right across the street from Tinturn Abbey. Tintern Abbey is a monastary built starting in the end of the 1200s. We crashed at the Inn, and it was very interesting to be in the middle of nowhere in Wales, which is quite a quaint country. Today, Sunday, we toured the Abbey for a bit, then drove back to London, again driving through the countryside. We took a jaunt through Oxford, but didn't stop anywhere. It was really enjoyable to drive through the countryside, as it is really beautiful. Many hills, lots and lots of green. I got to see quite a bit of foliage, something I've missed since I moved away from New England. We did stop in one town that was at the top of a high hill overlooking a valley and another big hill up the other side. There was a small Anglican church there with a very interesting graveyard connected, where we snapped a few photos. We have returned to Paul's apartment, and I'm deciding what I will do my last night in London. Paul has to be up early for work, but I just have to get to the airport by 10:00. See you in the States...

.: posted by The Rust One 11:31 AM

Friday: Ok, since I got back to Paul's so late/early this morning, I slept in for quite a while. I didn't end up heading to town until 3:00 pm. I went to the Tate Modern, which was an amazing museum in many different ways. The architechture itself is really cool. It's an old factory or something that was converted to the museum. They really had an amazing collection, and since I love modern art, I was in heaven with the pieces from Picasso, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Dali, Pollock(!), and many others. They had an entire room that Rothko donated to them, and set up himself. It was a really amazing experience. Since I was a little short on time, I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked there, but it was an amazing time, nonetheless. Across the street from the Tate is St. Paul's, and though I am disappointed I didn't get a close look at it, I did get to see it from across the Thames, and got some good pictures of it from the Millenium Bridge. After that, met up with Paul and some friends and went to a really great Indian retaurant. That's my favorite kind of food, and there's plenty of really good Indian restaurants in the London area. After that, chilled the rest of the night at a friend's gorgeous apartment...

.: posted by The Rust One 11:21 AM

Sorry it's been a few days. It's been a very busy week. Thursday: Took the tube to Leicester Square, and worked my way around the city from there. Hit up Leicester then wandered to Chinatown, then to a very trendy area with a bunch of surprisingly-cool-shoe shops--i can't remember the name of the area--and then hung out in Regent's Park and played some frisbee. What else did I see that day... Picadilly Circus... Camdentown, where there's a lot of shops, markets, people selling stuff on the streets. It was basically a day of walking around alot, seeing a lot of things, a lot of people, a lot of shops, food, pubs, etc. It was a really good day for getting a feel of the city, experiencing its culture, and trying to be a part of it. I found myself out late that night. I missed the tube, so I ended up trying to walk or take buses back to Paul's place, but ended up walking around the city until 6:30 am when the tube opened again...