Chill

Busy, busy days. We have seen so much stuff in the last few days. Buckingham Palace, Parliment, Westminster, the Tower Bridge, Picadilly, China Town. Alice swears that she saw Bill Nighy when we were in Picadilly, but I was facing the wrong direction and she didn't want to say anything. I guess he was about two feet behind me....yeah. Never going to forgive that one.

It looks like today we might be taking some time off. We went to see The Vampire's Assistant this morning. Not great, but it was a good way to kill two hours or so.

Last night was the L13 tour, which involved a riverboat cruise (kinda cold), a Jack the Ripper walk, and a bus tour. We got to see the building where Sweeny Todd had his barber shop (!!!) and the corner where Mrs. Lovette's used to be, among other things. Honestly, I had no idea he was a real person. I knew that there were stories (several) of murderous barbers, and I thought the movie was just based on one of them--not that he actually lived and it ws based on a specific person. The things you learn when taking macabre tours of foreign cities.


The biggest problem we have right now is that we've run out of things to read. I know, I know, we're on vacation, why would we be sitting around reading when there are places to go, people to see? Well neither of us is really up for dawn to dusk site seeing. I've done that before, and it isn't fun. Normally we go out a little in the morning, then come back sometime after lunch, chill for a an hour or two, then go back out again. We're usually back by 9, and then we just chill. It makes for a much more relaxing trip, since this is VACATION. Maybe there aren't any white sand beaches or nice boys bringing us drinks with umbellas in them with their shirts off, but we are still here to relax, and oh my god, it has been wonderful. I absolutely adore London, and I want to live here. After living in Columbus and London, Ohio, and Florence, it us such a change to be in a city that is so full of life. Those other cities are dying--Ohio because of the economy, and Florence through a combination of polution, economic woes, and the general age of the population (which I think is somewhere between 50 and 60. There's an average of 4 elderly people for every child born, and the birth rate is on the decline). That and the vast majority of Italians I've met have been rather rude and inconsiderate, while the Brits have been friendly, helpful, and all around pleasant.

I'm going to go kick back and finish up my last book. Maybe I'll go out later and seek out a new one...