London, Day 2

I LOVE London.

Today's highlights included:

• King's Cross Station - Platform 9 3/4
• Lunch with Andy
• Covent Garden
• The National Gallery
• Buckingham Palace
• The London Eye

We started off a little later than we'd expected, since we slept about 12 hours last night. We were really tired and jet-lagged, I guess. Anyway, we made our way to King's Cross (using the trusty Tube) so I could get my picture taken at Platform 9 3/4. Since there's really not a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, as it says in the Harry Potter books, the brilliant people at King's Cross just made Platform 9 3/4 out of a nearby wall. There's even a "trolley" sticking halfway out of it, which I thought was clever. So Brock took my picture looking like I was trying to make it on the Hogwarts Express:

We had a little break back at the hotel, then Andy, whom Brock knows from the online game he plays and who lives about 2 hours away, came to meet us for lunch. He and Brock had never met in person, so that was cool. He was very nice and even treated us to lunch at a yummy Italian restaurant (thanks, Andy!). Then he showed us around Covent Garden, which is a really fun shopping district that hadn't even been on our list of things to see, so that was a good treat. There were several very interesting street performers there. :)

After Covent Garden, Andy left, and Brock and I went to the National Gallery. If you were really, really into art, that place would be heaven, but Brock and I know just enough to appreciate most of it, so we were able to see all we wanted to see in just a couple of hours. It was cool seeing such old, famous paintings, though. Our favorite was a "cartoon" (drawing made prior to making an actual painting) by Leonardo da Vinci. Neither one of us can really articulate why. It was just really cool. And we saw paintings by Michaelangelo, Renoir, van Eyck, Monet, van Gogh and a bunch of other famous guys.

We took a break in the Gallery's cafe after that for some treats and a rest. Brock had chocolate cake, and I had treacle tart. I got it because I read about it in Harry Potter. I didn't know what it really was. Actually, even after eating a whole slab of treacle tart, I still wasn't sure what it was, but it was tasty. (Later, on the phone with my parents, my dad looked it up and said it's molasses, which makes sense in retrospect. For some reason, while I was eating it I thought it sort of tasted like a lemon bar.)

After the Gallery, we walked through St. James's Park (I would have skipped the second s, but that's how it's written on our London map) to go to Buckingham Palace. It was very pretty and peaceful, even though it was dark by that point. The Palace looked very pretty all lit up. It's hard to believe people live there. I think it would be very weird having people outside your home taking pictures all day. Of course, it would also be weird having a monument to Queen Victoria in your front yard, so I guess I can't really relate to the royal family at all. Anyway, it was neat.

And our last stop of the day (after another rest period - our legs were getting tired) was the absolute coolest: we rode the London Eye! Wow, was that awesome. Even though it was dark (because we just couldn't fit in riding it in the daylight, especially since it gets dark at like 4:00), the views of the city were spectacular. Brock got some really good pictures. And since it wasn't at all crowded, there were only about eight people in our carriage/pod thing and we had plenty of room to walk around and check out the views. It was a little scary if you looked down or up too much, but if you just looked straight out, it was great. My favorite thing we did today, definitely. :)

We did call home to see how Hannah was doing. She was taking a nap, so we didn't get to talk to her, but she apparently thinks I'm at work and hasn't asked about Brock yet. So I guess she's having fun. She also said she wants to go to London. We'll definitely have to bring her someday...after our bank account has a chance to recover.

Some observations:

• American credit card technology is pretty far behind the times, it seems. Everyone's card here has some special chip in it, and they don't have to sign for anything. (This confused the clerk at King's Cross when we were buying snacks today, because Brock's primitive American card doesn't have a chip.) Also, when you pay with your card at a restaurant, they bring a little card reader right to your table, and you can punch in the tip yourself. They don't have to take your card anywhere.
• Today's Fun British Phrase is "Way Out." Nothing says "Exit" here; it's all "Way Out." I love that.
• I don't know how people drive in London. The streets are really small, and they don't make any sense, and there are a million giant double-decker buses to contend with. I'll stick to walking or the train, thank you.
• The light switches in our hotel room are backwards; you flip them down to turn them on. It also took me awhile to figure out how to work the hair dryer this morning because you have to hold a little trigger button to get it to work. This seemed unnecessary and also made my finger tired.
• Treacle tart is very yummy; no wonder Harry Potter likes it.

I can't believe tomorrow's already our last day...but we're having such a great time!!