Day 36 - Back in Black, Red and Yellow

OK, we made it back and London was amazing...but expensive.  I mean crazy expensive.  Basically, it's the same cost for everything there as in Canada, but in pounds.  Meaning a Beer in Canada costs about $5.00, and it would be the same in pounds in London, but a pound equals around $1.60 in Canadian dollars.  Crazy, right?  Especially since we are now used to German pricing for things like that, and it's WAY cheaper here for that type of thing.

So, London.  What can I say.  We saw some cool shit, ate some cool food and did some cool stuff.  The sights were amazing and the weather was stereotypically London, it rained 90% of the time.  Camden, where we rented our apartment, was really cool.  It was beatnik meets flea market.  Weird people, funky pubs and groovy shops.  I wish we'd had more time to explore, but it was a whirlwind tour for us.  

The Tube is very cool as well.  Expensive, like everything else, but cool.  The tunnels are all so small because the infrastructure is so old.  Neat shit, and it makes it fast to get around.  Cary warned us we'd be packed in like sardines, but it really wasn't bad at all, at least when we took the train.  A Tube map and 15 pounds will get you all over the centre of the city in a flash, fun shit.  And the best part?  The signs were all in English.  Learning a new language and a new culture is all well and good, everyone should do it if they can, but there's something to be said for signs and instructions in your native tongue.  It just makes life SO much easier.  There was one tube mishap, however.  While on out way for drinks at a pub near St. James, a guy about 15 feet down the car lost his shit and puked like a fountain all over the place.  Honestly, it sounded like someone took a full pitcher of water and dumped it on the floor.  There was one poor woman who got puke all over her legs, it was beyond nasty.  Kierstie proceeded to freak out and bust out the anti-bacterial gel, even though we were 15 feet away (she doesn't do puke, it's her Achilles heel) and the second we were able, we jumped out and popped into the adjoining car, along with about every other person on the car.  We felt so bad for the woman who got puked on, but she was very British in that she kept calm and carried on.  What the hell else was she gonna do?  She was already covered in vomit.

We saw a lot of London.  Soho was cool, big bucks, no whammies!  Cary said we'd probably see a celebrity but the only person of interest we saw was in a carriage on their way into Buckingham Palace and we have no idea who it was...

 It was an event.  There was all kinds of pomp going on, marching bands and guards with rifles that had honest to goodness bayonets attached.  I mean really, who needs a bayonet in the age of automatic rifles?  These guys, I guess!  

It wasn't a rave dahling, it was a happening!

Apologies for the video quality, I had a hard time getting a good vantage and I'm not my cousin Andy Rosso, who could have done a much better job.  The trip was a very like the Led Zeppelin song.  There were good times and there were bad times.  But hey, that's life, right?  Apologies for the delay in posting.  I didn't bring my laptop to London (a mistake I regret) and so I had no good means to post.  

We were all over the place, here are more pics...

The trip was a blast.  Stressful, but worth it.  People tend to get comfortable with their lot, to get complacent.  I know I did.  That leads to the lesson for this post.  Complacency is tantamount to death.  Not literally, of course, I'm talking in the abstract.  It is in the sense that the second we stop growing, personally or spiritually, you're literally just counting the seconds until you die.  Eleanor Roosevelt once said "Do one thing every day that scares you." and, to be truthful, I've had a little of that most days since we've been abroad.  Getting out of your comfort zone is what prompts personal growth.  You don't need to be as drastic as Kierstie and I.  Moving here was beyond scary, but we're going with it.  You can join a class or try a new sport.  You can do that thing you've always wanted to do, but never had time for.  You just have to get over your fear of failing and do it for yourself, regardless of the consequences.  Doing something and failing can't be as bad as regretting not doing it at all.  I've questioned our decision to come here.  Many, many times.  I remember our house, our friends and family, our things.  Then I remember why we came.  To grow and experience something new.  We are not our things and our friends and family will always be with us, regardless of our address.  London was an experience, I can't wait for Rome...and Moo and Earle.

It's late so no proofing on this post.  If you see a grammatical error or a typo, kindly ignore it.  Still getting tons of hits from Russia and now I have some Romanian viewers to add to the mix.  Appreciating the fans in the Eastern hemisphere, not to downplay my German audience who has been faithful since day 1.  Keep it coming folks, tell your friends.  The more people who view, the more pressured I am to write, and I do me best work under pressure.

Night all, more posts to come.

Ian