Backpackers Lesson #2: You won't meet the Queen. Avoid Authors.

At the British Museum. Along with
the Rosetta Stone, but this is more
interesting to look at. For sure.

For part of my spring break I took a trip with my roommate, Jeff, to London for a few days. It was my first trip outside of Spain, and the first excursion that I planned mostly on my own. It started out with a bit of a fiasco at airport security. To fly cheaply, you can't check a bag, and the liquid requirement completely slipped my mind. I lost my shampoo, body wash, and shaving cream. But things can be replaced, I was there for an experience, not a shower. (Although, of course, I showered every day.)

After checking into an awesome hostel with a pub downstairs (even if it didn't have a whole lot of showers...), Jeff and I hit up the touristy spots. Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, some fish and chips, and DR. PEPPER!!!
I haven't had Dr. Pepper since I left the States, so that was pretty exciting. We also made a trip to Buckingham Palace, but the Queen wasn't there. I was shocked to learn that not every Brit has met the Queen. (Just kidding. But it drives my British friends insane, so I thought I'd add it in there.)

Big Ben!

Buckingham Palace. Quit looking for the Queen in the windows. She's not there. :(

Katy, one of our friends from Madrid had gone home for the holidays, so we had a free tour guide! She took us around to help us make the most of our three days in the city. We had English Breakfast at a local's spot--really it was just a little restaurant by her school, but it was nice to have something off the beaten path. She showed us the British Museum, the Tower of London, the Olympic park, and we all had some delicious Indian food!

On our last day in England, Jeff and I took a train to Windsor Castle to: A) get out of the city, and B) see a castle. The weather was a bit dreary, which I actually enjoyed because it fit with my stereotypical "It's always raining in England" viewpoint. And the Queen was there! Finally, our chance to meet her had arrived! But it wasn't meant to be. I think she probably didn't realize we were there, or she OBVIOUSLY would have personally shown us around.

As much as I loved my time being a tourist, I think the things I'll remember most are the people. Really, I think that's what you remember about places anyway. There's a much bigger connection between two people than a person and a random (if significant) building you walk through with an audio-guide plastered to your ear.
The moment I decided that I love London was when, after the Underground train didn't leave immediately, they got on to say, "Sorry, we're just waiting for a green light." A very small thing, but I thought it was great that someone took the time to actually do that. Sort of lame on my part, but hey, I like what I like.

I also met a man in our hostel's pub--which had a surprising number of older individuals, and locals for it to be connected to a hostel--who was watching the cricket game intently. When he realized Jeff and I had absolutely NO idea what was going on, he started trying to explain it. Unfortunately, he had a really thick accent, so I understood about half of what he was saying. (Honestly, there were sometimes when I heard people speaking on the street, thought they were speaking a different language, only to hear them spit out a few English words unexpectedly.) I learned a couple things, but still have no real idea how the game actually works...

And one last--hilarious--story. One of the things that happens in hostels is that you meet people. Lots of people. On this trip, we stayed in a 12 person room. I met 3 girls from the US studying in Milan, a guy from Switzerland, a girl from Brazil who had spent 3 months in England improving her English-speaking skills (I later found out that she's an English teacher in Brazil, which cracked me up.) I had a few drinks with a German and a few Austrians as well, but the funny story comes from an author I met from Vancouver.
On my last night in London, I decided I wanted some pictures of the city at night. I met this Canadian when I went back to the room to get my camera. He was heading out, too, so we walked to the Underground station together, about a ten minute walk. We started talking about our travels in Europe (He was just starting out and feeling a bit overwhelmed.), being disconnected from home, and lots of small talk. When he found out that I use my Kindle a lot here, he offered to send me a free digital copy of one of his books if I emailed him. I got really excited because, well, who turns down a free book?! When I made it back to Madrid, I looked him up to claim my copy of an under-the-radar book. When I finally found one of his books on Amazon, I went to his website. There, I discovered that the majority (as in 90%) of his books are gay romance/fantasy novels. I don't think I'll be emailing him any time soon, but I got a good story out of it!