September 15, 2008 Just wanted all of you to know that we've safely landed and we're in our hostel until next week Wednesday! I'll probably be checking my email about once a day for the next nine days, and I'll be letting you know  our plans for future travel as soon as we know what's going down after our time at this hostel is up.  

The flight was AWESOME. It was extremely short (only about six hours) and we had an empty seat between us so we just piled up all of our stuff between us and made a huge pillow mound. The food was delicious, too! And the colors and the stewardesses outfits and everything were just gorgeous, haha.  

Once we got to the hostel, Ellis and I basically just crashed for a few hours, and then took a walk in the area around where we live. We found a cheap little sandwich shop and a very cheap grocery store, so I think we're totally going to be set with food. The hostel is very small but very clean and everything is very easily accessible. I have a feeling Ellis and I will be taking in an early night tonight. We're going to decide what we want to do in downtown London tomorrow before we go to bed, I think.  

Also, the tube system is VERY easy to navigate, so I think we'll be in pretty great shape. I'll buy a calling card tomorrow or the next day to give you (that is, mom and dad) a ring.  

Love you guys!!

September 18, 2008 Hey guys! Mom and dad, I'd just like to apologize for not calling you yet. I've been really busy and I haven't had a chance to just stop by the registration desk and pick up a phone card yet, even though it really isn't a problem. I promise I'll try to call before the week is out, but I'm just having way too much fun!

Man oh man. It's kind of funny, because Ellis and I haven't spent a LOT of time outside of Hendon, actually, which is where our hostel is. Two days ago we went tube-hopping and kind of just got off at random stops here and there and explored those parts of the city, which were just gorgeous. We went to Oxford Circus, which is just full of great little shops, and we went to Chancery Lane where we found a great little park where we just hung out for a while. Other than that, we've just been spending alot of time in the hostel, because it is AMAZING. I think we really found a gem with this one.

The first day we got here we slept most of the day because were just exhausted, and I think we were both feeling a little homesick so we didn't really feel like being too involved with the others in the hostel. It wasn't until about 9:30 when we finally went into the kitchen/lounge area and played chess that we finally caught the attention of some people. We made friends with this Australian guy named Ryan and we played boardgames with him until about 3:00 in the morning. And since then we've just totally become really close with a lot of people here.

What's really cool about this place is that a lot of the people staying here are people who pretty much LIVE here. That is, they've been here for months, even years! It's really wonderful because everyone here knows everyone so well that it's like a very large but close-knit family. Everyone is so warm and open and also very respectful of other peoples' belongings and privacy. The guys at registration are awesome, too.

So basically, Ellis and I will do our own thing for the day and come home to a group of very awesome, warm, and open people and play games and watch movies and talk until the early hours of the morning. We've basically been adopted by a HUGE group of Australian guys, and we've made really good friends with one guy from Spain and a girl from France, and we just met two girls from Denmark.

Haha, today Ellis and I were prepared to go to Kew Gardens when we were confronted by one of the guys who works registration, named AJ, who seems to kind of be manager and is sort of in charge of the place. Apparently him and a few other guys were already dead-set on having us work at the hostel, so today instead of going out I washed all of the linens for the hostel and we helped (as well as all of the Australians and the French girl) them bring in and set up and label all of the new beds in the rooms. It was really great, actually! And we got free lunch and possibly two free extra days here.

I really love it here. I love the people. Ellis and I are trying to see if we can stay here for another week, but we'd TOTALLY be willing to just live here for the rest of the year if that was at all possible. It's the coolest place ever.

I'll write more later, because I have so much more to tell, but I'm hogging internet time. I've taken tons of pictures, too, but these computers are so slow that I'm afraid uploading them would kill it, so you'll still have to wait for those!

Love you guys!

September 21, 2008 So funny story. On the tube ride over to our hostel the first day we arrived, I made a comment about how awesome it'd be if we could see a play with someone famous in it. Say, Kenneth Branagh. I meant it as a joke, of course. Then I started seeing posters all over town for Chekhov's play 'Ivanov' with someone on ut who bore a strange resemblance to Kenneth Branagh. Ellis did some researching and found it it was, in fact, Kenneth. We were basically peeing ourselves with delight. Unfortunately tickets for the play are sold out for the next three weeks, but we talked to a guy and he said on Tuesday if we came early enough we may be lucky enough to snag some return tickets. Which would just be awesome.  

SO that's what's on the horizon for us for now. Last night we went out to a pub and a dance club with a huge group of people from the hostel, which was a blast, and today we strolled around Trafalgar Square and went to see Big Ben, and I think tomorrow we're planning on hitting up some museums.  

Also, just for reference, we ARE staying here, at this same hostel, until October 5th. Just because we love it so much and it'll give us a better chance to explore the city more in depth.  

Love you guys! Keep your fingers crossed for us. We NEED to see Kenneth Branagh!!!

September 22, 2008 I'm not really sure what's significant enough to be told, and what's so trivial that it isn't worth talking about. I feel like every moment of this trip is like some kind of blessed reawakening, and I'm thankful each day that I decided to take time off before going to school. I won't deny that there are some times when I really, really miss home, but those are overshadowed by just how amazing this place is.

Ellis was sick for about three days, so that prevented us from doing any hardcore exploring, but now that she's feeling better we've been venturing out more and more.

Like I said before, Ellis and I went out with a huge group from the hostel a few nights ago, and that was really fun. We went to a 'pub', which was fun, and then we went to a dance club, which was just ridiculous. I'm shocked to say that I actually danced and had a really great time, but it isn't something I'd do on a regular basis, especially since Ellis and I don't really drink at all and, well, the stereotype about Australians is VERY true. Mainly, it was just fun to be out with people who genuinely enjoy spending time with you. The strangest thing, too, is that nobody in the hostel is really our age. I think everyone is somewhere in their twenties, but the age barrier isn't much of a hindrance.

Yesterday we went with one of our Aussie friends Ryan to Trafalgar Square and just kind of walked around and took pictures, and then we took some pictures of Big Ben. Today Ellis and I got up early, ate breakfast, made sandwiches, and then spent about four hours in the National Gallery, where we virtually saw every painting in the building. Seeing the Gaguins and Van Goghs and Vermeers was really cool, even though my legs were killing me by the end of it. We ate our sandwiches by the lion statues on Trafalgar Square, walked around a bit more, and found a nice cozy cafe and just sat and wrote for about an hour. And then on a whim we just caught a tube and went to Hyde Park, where we just lolled around for a while. And now we're back home. (Yes, I really do feel like this is home.)

Tube-hopping is an art, and I feel like Ellis and I have finally perfected it. I'm starting to memorize all of the tube stops on both the Northern and Piccadilly lines, since those are the ones we're frequenting, and we've taken a liking to just hopping on and off at random stops just to see what we can find. I think we both agree that Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square are our favorites; the entire West End is just really awesome. We don't really have any extensive plans as of yet, but we're planning on trying to snag some tickets to see 'Ivanov' tomorrow and next Sunday we're going to go to Speaker's Corner.

As for life at the hostel, well, it may not be appealing to some, but it sure is wonderful for us. I think we're kind of spoiled, though; I'm sure most hostels aren't like this. The familial atmosphere is really nice. We're always greeted by everyone, and everyone is always genuinely interested to hear about what we've done and where we're going and who we are.

Money hasn't been too bad. We've mainly been spending money on groceries now and again, and it's kind of nice because everyone in the hostel will cook food for the others if they're feeling up to it. We've gotten about two or three free meals already, and they've all been delicious. The Australians even got us to try this really odd-tasting spread from Australia called Veggie Mite (or is it Veggiemite?), which is basically just this thick, dark dark DARK brown bittery thick substance that's a 'yeast extract'. They love it, but as you can imagine it tasted REALLY weird. Much better on toast than plain, that's for sure. I'm really glad we've decided to stay here as long as we have; this hostel is great!

September 26, 2008 It's true. Ellis's cold is finally catching up with me, and one of our friends, Andrew, has a fever and can't swallowe anything, so that doesn't really bode well for me. As of now I'm just very congested and have a light fever, but hopefully it'll pass with a few Tylenol colds.

The last few days have been pretty eventful. Yesterday Ellis and I went to Hyde park with our friend Rachel, who's the really nice French girl staying at our hostel. We took some great pictures of Ellis climbing a tree that I'll be posting up on Facebook soon. We also went to Harrod's and all of the chocolates and everything looked amazing, to the point where it'd be a shame to eat them. They almost didn't let us into the store because some asshole guard said that they didn't allow 'big groups' into the store, but once he realized it was just us three then it was fine, I guess. After that we walked around SoHo for a while and ate at a really cheap sushi place.

Today Ellis and I went to Notting Hill and walked along Portobello Road, and I have to say that was probably one of my favorite places so far. It made me wish I had enough money to buy all of those antiques to furnish an apartment. Tomorrow we're planning on going to Campden Town to go to Campden Market, so I'm sure tomorrow will be full of just as much antique window-shopping. We have a lot of galleries and stuff we're planning on going to next week, and we're still planning on going to Speaker's Corner. We'd also like to stop by the Globe Theatre and possibly (POSSIBLY!!!) see a play. Some tickets are only £5. We'll see. After what happened with the Kenneth Branagh, I'm not so sure if a Globe play will work out.

A few nights ago some Italians who used to live in the hostel and came back for a visit made us all a huge vat of pasta and homemade sauce that was delicious.

And life has just been pretty great so far. I'll continue to keep you guys posted as the days go on!

September 27, 2008 You know, it probably would be alot easier for me to update the blog that Ellis and I made, but for some reason that just doesn't seem to be happening. I'm glad to see the list of people that I'm sending updates to seems to be growing each day!

There isn't too much to update on right now. Today Ellis and I went to Camden Market, and then we went to check out the Globe Theatre on a whim. What's really wonderful is the stop for the Globe is right on the tube line that runs from our hostel, so we're only about half an hour away from the theatre and we don't have to make any transfers. We ended up buying two tickets to see 'Timon of Athens' for this coming Tuesday at two o'clock.

Other than that, the day was fairly uneventful. We have a week full of museums and stuff planned out for us, and we're thinking of hitting up Speaker's Corner tomorrow morning, if we can make it in time. Our wake-up time seems to be about noon every day, which would make sense since we never really get to bed until three or four. It's just so difficult when everyone else is awake and you don't want to miss a moment of bonding.

As for my cold, it seems to be coming on and off. Sometimes I feel great, and sometimes very fatigued.

'Til next time!!

September 30, 2008So today Ellis and I scored £5 tickets to see "Timon of Athens" as groundlings at the Globe Theatre. It was possibly the coolest theatre experience I've ever had.

First of all, it was raining, and so Ellis and I decided it'd be wise to break out the ponchos today. We ended up waiting outside of the theatre in the pouring rain for about an hour, and there wasn't really a huge difference once we got inside, either. We were early enough that we were able to stand right in front of the stage.

The play itself was hysterical, and there were so many amazing elements to it. I've never seen a stage production that incorporated so many acrobatic elements to it. There was a huge black net stretched over the "roof" of the theatre that many actors used to walk above the heads of the people in the Yard. People were also suspended from bungee chords and flew over our heads and used grappling hooks to keep themselves up. It was also the first time I've ever seen full male nudity on stage (or any nudity at all, for that matter), and also the first time I've seen "shit" (yes, as in feces) so realistically portrayed.

What I thought was really interesting was that the experience there was not at all like a theatrical experience in America. There was nothing stuffy or pretentious about it at all. Actually, it was a lot like a sporting event, with all of the standing in the rain and the cheering and the hot food and drinks. And it was really cool because the actors were thoroughly involved with the audience. On more than one occasion Ellis and I were forcibly shoved aside by the actors -- physically moved -- as they made their way up to the stage. There were little things that were great too, like the usage of chocolate coins as money, so when Timon threw them frivolously out to the masses we the audience could actually eat them. So, so cool. And there were people portraying Furies, which was done remarkably well, one of the greatest moments being when they all leapt on Timon's dead body and devoured it, and you actually got to see blood all over their faces.

I'd go see another play there in a heartbeat, and standing seats are totally the way to go.

(Sorry Mr. Docktor, no rotten vegetables!)

Other than that, we've been spending a lot of our time in museums. On Sunday, we went to Carnaby Street and checked out Liberty, which is like Harrod's in that it is a very huge and expensive store that we could never afford, but is just a lot of fun to walk around in. They had alot of great fabrics and jewelry. After that we went to Hyde Park, where we just walked around for a while. Unfortunately, we didn't hit up Speaker's Corner because we weren't aware that it lasted as long as it actually does, so we're going to check it out next Sunday. Luckily we have one more chance!

Yesterday we went to the British Museum with our friend Rachel, but unfortunately we only had an hour and a half which is hardly time to see half of what's there, so Ellis and I are going to go back one of these days. There was a lot of really great architecture and sculptures to see, and really gorgeous jewelry and vases, and luckily we were able to see a lot of the Greek stuff, which was what we really wanted to see.

Today, along with the play, we stopped by the Tate Modern since it's right next to the Globe, and we were able to see the majority of the paintings and sculptures in there. Some of the stuff was really cool, like some of the classics like Francis Bacon and Matisse and Picasso, and there were some interesting and disturbing things to see, but most of it was just clearly crap. I guess I'll just never understand modern art.

Hostel life is still great, and we're sad to see our final days approaching. We're trying really hard to not only fit in as much as we can these last few days (and there is still a LOT to see), but we are also trying to make each minute here last with our new friends. There's talk of possibly meeting up with them for New Year's, which would be really awesome.

October 2, 2008 I just wanted to fill you guys in on our plans for our next stop. Originally we were going to head over to France or the Netherlands next, but tickets are extremely expensive, even for flights. So what we're going to do is go to Barcelona, because we found flight tickets that are less than a hundred DOLLARS. Which is good, because then we can just use our Eurail passes to get to the more expensive countries. What's really great too is that two of our friends from the hostel, Charlotte (a Danish girl) and Darren (an Australian) are coming with us! They'll only be staying for about a week, whereas we'll be staying indefinitely, but it'll be really great to have some friends to stay with at first. We may get another friend or two to come along with us, too, if they can work around their work schedules.

As for what we've been doing, Ellis and I went to the British Museum to see the Hadrian exhibit, which was really amazing, and we went to the Museum of London as well. Today we're planning on spending a nice, long day in Kew Gardens, and we'll be uploading pictures soon!

Mom and dad, expect some phonecalls tonight.

STURGEON MOON 2008 How about a magic trick?

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