To make up for the short post: 31 July 2009

This morning I decided I would try to kill two birds with one stone before my Photo Walks of London tour (I took the Pool of London tour, but more on that later). I got up before 8, intending to walk to St. Paul's cathedral for 9 am, but things, I find, don't always go as planned. I wound up procrastinating and didn't make it there until 10, which messed up my schedule a bit. I didn't want to spend more than an hour there, but did you know that the views from atop the dome are stupendous? And that it was a sunny day? Well, I climbed all 530 steps. It took me a while, understandably, but I did it. And boy, even though I was sweating obscenely and red in the face, it was totally worth it. I wish I could post pictures, but the computers here are pretty basic and don't have a program to read cameras.
I got to Tower Hill station at 11:45 and realized that I wouldn't be able to go through the Tower of London in the manner I would have liked in just an hour (I had to meet my photo tour at the station at 12:45) so I stepped into the lovely Trinity park beside the station and had a rest and recharge on a bench there, as many other Londoners were doing on their lunch breaks.
At 12:45 I met Ian Hardy, the proprietor and (only) tour guide for Photo Walks of London. Joining us was a man from Virginia and his two very nice adolescent children, and a nice but kind of weird older gentleman. Ian took our cameras from us while we watched some guys practise their swordplay along the side of the tower and discerned what they were capable of; then we were off. We took some great shots of the tower and some even better pictures of the Tower Bridge (which has to be my favourite London landmark) and then moved on to some statues at St. Katherine's Pier to practise some new techniques. We wound up on the Tower Bridge taking pictures of red City buses coming through the arches, and then moved over to the other side to take more shots of the Tower and such. The father and kids team left us shortly thereafter, and then it was just Ian and Chris (the nice, weird guy). The tour definitely stretched over the promised 2 hour mark, and by the time we were finished (after shooting The Monument, Lloyd's building, Leadenhall market and other stuff) I was pretty tired. I went back to the Tower to go in and explore, but I only had an hour before I had to set out for Avenue Q over on Shaftesbury Avenue, and in the end I decided to go back the next morning and see it when I was fresh and had time. I took a short Thames River cruise instead and even though it was very pleasant and I got some awesome shots of the London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, I wound up being late for Avenue Q because I went one stop in the wrong direction in my haste to get to the theatre.
I wasn't terribly late, but I did miss the opening number, which I definitely regret, but hey! What can you do?
Avenue Q, which features a human-and-puppet cast similar to Sesame Street but much, much raunchier, was a huge laugh and I really enjoyed it. The songs were catchy, the storyline interesting, and the little cartoon vignettes used to explain things were hilarious. I would definitely see it again.
After the play was over I was about ready to drop and my dreams of the ultimate fish and chips experience had long since died, so when I crossed the street in front of the theatre and saw a big neon "Vietnamese" sign, I headed straight for it. I felt much more human after enjoying a big bowl of delicious beef pho with tonnes of rice noodles, and headed for the hostel without limping.
When I got there at around 10 I intended to shower and crash, but 2 of the girls in my room, Esther from Germany and Eden from Taiwan, were deep in conversation and invited me to join and give them my unique Canadian perspective; who was I to refuse? I wound up falling asleep at around 11:45, but that's okay. New friends are pretty awesome anyways.

- Laur