London, United Kingdom

My first stop on the Ultimate Europe Tour has been very entertaining so far. I landed at 10am Thursday and made my way, through the decrepit underground/tube system, to my place of residence for the next 2 nights: Palmer's Lodge in London's borough of Camden. Shortly after checking in I set out to see some of what London has to offer. Big Ben, Westminister, the Thames River, The Parliment Buildings, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London all were as expected: nothing less than breathtaking. The Tower Bridge with its light blue scaffolding and suspensions was my favourite to photograph with Big Ben being a close second. The night brought about drinking and socializing at the hostel's pub and another pub down the street. There weren't more than two people in our crew of ten who were from the same country.

Today started with a short tube ride down to Buckingham in order to catch the changing of the guard at 11:30am. Although very crowded, it was still a delight to see such a royal tradition. Suprising was that the red-coated guards toted non-traditional assault rifles by their sides! Following the guard changing we walked through the city to the Museum of London (free admission) and learned about some of London's history as well as seeing the original Roman walls of "Londinium". The museum was a bit tiring so we fueled up at Lord Raglan Pub near the museum. Food was nothing out of the ordinary, disappointing was the fact that they wouldn't serve me yorkshire pudding as a side dish. However, my steak and red onion sandwich with 'chips' hit the spot quite nicely. A walk to St. Paul's cathedral and across the Thames to Shakespear's Globe theatre culminated this day on the town. Now back at the Hostel, I'm going to grab a few pints at the hostel pub with my new 'mates' and inquire about a 'proper' house club for tonight.