London

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After leaving SFO I thought I was in good shape sleepwise. I purposely didn't get much sleep the night before so I could get some sleep on the plane and avoid the time change difficulties... it turned out otherwise. I didn't catch a wink on the plane so after almost 24 hours of being awake, I arrived in London dead tired at 11:30 am.

I took the tube to Piccadilly Circus, where my Hostel is located. It's not the best, but living at CZ has conditioned me to living in sub-standard quality. I dropped off my bag and debated a nap, deciding otherwise. Who could sleep during the first few hours in London? I had no mission, so I became a wandering tourist. Being here last summer I knew the layout of the city pretty well and since my location is very central, I had no problem seeing most of the tourist sites in one day. I went to Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben / Parliment, Millenium Wheel, Westminister Abbey, Buckingham Palace and everywhere inbetween, walking probably about 10 miles throughout the day. I shot a few pics but the tourist-thrill I had last summer was not the same.

Maybe it's because I am traveling alone, but this time I seem to enjoy just walking around, sitting in public places, reading.... More of the local stuff. When evening came around, after going 30 hrs I was beat but didnt want to go to bed at 7 so I bought a ticket to Stomp. It was an amazing show and I'm glad I went, but the combination of the comfy seat and the lights off made me nod off in the quiet parts. It let out about 10 and I grabbed a coffee and headed down towards the river again. Even though I was really tired, I wanted to see the city lights at night. I got some pretty nice shots I'll post in the gallery later. About midnight, I headed back to the Hostel to get some shuteye. All-said-and-done, I was up for about 35 hours straight, running on coffee and excitement.

This morning, after only 6 hrs sleep, I woke to find my roommates moving out and couldn't get back to sleep. So here I am, killing time at Starbucks until the city wakes up. More in a few days...

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