My trip to the continent! (A month summed up in two posts) Part 2.

Haiku-a-day:

May 25^th

Planning a good-bye.

We prepare for our last meal

together in Leeds.

     Tomorrow marks the last day of finals for my flat mates.  This means that we will soon separate, no longer to be flat mates ever again.  It's a sad time, but we are going to celebrate our time spent together with a dinner tomorrow night.  It'll be the "Spaghetti Dinner" that we've been meaning to have for weeks, with salad, wine, and cherry pie (homemade by myself and Roxanne).
     After tomorrow's dinner, we all sort of break off.  Chelsea and I leave on Sunday morning for London.  Leah and Roxanne leave soon after for London as well to see David Tennant perform Much Ado About Nothing on the 6th before going back to the U.S., Vanessa goes traveling with her cousin, and Rachel goes traveling with her mom.  And that's it.  Leeds life disappears; no more rushing off to class and passing friends on the way, chatting in the kitchen, hanging out with people from St Mark's.  It'll be...weird.  It'll be...different.


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Here begins my April tale, part 2.  Same as last time, I haven't proof-read it.  Hopefully there won't be too many mistakes!  =)
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April 14^th

Ever had a day

when it feels like the entire

world is against you?

     Early in the morning, we left Florence via train and headed to Venice.  What a beautiful island.  I love the narrow streets, the gondolas, the mirky water, and the beautiful architecture and color of the buildings.  

     Eliza and I had a hostel located a ways away into the center of Venice, while Roxanne, Leah, Chelsea, Melissa, and Stephanie had a hostel on the train station side of the island.  We split up, deciding to come back to have lunch together in about an hour and a half.  Turns out that wasn't enough time.  Eliza and I ended up getting lost pretty quickly and walking in a large circle, only to find ourselves back at the train station.  We asked for directions 3 times and on the third time, I realized my camera was missing.  I quickly went back to the last person we had talked to, asking if I had left it with them, they said no.  We traced our steps back through the circular path we had taken.  It was no where to be seen.  One thousand four hundred.  At least.  That is the number of pictures my camera had on it when it was stolen.  I have a pretty good idea of when, where, and by whom it was stolen, but this person has long since disappeared.  Words can't express how terrible I felt at that moment or that entire day.

     Eliza and I finally reached our hostel at the exact time we were supposed to have been back at the train station to meet the others.  We texted, asking for another half hour while we worked things out with the hostel.  There was one guy working.  He looked gross, like he hadn't showered in days.  He was unprofessional and rather shady.  We paid him as close we could to the exact amount owed, but all the two of us had were 50 euro notes as the ATMs wouldn't give out anything smaller.  So, this guy said he'd have to give us an IOU, as Eliza had paid more than she should have and he didn't have any change for her.  

     We weren't allowed to check into our hostel yet.  It was noon, but we weren't technically allowed in until 1:00PM due to "cleaning."  I have that in quotes because I stayed there for 3 days...they don't actually clean.  It's still gross.  I've got a lot to say about that hostel, but I won't go much more into detail here.  Let's just say I am not pleased with the Venice Museum Hostel, it was not clean, not easy to find, not friendly, and shifty in the sense that I paid to be in an 8 person room for both nights, but the second night, they overbooked and turned my room into a 10-11 person room, adding beds to an already crammed location.  Not cool.  Oh, and both nights I FROZE because the blankets that they MAKE you PAY for are suuuuper thin.  Not a good experience.  As much as I like Venice, I would never stay in that hostel again.

     After Eliza and I put our bags in a "secure" area (in Venice you can never tell...), we headed back out to find the train station.  On doing so, we discovered a short cut that we used ever since.  If only the maps had showed this to us.  Our lives would be been so much easier.  Anywho, all together, we ate lunch, and explored the Basilica.  Quite a gorgeous cathedral.  It's quite dark, but huge.  We also just walked around and saw places where Heath Ledger had been in the movie Casanova.  

     Everyday we ate gelato at least twice; same goes for pizza.  You can't avoid pizza and gelato in Venice.  They are key elements.  We took it pretty easy for the rest of the day.  And in case you're wondering, no, we didn't go on a gondola ride.  They cost 80 euro.  Too much!

April 15^th

A maze of small streets,

getting lost in Venice is

actually hard.

     The girls who had stayed at a different hostel the night before joined me in the morning at mine as they moved their stuff over.  This night we would all be staying at the same place.  The day was spent doing more eating and tons of shopping.  Well, more like a lot of browsing for me, but shopping for some of the other girls.  It was souvenir day and nearly everyone was out to buy a mask.  This pretty much sums up the whole day.  Food, shopping, wandering.  Like I said, we took it really easy in Venice.

April 16^th

We carry our bags

guarding them as with our lives

across a blue world.

     We left Venice today.  We grabbed our stuff, leisurely wandered around the city some more until it was time to go and pick up our ferry tickets.  By about 2 we had gotten our tickets and had plenty of time to wait until we could board our 3000-passenger ferry.  It was similar to a cruise ship, but without the real luxury of it and without the activities.  When we boarded at 4 (it was to take off at 5), we immediately claimed spots in a hallway on the 7th deck (9 decks in all, deck 1 was the furthest below).  We only had deck passage (cheapest) and would be spending two whole nights sleeping on the floor.  We had no clue whatsoever for how this would turn out, but we figured we were ready.  Turns out, not quite.  But we'll get to that later.  

     After we had chosen our little half circle of a home, a few people stayed back to guard the baggage, while myself and a guy we picked up on the way, Spencer, wandered around the ship.  (That sounds shady.  He was actually friends with one of the girls I was traveling with and we happened to run into him in Florence AND Venice, so he tagged along.)  We found the casino, the gift store, the restaurants, the empty pool, the disco, and the small food store (candy bars, pringles, nut, etc.).  I'm quite amazed at how many people do deck passage.  There were tons of cabins, but it was too expensive for us.  Another option, if you don't want to do cabin or deck, is airline-style seating.  One of the rooms on deck 8 was filled with airline-style seating where people would pay ~18 euro per night to sit and sleep in a chair.  It beats being on the floor, they have a TV in the front of the room, places to store your luggage, and at night, they turn off the lights, so you don't have to sleep with them on.  For us, on the other hand, we slept with our luggage as our pillows, our towels as our blankets (for those of us who had brought a towel with us, and the lights remained on the whole night.  Not only that, but whenever someone walked out onto the deck on the 6 floor, the cold wind from outside would float straight up to us and cause us to freeze even more.  It was also noisy.  People walked passed us the entire night and the messages over the PA were eternally annoying.  

     We occupied ourselves by reading mostly.  I'm sure we looked the picture of hilarity.  People would stop and stare at us when they saw a group of 6 of us (Roxanne and Eliza had split off from us and gone home) sitting on the floor looking like homeless kids, guarding our luggage with our heads in books.  When we finished with the book we were reading, we'd swap with someone else.  It was a good system.  I read the Eyre Affair, Dancing at Midnight, and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (and started Girl Who Played With Fire).  

     We would each take turns watching everyone's stuff while others went off to explore or to just go onto the 8th deck to watch the waves.  I watched the boat take off the first day and the sun set the next.  We had bought small snacks in Venice to be our breakfast and lunch, and took turns eating at the ferry's restaurant for dinner. 

     At night, we would put on our coats, lay our towels over our legs, and rest our heads either on our bags or simply on the floor and try our best to block out the sound of passersby.  And thus ended the first day on the ferry.

April 17^th

I remember when

life was simpler, when “worries”

was only a word.

     Today was pretty similar to the day before, only I woke up very early in the morning on the floor with a sore back and the PA announcements threatening to drive me crazy by only 7:30AM.  We breakfasted and spent the rest of the day talking, reading, napping, listening to our iPods, etc. in our little cubby hole on the 7th deck.  Every once in a while I would get up and go outside, watch as we pass islands by.  

     Midday the boat docked for the first time.  I'd say a pretty good number of passengers got off the ferry.  The group of about 10 adults who had a cubby hole like ours but more blocked off from the passersby left, so we moved our stuff into their area.  This helped protect us from the annoying gusts of wind that continually crept in from the 6th deck.  A little later in the evening the ferry docked for its second time.  In only about 6 hours we would dock at Patras, Greece on our way to Athens, docking at 5:00AM.  

     The night was pretty much the same, I kept waking up at all hours and the air conditioning was torturing me.  It was a relief when my phone alarm went off at 4:30AM signaling that I could get up and get ready to deboard.

April 18^th

Tired of traveling

and ready for my own bed.

I just need to breathe.

     (My dad's birthday!)  After we left the ship, we were standing on Grecian ground.  Patras.  Not our final destination, however.  This leg of the journey was unplanned.  We knew the ferry would drop us off at this location, but we didn't have any form of transportation booked for getting from Patras to Athens.  It was dark outside and there were police officers rounding up rowdy drunks nearby, so we decided whatever we did, it would be best to stick together and find a bus or train station fast.  

     We did find a bus station right near the port, however, it was closed.  We waited for nearly an hour for it to open and by then, we realized something wasn't right.  The sign inside that said when the buses leave had a bus going form Patras to Athens at 5:50AM, however, with the building still closed, no one could buy tickets.  We decided this place was unreliable and followed a group of backpackers who thought they knew of another bus station a little ways up the street.  We followed and it paid off.  We hurriedly bought bus tickets for a coach that was leaving about 5 minutes after we got there.  It was a little expensive, but this was our only chance.  We were on a time limit.  We had to get to a certain area in Athens by noon and had no map, no way of getting there once in Athens, so we would need any extra time to figure it out.

     The bus ride was 3 hours long.  The Grecian countryside is beautiful, so I'm glad I was awake to watch the sunrise over the gorgeous land.  We arrived in Athens, grabbed something to eat quickly (warm chocolate croissant, so good!), and took a city metro bus down to the city center.  From there we walked until we found an underground metro station and took the metro to the stop closest to where we were supposed to stay.  The plan was to meet Steph's friend Cate (a UW study abroad student as well) and stay with Cate and her roommates for two nights.  Cate found us at noon and we walked back to her apartment.  Such a nice apartment.  Fully decorated, large space, high balcony, couch, table, desks, etc.  So nice.  I feel totally gypped here in Leeds.  One person could have the couch and the other four of us would sleep on the floor.  Her floor was much more comfortable than the ferry's (and the apartment was warm!) so I was OK with that.  One of Cate's teachers was nice enough to bring over blankets and pillows for us.  She was so sweet!

      After not having taken a shower in 3 days, we made use of Cate shower, all 5 of us getting it over with while Cate and her 5 roommates were in class.  The water system there is weird, so it took such a long time.  You have to flip a switch in the breaker and let the water warm up for a half hour.  Once it's warm, you have enough hot water for about 3 people--if they take quick showers.  After the first 3, it was freezing, so we waited another half hour.  2 more people done, freezing again, so switch back on for another half hour.  It was quite the ordeal. 

     By the time Cate came back, we were all clean and ready to go out for dinner.  Cate and one roommate took us to a restaurant nearby that had the best tzatziki I've ever had.  It was sooo good.  All we ordered were appetizers for the table, but that was enough to tide us over.  It was a good night.

April 19^th

There are times when you

just need to be by yourself

for a little while.

     Calimera!  We went with Cate and her class on a field trip.  It was their very last day of class.  We first went to the Olympian Temple.  Cate's professors gave everyone a tour of the ruins.  I am so grateful we got to go along with this because otherwise I wouldn't have understood what the ruins meant or how they functioned.  He explained how certain formations showed how one house belonged to a peasant and another belonged to a rich man -- the rich man owned a bath in his own house and that was quite the luxury.  

     The temple itself is gorgeous.  I love Athens.  The city part of it is only OK, but as for its historical value...priceless.  After the temple, Cate had a bit of time before her next class field trip, so we headed out for lunch near the Acropolis.  We ate at this adorable restaurant that had some of the best crepes I've ever had.  Oh my goodness they were good.  

     We walked up the steep hills all the way up to the Acropolis after lunch and took our time as we took in the sights from so high above the city.  Gorgeous.  Stunning.  If you haven't gone to Greece, you must.  It's definitely one of my favorite countries ever.  The Acropolis and the Parthenon are so pretty and old.  Standing on top of history is an amazing feeling.  While Cate's class was wandering around up there, we wandered around by ourselves.  You weren't allowed to touch the Parthenon nor to take a single stone on the ground.  Signs everywhere stated this and any disobeyers would be strictly punished. I thought that was a bit funny.  I could receive a hefty fine for taking a pebble off the ground.

     We walked around the Acropolis Museum (got in for free because we are UK students!), did a bit of shopping, got a few snacks, and headed back to Cate's apartment.  The decision was made that we would eat dinner at the restaurant from the night before.  It was so good we couldn't resist.  This time, they gave us dessert for free!  Greek yogurt with what we thought might have been candied red peppers on top.  Whatever it was, it was to die for.  I love Greek yogurt.

      And that was our first and last full day in Athens.

April 20^th

Reality and

imagination combined

is Greece in real life.

     We got up at 5:00AM, left Cate's apartment, metro-ed to the port, and took a 10-hour ferry ride from Athens to Santorini.  The ride was not very good.  The boat was much smaller than the first one we were on and again we only had deck passage.  The problem with this was that the common area inside for deck passengers filled up immediately.  The only place for us to go was to the outside decks.  It was soooo cold.  It was pretty miserable for the first 5 hours or so.  When we got to the first stop on the way to Santorini, a load of passengers got off, so we all rushed inside and claimed seats.  It was much more endurable inside.
     The boat docked at Santorini quite late.  It was about 45 minutes passed when it was supposed to get in and we were worried that our ride to the hostel would not be there.  To our great surprise, it was still there waiting!  John, from the Katerina and John Hostel, was still waiting for us at the dock.  
     The drive from the port to Perissa, where we stayed, was amazing.  We zigzagged up a large hill, drove through small towns, passed donkeys and fields.  I think Santorini was my favorite place out of everything.  I would love to go back.  Our hostel was very nice.  It was like a mini resort.  There was a common pool and lounge chairs.  We had a two-room hostel.  The first room had 3 beds, a dresser, a small table, a T.V., and 2 miniature night stands.  The second room had a bunk bed, table and chairs, entrance to the balcony, kitchenette, and bathroom.  

     We didn't do much with this day as far as I can remember.  We went to the 24-hour bakery across the street and got our dinner there.  YUM.  We went back to that bakery at least once every single day.  We were there for 6 days.

April 21^st

The black sand beeches

of Santorini grow warm

basking in the sun.

     This day was Leah's 21st birthday.  The previous day we had asked her what she wanted to do: sleep in!  So we did!  We slept in until 11AM and, after getting breakfast at the bakery, went to the beach (black sand beach!) that was about a 5 minute walk from us.  The weather was nice, but the wind was terribly cold.  Nonetheless, we were out on the beach for hours.  We ate lunch at a place nearby called "Grandma's Recipes," where I had a very good chicken wrap. We wanted this to be a very relaxing day, so afterwards, we went back to the hostel, showered, read, and got dinner at the bakery.  It was quite nice to just relax, have nothing pressing to do.

April 22^nd

Lights turn out and fires

burn brightly in the skyline

as Grecians parade.

     Today we caught a bus going from Perissa to Thira, the more touristy side of Santorini.  We did a little shopping and a lot of exploring.  We wandered around the area where the houses/shops/restaurants sit tucked away in the sides of cliffs.  It was picturesque.  The plan was to go down to the port there and catch a ferry tour of the volcano on another island.  In order to get there, we had to climb down the cliffs by means of about 600 large steps.  It took us a half hour to climb all the way down.  And guess what, later on we climbed all the way back up...  Anyway, we got to climb up the volcano and learn about its history, about the geography around the caldera, and then go swimming in a hot springs.  I chose not to swim because the water was freezing (you had to swim out to the hot springs as the boat couldn't get too near) as was the wind, which made everything worse.  I was definitely not the only one to stay on the boat.  Less than half of the people chose to go.  From my friends who did dive in, they said the hot springs wasn't actually even that hot, it was more of a warm springs.
   After the tour, we hiked back up the 600 steps, ate at restaurant overlooking the caldera, and did a bit more shopping.  When we were back in Perissa, we ate dinner at a restaurant across the street from our hostel, called Apollo.  Excellent food, by the way.  During dinner, the lights suddenly went out and a parade of people with palm branches and candles walked by.  Apparently this is what they do for Easter. It was very neat to witness.  When the parade passed, they turned the lights back on.

April 23^rd

Across the island

from tip to tip sits tiny,

colorful houses.

     We ATVed today across the whole island.  We did Perissa, Thira, Old Thira, Firostefani, Pyrgos, the Red Beach, and Oia (pronounced ee-ya).  Around 8pm, the sun set, and a few of us ATVed out near Pyrgos to watch it set over the water.  It was pretty.  There's not much I can say about this day.  This day can only really be explained through photos.  When/if I get some, I'll post them so you can see.  Dinner at Apollo's again because we liked it so much.

April 24^th

A chill arises.

The calm, warm beach cools as the

wind sweeps the black sand.

     Back to the beach.  It was another relaxing day.  We read on the beach, then went back to the hostel and read some more and napped.  If I remember correctly, The Prince of Egypt was on T.V. in Greek, but the music was still in English.  I caught the end of it.  Because it was Easter, our 24-hour bakery closed from 1PM until 10PM.  They had told us they'd stay open until 2.  This was a lie.  When I got there at 1:30, it was already closed and I didn't have any lunch this day.  For dinner, we scoured Perissa. Every place was closed except for another 24-hour bakery that was hidden away.  Thank goodness I found it because I was super hungry.

April 25^th

A rather calm day

in Paradise though the wind

chooses to be cruel.

     I had my first gyro on this day.  We left Santorini for Mykonos in the morning via speed ferry.  It was expensive (~$84), but it was the only way.  At least we had seats on this one. 
     Mykonos is not nearly as pretty as Santorini and there's really not that much to do there.  Our hostel had a van to pick us up and take us to "Paradise."  Yes, that was the name of the place where we stayed. Our rooms were "cabins."  Basically tiny boxes with two beds in each.  The floor was uneven stone and it was freezing.  Overall, the weather in Mykonos was the worst.  It was cold and it rained.  We ate lunch and dinner at our hostel.  This is where I had my first gyro.  It even had fries in it.  I enjoyed it, but I didn't like how the melted tzatziki ran down my hands.  It's messy stuff.

April 26^th

Question what is said

suspect what may change and do

not trust your own mind.

     Another cold day.  We slept in, bought breakfast at our hostel (again like a resort, but crappy--and the food was expensive.  My breakfast was a small bowl of greek yogurt for 4 euro), and bussed in to the main city area to explore.  It didn't offer much.  We stopped at a smoothie place and wandered around buying small souvenirs.  We found the great wind mills, which were pretty cool.  We took the first bus back to our hostel because there really wasn't much to do.  The rest of the day was spent hanging out, reading on the beach (not in suits, it was too cold for that).  We packed that night and were prepared to leave for London in the morning.  I was sad to leave Santorini, but rather glad to leave Mykonos.

April 27^th

Music floats through the

floor boards of the pub.  The smell

of smoke soon follows.

       Our hostel had vans that bussed us to the airport.  Mykonos has a really, really small airport.  It's the smallest I've ever seen.  The flight to London didn't feel very long, but it was 4 hours.  We arrived in London Gatwick where we split up after saying our good-byes.  Melissa and Steph went back to Leeds; Chelsea did as well, but it was only a stop-over for her as she was to go to Scotland the next day.  Leah and I were to stay in London, but we had different hostels and ways of getting to those hostels, so we split off at the airport.  I took a bus into London.  It took forever.  I kid you not, it took an hour and a half.  I found my hostel, the White Ferry House, pretty easily.  I'll be there again coming this Sunday.  It's over a pub, but it was clean and they provided dinner for pretty cheap; breakfast is free.  I didn't feel like walking around London alone just to find food, so I bought a pizza there and ate it while watch the BBC news and a football match (notice I said "football" and "match," meaning soccer in America!).  When I stepped into my room, I got a huge surprise.  I knew that I had booked a cheap 21-person room, but I certainly wasn't expecting seven 3-layered bunk beds!  I got to be on the very top of one of those 3-layered bunks.  It was neat, but a little nerve racking when you're trying to climb up (or down) without disturbing the two people underneath you by making any noise or wiggling the bed.

April 28^th

The sound of millions

of people celebrating

one purpose is great.

     In the morning, I met up with Leah and Roxanne, who had come from Leeds to join us for the Royal Wedding.  We had an entire day to spend as the wedding was not till the next day.  We wandered around London, buying food for the next day and wedding souvenirs.  We all bought mini British flags to wave around.  We passed by Buckingham to see how crowded it was.  People had been sleeping out there for days already.  Quite intense.  Media stands had already been erected and reporters were doing interviews.  We found the American media stands and saw with our own eyes Matt Lauer, Anne Curry, and Meredith Vieira.  They turned away from the cameras and waved at us!  London was soooooooo crowded.  I quite liked it though.  I like seeing tons of people coming together to celebrate one purpose.  It's fun to see the excitement.  Oh, also, Roxanne's hotel was a block away from where Kate Middleton's hotel was (The Goring)!!!  We walked passed it several times.  I love being back in the UK.  We ended the day just watching the BBC news and movies in Roxanne's hotel room.  We even watched a cheesy made-for-T.V. movie about Wills and Kate.  It was pretty hilarious.  Here's the trailer.

April 29^th

A lace dress drives down

the mall.  Millions of eyes watch

a girl turn princess.

     What a day!  I got up at 3AM, got ready, packed my bags, and checked out of my hostel by 3:30AM.  By 3:45 I was at Roxanne's hotel and by 4, Roxanne, Leah, and I left for Buckingham Palace.  It was super crowded already.  People were lined up everywhere.  Tents and sleeping bags line the sidewalks and police busied themselves keeping people in check and putting up blockades.  It was dark outside, but bright enough to see well.  The weather felt wonderful.  We got to Buckingham around 4:30 and discovered that at 5, the police would order that all the tents come down so as to allow for more space.  There were certain areas closer to the palace along the mall where police firmly blocked people from passing unless they had sleeping arrangements.  I'm not fully aware why it was blocked off, but we got in line to get closer. They said around 5ish they would let people through.  That wasn't quite the case, but the three of us snuck through eventually anyway.  We got very good "seats," fairly close to the Palace and right across the street from the American media stand.  I know for a FACT that I was on T.V. several times.  My facebook has a freeze-frame picture of me on the BBC.
     By 6AM, the weather had changed drastically.  At 3, it was perfect, but now that the sun was coming out, it was like winter.  From where we stood, there was a British family all sitting on lounge chairs right in front of us.  I love that they were seated because it meant that from behind them, we could see the street perfectly.  They were nice enough to allow Roxanne to borrow a sweatshirt because of how cold she was.  By 8AM, the police informed everyone that they had to stand to let more people in.  Folding chairs were to be folded up.  This was not good.  I'm not tall.  As soon as they stood up, I knew I was going to be in trouble.  It was quite a fight to see people later as they went by.
     Throughout the morning cars with guests being escorted to Westminster Abbey would drive down the mall.  Everyone would cheer and wave for them.  Well, technically everyone would waved and cheered for even the street cleaners!  =)  The crowd was excited, flags waved, and the mall started doing the wave!  I was quite happy to participate.  One man in the crowd across the street from us would taunt our side for being so quiet, so the two sides had challenges to see who could be louder.  It was funny.
     Here's the schedule:  Official guests (1,900) must arrive at the Abbey between 8:15 and 9:45.  At 10:10 Princes William and Harry leave Clarence House for the Abbey.  At 10:20, members of foreign royal families leave Buckingham, as do Kate's mother and brother from the Goring Hotel.  At 10:25, members of the British Royal family leave Buckingham.  The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh leave at 10:40.  10:48, bridesmaids leave Goring.  10:51, Kate and her father leave Goring.
     Ok, so.  Some of these people I did get to see!  On their way there, I did see tons of vans of foreign princes and princesses/kings and queens.  Bridesmaids.  The Queen and husband Duke of Edinburgh.  AND Kate and her father!!!  The wedding began as soon as Kate arrive, at 11:00.  From certain places in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square, they had large screen set up to broadcast the service.  From where we were at Buckingham, they didn't have screens, but they did have speakers, so I got to hear the entire thing live!  At 12:15, there came the processional back to Buckingham.  I got to see the Queen and husband again(!!!), Kate and Wills(!!!!), Harry, bridesmaids, and other people who I didn't really know.  It was very exciting.  At 1:25, the Royal family came out on the balcony, Wills and Kate kissed, and five minutes later, there was a "Fly-past" by the Royal Air Force.  After the processional, there was a large chunk of time before they would appear at the balcony.  During this time, everyone FLOODED towards Buckingham.  Waves upon waves upon waves upon waves of people passed us by.  I didn't want to get closer because I figured if everyone got closer, we'd be in the back with plenty of space between us and the crowd, meaning I would be able to see the newlyweds clearly.  Nope.  Didn't happen.  Other people had the same idea and the lines became congested, so I was blocked anyway.  It's neat to know I was standing in a crowd of about a million people.  It was a huge pain to leave after everything was over, but I didn't care.  I feel bad for the people who have to clean up after it.  There was trash everywhere.  It was absolutely disgusting.  I can't believe people can be so rude and trash the Palace lawn and sidewalks.  The flower gardens were completely crushed, like someone had rolled around in them.  Anyway,  we grabbed pizza and headed back to Roxanne's hotel room for the rest of the day until it was time for me to head over to Victoria Coach Station to bus home to Leeds.  (I got back after midnight and cabbed home--totally got ripped off!  But that's what I get for being safe instead of walking home by myself!).

April 30^th

Friends reunited

the apartment begins to

take on life again.

     I was soo happy to be back home!  I immediately did my laundry (which totally stunk after wearing only a few things for an entire month...) and went out and bought groceries.  It felt so good to be home and sleep in my own bed.  And there you have it, my entire April trip.  Maybe later I'll dig up pictures (aka, stealing from friends' albums!).