We stayed in a hostel that was over a pub in the part of the city near the Arsenal football stadium. It's north-ish London, but not too far away from the good stuff, and as always well-connected by the Tube. This Australian guy (who I think was named Rob) ran it, and he was very chatty and nice. We met people from Italy, Argentina, France, America (including a guy from Oregon State), and one man who would not tell us which country he was from, only that it hated America. And then he proceeded to try to have a conversation about how America was a bully with us - awkward.
We saw all the big sights, but were cheap and didn't go inside like any of them. We did go into the free part of the Tate Modern, which I am glad about because there was a giant room FULL of Soviet propaganda which was AWESOME. I also decided it was worth it to pay to go to the Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms, which it totally was. They were preserved or refurbished to look like they did when they shut the lights off for the first time in 1945, and there was all sorts of artifacts and documents and precisely the sort of thing that I am so into. We didn't make it to the Imperial War Museum, but I am satisfied with Churchill.
Blitz Memorial - "Heroes with Dirty Faces"
Among the sights we did NOT pay to go into was the Tower of London and the London Eye. We saw Big Ben and the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, and St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
But the highlight of the trip was probably geeking out with Ashleigh and finding the luggage cart that is halfway into the wall at Platform 9 3/4 (it's kind of a Harry Potter thing). It was free and geeky. And thanks to Ashleigh for having the balls to ask the train station guy where it was. I was a bit embarrassed.
All the rest of the photos are on Facebook.
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