In London, England

Writing from an internet cafe within a McDonald's right now. I'm waiting for the bulk of rush hour to pass before I finally make a decision as to where to go. I just got into town yesterday, and after a slightly nervous ride through the underground (this section was actually overground) I got to my hostel in one piece with all my luggage. Then, I went on a mega walk.

Started by hitting Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Saw the Kensington Palace from the outside, the ponds, the overly ornate Albert Memorial and the Albert Hall. Then, I saw someone running who looked a lot like someone from nsci, so I randomly shouted out his name (cuz you never know.) And it was! Ron from nsci nano was taking a jog through the park - apparently he's working here for the summer before settling down in Toronto. We might get together in a couple of nights to see some music or something.

Continued down to the Palace. Impressive, but a little empty. There were just tourists out front, two guards randomly marching back and forth inside, and some policemen guarding the gate. The police are plentiful and pretty highly visible (they dress in shiny yellow jacket/vest things).

The aim was to see sunset from the bridges. I wandered in a direction I hoped was south and suddenly came across Westminster and the Parliament buildings. Big Ben was gorgeous in the setting sunlight, all that gold trim really showed off. Eventually found a bridge and watched the sun set behind the Parliament. Eventually made my way to the Eye ferris wheel thing and took the tube home.

No pics, because these computers not only have strange keyboards (ie shift + top row of keys = !"£$%^&*(), (I'm hoping these show up for you all as different, otherwise I'll just feel stupid), but I can't access USB ports or cd drives. The only way I've found to get photos off my camera is at photo shops who can burn from card to CD for £5-6. Pricy. Even then, I can't get them onto a computer... ah well, I'll have to be satisfied with descriptions. No idea what I'll do in Morocco.

Going to check the weather in Winchester, think I might head there.