London wandering, Day 2

Today's adventure consisted of setting up my mobile phone, and sightseeing in London.

I initially went to Three, which had a great phone plane for pretty cheap. Apparently, my Lloyds offshore banking account doesn't cut it for direct debit payments at Three, and therefore I have to put my cousin's information. After a lot of confusion, we set it up, only to find out that the sim card wouldn't work in my 2G Blackberry. I don't know why the salesman didn't tell us before we paid, but we subsequently had to reverse everything he had done, and went to Orange.

The plans are much better here than in Canada. I got a plan that's £20 per month, with 200 any network anytime minutes, unlimited incoming (a standard here in the UK), unlimited texting, 500MB of Internet data, and unlimited Blackberry email and messenger (free for the first month).

I'm still waiting for them to activate my Internet and email. They said it could take up to 24 hours. I'm going to facing withdrawal if I have to go much longer without my email on the go!

Next, I headed into town for my tour.

London is gorgeous. I love the architecture and history behind all of the buildings. The tour guide pointed out buildings that have been around for centuries (though most in some areas were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, when a bakery on Pudding Lane caught fire, which spread all throughout central London). He pointed out the spots where two of King Henry VIII's queens were beheaded, as well as tributes to British soldiers, such as the first London tomb for an unknown fallen soldier.

We passed one street where the cars swap sides of the road. Tthe tour guide described it as the street where some people in the world mistakingly believe the cars to be driving on the correct side of the street.

In total, I took 201 photos today. I don't know what I'd do without a digital camera. Of course, we were on a bus, so I had to take two to four of everything in order to ensure I'd get one that wasn't blurry. I'll have to go through them and delete the ones that didn't turn out so great.

I'm still not used to the cars being on the wrong side of the road. The whole time on the bus, I kept expecting to turn into certain lanes and we would drive into the other, making it feel like one of those theme park rides where you don't know where you're going.

The whole city seems surreal. It is a beautiful city and it's amazing to think people live here and walk by this history on a daily basis. It makes me want to take a bus tour of Toronto to see if we have a lot of history behind our buildings. I suspect not, but it would be interesting to find out that some of the buildings I have passed dozens of times is actually the site of something really special.

The London Dungeon seems like quite the unique attraction. We drove by it and it reminded me of something you'd see at some sort of theme park, or an area like Clifton Hill. It seemed quite out of place among the rest of the buildings. The font made it a bit cheesy, but basically, it's a museum depicting the darker history of London, specifically dungeons and torture. It is apparently filled with live actors reenacting these scenes, and you can experience being shaved by Sweeney Todd. Definitely not for me.

I have discovered the weather to be as unpredictable as I've heard. The sky was bright blue today with a few white clouds and maybe one darker one. I went into a shop. I came out, the sky is dark and it was raining. I went into another shop. I came out and it was blue with clouds again. I haven't been rained on yet, but I doubt my luck will last. I've been advised to have an umbrella with me 100 per cent of the time.

I found a friend for Sgt. Snow Flakes. He doesn't have a name yet and I am not in the most creative mindset right now, but I'll have to think of something. Regardless, I think I've determined that I will collect teddy bears from each place I visit. I'll have to get smaller ones or visit less places, or else it's going to get damn expensive. But one day, I'll have a teddy collection that represents everywhere I've been. I suppose I'll have to go back and get Israeli and Dutch bears at some point. I already have a Spanish Bearista.

Tomorrow's agenda includes a boat ride down the River Thames, more hop-on, hop-off touring (it's good for 24 hours, and I didn't start until about 4:00 pm today), and a visit to Harry Potter film locations. I can't wait!

I loved this plant. It was in a garden on my walk from the subway station to my cousin's house, and from a distance they looked like little baby pumpkins–though I suppose the shape isn't quite right.

This is Eros in Piccadilly Circus. I hopped off the bus at Trafalgar Square and wandered mindlessly until I found myself at Piccadilly's Circus. It was full of shops, many of which were chains in Canada. The HMV store was huge and had way more books than in Canada, but there was nothing I could find that I couldn't buy online for cheaper. I did hear my first Canadian song while in London: Arcade Fire's City with No Children. I gave a silent cheer for Canada.

This is a monument to the Great Fire. Apparently, if it were to lay horizontal, it would touch the bakery where the fire began.

The South African High Commission in London.

I believe this was the Canadian Pacific Hotel in Trafalgar Square. 

The Earl Haig Memorial, Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies in France.