Call me an idiot. Go ahead, I deserve it. Here's the story:
I booked a flight from London to Barcelona at 7AM from Luton Airport (which I assumed would be a short walk from the city) with the mindset that if I fly real early, I won't be wasting time once I get to Barcelona...well, what I didn't plan was that I need to arrive at the airport by 5AM, and it takes roughly 1.5-2hrs to get there using public transportation. This all means that I would need to be at the bus stop at roughly 3AM, meaning I'd have to check out of my hostel at 2AM. This is all due to me not doing any planning ahead of time!
I know you are all wondering, well Jon, what are you going to do? Here is my solution: I canceled my hostel for Saturday night, and I have all my stuff packed in my bag right now. I got a great night of sleep last night, and will be wandering through the city of London for the entire day. If I am still alive by 12AM, I will go and catch the bus and arrive at Luton airport by 2AM. So now, I will have 5 hours to kill, BUT I will have peace of mind that I won't miss my flight. The only big downside is I'll be lugging around a 20lb pack all day...but being me and always seeing the positive side of things, I just thought "hey, it'll just be a super work out and I'll have a rippling 6 pack by the end of the day". We can all dream can't we.
Yesterday I got duped. Real bad. I was starving and trying my hardest not to get sucked into a bad meal. (I've heard London doesn't really have any great and unique meals...fish and chips don't count). I was on my way to the British Museum and came across a Chinese buffet. Yum yum I thought. Walked in, took a look around, and all seemed good to go. After sitting and eating, I noticed the chicken didn't taste like the chicken, the beef didn't taste like beef, and there was no pork dishes. Is it chicken, beef, pork, cat, or dog?! (Just kidding about cat and dog). Then it hits me - the impossible has happened. I have been tricked. Never thought it was possible, but I have somehow found the ONLY vegan Chinese restaurant in the world. Who would think it'd be possible to have vegetarian Chinese food...but let me tell you, it is. How do I know this? Well, when I was in NYC, I tried a vegan restaurant with a group of friends, and I remembered the texture of the "meats". Anyways, I feel I got the most of my money. If you are unaware, most Europeans don't eat as much as Americans. After my first HUGE plate, they were ready to hand me my bill, but I quickly reminded them I was at a BUFFET and helped myself to a second plate of..."meats and vegetables". Another HUGE plate. The wait staff was like, HOLY SHIT, fat man be eat another plate.
Right now, I'm trying my hardest to kill some time. I plan on wandering to Camden Town where I hear there are nice open air markets. But first, I need to find a good bathroom to take a huge dump. Yes, I know you didn't need to know that, but this is MY blog, and I get to say whatever I want. The toilets in London are weird. Whereas in the US, we have oval shaped bowls with, generally, super flushing action...in London, they are round bowls, with mostly WEAK flushing power. I'm not going to spell it out, but I'm sure you see what my point is.
Uh oh, I feel a turtle head trying to break through, I have to leave now...
2 comments:
jonno the part about the buffet was funnyyy! i cracked up knowing how much you normally eat at a buffet could scare even people here! and the part about the toliet is funny too =) miss you,
amy
Oh man, this blog is awesome. I'm going to follow all of your entries so don't get lazy halfway through the trip. Keeping a blog is a lot of work, especially if you're doing it while you are traveling. I took a Europe trip with Contiki and I went to seven countries. I liked London and Amsterdam a lot. Paris and Rome were okay...I didn't think they were THAT great. Have fun man! In case you are wondering who this is, it's Kevin from Goldman Sachs.
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