The overnight bus from Edinburgh to London turned out ok, albeit a bit too warm and snug for our liking. I guess we’ll have to get used to it since we’ve got a few more long bus rides ahead of us. We managed to get a spot of sleep, regardless, and weren’t terribly tired for the rest of the day.

Right off the bat, we took care of a few things like Tube passes and our bus tickets to Paris and for the rest of the trip. Then, we found the hostel and dropped off our increasingly-heavy backpacks. Free at last, we hit the town with a running start around 9:30, with Jen leading the way to Big Ben and all the London-y London loveliness. She had been here for spring break last year, so she kinda knows the lay of the land which is nice.

Our hostel is near Kensington Gardens, so we started with a walk through there. We happened to go by several foreign embassies as well, although Jen kept looking for the hammer & sickle when Greg and Nick pointed out the Russian consulate. There must have been some sort of official visit going on at one of the embassies—several roads were blocked off at the end of the street. We took a quick breather on a park bench to people-watch—lots of women with prams.

We took the Tube to Westminster and strolled down and across and back the River Thames by Parliament and Big Ben, making our way eastward. Then we strolled up the road with all of the government buildings until we got to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. Jen showed Greg and Nick the best view of Big Ben from the steps of the gallery.

Then we meandered over to Buckingham Palace, at which point (thank you London), it started to rain. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance going on at the palace with a very official-looking band and some soldiers on horses. Apparently they do that every day, but it seemed a bit over the top. Then we wandered through St. James’ Park back to Westminster Abbey to relax on an under-tree bench that served both to take in some of the busy city sights and keep us out of the rain.

Sitting under that tree made us rather hungry, so we got back on the tube to our hostel and the nearest Tesco—our grocer of choice in the UK—for a late lunch. Where else can you get a meal for under 2 quid? By the time our tummies had settled, we were starting to feel some of the bus-travel fatigue, so we checked into the hostel for a power-nap and met our roommate Gregory, a Frenchman who had been living there for over 2 years.

Newly refreshed, we went back out on the town (we’re definitely gonna get our money’s worth out of these 3-day Tube passes, let me tell you). We crossed the famous Tower Bridge and saw its drawbridge rise to let a sailboat pass. Then we had another nice walk along the Thames past the Tower of London on our way towards The Monument [to the Great Fire of London].

We next walked through Covent Garden, which was buzzing with people and restaurants and stuff. It’s a cute little market area with the first Punch & Judy and a handful of street performers—one was singing ‘Tears in Heavan’. Jen picked up a delicious lamb Pasty for dinner, while Greg and Nick opted for another Tesco run.

It was beginning to get dark, so we hopped back on the Tube to Piccadilly Circus, which is sorta like the Times Square of London with its bright neon signs and such. Quite a sight. We thought about looking into theatre tickets, but we weren’t too excited to shell out big bucks for ‘cheap’ seats with and ‘obstructed view’. It’s easy to forget that everything costs twice as much once it’s converted to USD. Next time, perhaps.

Finally, we took the Tube back to the hostel to chillax and watch Coupling—just to feel British.