My 19 year old self, first blog, and first international trip: London

My first international trip to London -- March 14, 1996 

My aunt took me to London for my first international trip and only my second flight. I was a sophomore in jr. college and had to finish all my assignments and tests before leaving. Then, woohoo, we were off. My 19 year old self blogging in a travel journal that I have now typed. My aunt worked at the jr. college, and the trip was organized by a teacher there with flights, hotel, transfers, Tube/Underground pass, and one group dinner. Other than that, we were free to explore as we wished. He was the Speech and Theater teacher, so he took a group to get a trip where he spent most of his time in the 1/2 ticket line or at a theater show. He was willing to look for and get 1/2 tickets for others. So, we are off into the past and across the pond...

March 14-15, 1996

As we boarded the aircraft, adrenaline raced through my body because I knew that 8.5 hours later we would be in England. We were on a night flight, so it seemed so strange when we stepped off in the London. I guess that I needed to actually see the ocean pass under us. This doubt, however, was quickly removed as England is very different from Texas. During the flight, we were served dinner, which I chose the beef entree. After viewing two movies, a James Bond and Sabina. I also watched Grace under Fire and a strange British sitcom called My Uncle Fred (or some name like that), we were served breakfast.  

At the airport, we stood in line to go through immigration where we presented the officer with our passports and the landing card that we had filled out on the plane. From there, we claimed our luggage and waited for our coach to arrive at 8am, Friday, March 15, 1996. 

Aboard the coach, our tour guide told us the history of all the kings and queens of London; she even made it into a poem promising us that we would at least remember parts of the poem. I don’t even remember parts. I had been sick the Monday before leaving for London (got a steroid shot and meds), so after a night flight, without sleep was not doing too well. 

The English countryside was beautiful though it was difficult to get over the initial stock of the British driving on the other side of the road and the steering wheel being located on the other side of the car. I say car because very few individuals drove pickup trucks – no beautiful new Chevys in London – also there were very few SUV or minivans either. Sunroofs were popular though, and I’m not sure why because it is not very sunny in London. 

The lanes are so narrow that in areas where traffic is not as bad (and sometimes where it is). I observed their driving and truly believe that they ignore those little white dashes that are intended to divide the road. 

At first, I was frightened by how close other cars would pass our coach. So, I started watching to see if many of the cards had been side-swiped, but I didn’t notice any. Therefore, I have concluded that they British must be very good drivers. 

At one point in our Panoramic Tour as our driver was pulling out of the bus rest station; there was another large vehicle coming in our direction, and being American, it worried me when he didn’t move to the right, but to the left instead. Because of these sudden reactions, the narrow roads, and the crazy mixed up streets, I would never attempt to drive in London. 

As for the pedestrians, they make it easy: all the signal lights are complete with a perpendicular light that tells the when it is safe to walk. Also, on some curbs, they have labeled, “LOOK LEFT” or “LOOK RIGHT” for the tourist who are easily confused. I suppose the Londoners got tried of breaking for the tourist, and if a driver even thought that a pedestrian is about to step out into their path, would honk. The roads are complete with an island between lanes, so that pedestrians can cross half of the street then wait for the other half to become clear. The signal lights are green, then turn yellow, then red, and then stay red and yellow lights up, and then turn green again. I like this idea because I’m often sitting at a red light wondering when it will turn green. 

I was sick at the beginning of our panoramic tour because knowing me I got sick the Monday before we left, and I just wanted to go to the hotel. Then we stopped at the Thames River to take pictures of Big Ben. I remember it was cold, but after we got back the bus, I felt 100% better and wanted to see more. We drove all around; in the financial district, I saw Little Ben – a gift to England from France – was so cute and matched the big one (in 2019, it was repainted and does not match at all, so I was disappointed). Another thing on our tour that really impressed me was the dragons that stood on pedestals near the River Thames marking what used to be the city limits of the city of the Westminster. Also in the vicinity was Tower Bridge, another favorite of mine. I loved the two towers with massive blue drapery with the Tower of London near. We drove over Tower Bridge. 

Finally, we made our way to the hotel, still exhausted after the 8.5 hour flight. Having no British currency, we had to carry our own luggage. After settling in, we went in search of a bank with a favorable exchange rate. The first bank we went into wasn’t that great, so we settled for the Thomas Cook Bureau de chango – a Paul (tour host) no, no. On the way back to the hotel, we met up with some of our group and agreed to have a late supper at The Hard Rock Cafe. After a burger, we caught the Tube train at Green Park station and rode to Russell Square station. We turned in early that night to catch up on our sleep. 

Saturday, March 16, 1996

Patsy and I awoke early on Saturday and got ready. Next, we went downstairs to the Tavistock Hotel Restaurant to enjoy our prepaid Continental breakfast, which consisted of a chose of coffee or hot cocoa, juice, and water, soft and hard rolls, and toast. I never eat burnt bread at home, but in London, I somehow talked myself into liking it. I topped it off with real butter. Now, that I’m home I have eaten toast once or twice, but it has not become a daily thing. A few days Patsy would pay 1 GBP for a bowl of cereal, and one day, they even let her have it for free – generous! Places like Holiday Inn Express really spoil Americans. Also, in the restaurant, people eating the continental breakfast had to sit off to the side away from the higher class guest. 

We arrived at the Science Museum by taking the tube to Knightbridge Station. The museum was huge; one area we chose to see was the flight simulator, which taught guests how planes and aerodynamics works. This was interesting because we had just spend 8 ½ hours on a plane, and I thought if Patsy understood how the plane remains thousands of feet above the Earth against gravity that it would calm her fears of flying. I did not tell her this – not in so many words. The Museum also had a hologram select and much, much more. 

For lunch, we ate at a place across from Harrods. We shared a small pizza, and I had an old fashion milkshake. Because we did not eat in Harrods, I could not go to their restroom. We looked and looked for the restroom, asking four or five sales associates for directions, and when we finally found them they wanted one pound for me to use them. I decided that I was not worth that much, so we left. 

After resting a while at the hotel, we went to shop at Covet Gardens. It was really neat looking; they had some outside street markets set up, and people with colorful hair were singing. Body piercing is also popular in London. 

Londoners do not believe in ice during the winter; one has to ask for it and even then they only give 3 or 4 cubes. The hotel did not have an ice machine; we had to go downstairs and get a bowl of ice from the bar. They also did not provide drinking fountains. 

That evening, Patsy and I joined Kristi and Paul for Greek food. We waited a long time for our food, and my got cold by the time I finished chewing the lamb. I ordered roast beef and everyone else had lamb. Patsy gave me a bite of hers to try; I remarked that it was better than mine then everyone was putting lamb on my plate. That was the first time that I had eaten lamb, which is a big staple in London (that and mushrooms). Everything came with mushrooms. Paul did not believe in wasting food, so he was eating them off of everyone else’s plates when they were done. 

On Saturday night, Patsy and I caught a movie, Father of the Bride II, at the MGM movies. At the ticket booth, we had to choose where we wanted to site; the seat number and row were printed on the ticket. The usher looked at our ticket and then showed us where to site. The movie was cute, but before it started, we saw some commercials (one was for Levi’s, where were very pricey in London). 

After the movie, we hailed another black taxi for the trip back to the hotel. The hotel room was small; we had to move to allow the other person to past. I started just walking over the beds instead. Bed, which were twin size, are smaller and called singles. They were on rollers. Our TV was old with no remote. It had 13 channels, but a few were repeats and two were in different languages. We had BBC, BBC2, and Skynews. I guess having only 8 channels was okay because they had the same 6 news stories on over and over again – 1) America defined Taiwan against China, 2) the Dunbain massacre, 3) how husbands in some country would kill their wives if they wife was seen speaking to another man, and 4) the American primaries, 5) mad cow disease in Britain, and 6) Parliment in session, which got a lot of media attention. The hotel also did not have any wash clothes, and you can forget little extras like shampoos and stationary. No art hung on the wall. 

Sunday, March 17, 1996 – Our Adventure on the way to church

We awoke early allowing ourselves plenty of time to find our way to Westminster Cathedral for the 9:00 am service. The adventure began as we set out to find the Euston Square Station; after walking and walking, we finally came upon Warren Station. We went in, put our card through, and rode to Victoria Station, which doubled as a train station. Being a large station, an information booth was provided. So, we walked up and asked directions to Westminster Cathedral and were told to get on the main road and walk 5 minutes. Unfortunately what looked like a main road to us was not THE main road, so went the wrong way. After walking more than the allotted 5 minutes, we seeked out new directions. A lady walking a bicycle told us to turn left and walk 200 yards. We walked the required distance and arrived at Saint Andrews Church, and I said, “we’re here”. Since we found it, we felt like we should go in. Patsy said no that she sees some spires that we should walk toward, so we made another left. Spire sight and bells ringing renewed our hope of finding the church – until we arrived at Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. We had heard Big Bend. At this point we had given up and were concentrating on taking some good pictures while lost and just exploring. We also got to Trafalgar and Leicester Squares. 

Sunday afternoon, we hit the British Museum, which consisted of the treasures of the world in 5 stories. The building and the collections were beautiful. I was most impressed by the big things – such as the front of a temple honoring a goddess and statues of gods and goddesses. The treasures were attained by the British because they ruled so many colonies. An old saying goes “The sun never sets on the British Empire.” 

Monday, March 18, 1996 – Day of Shopping and Exploring

We hit the tube about 8:30 am after our continental breakfast. We traveled on the Piccadilly line from Russell Square Station to Oxford St. Station. We began by exchanging some Travelers checques at Barley’s Bank; then we went to Selfridges, a large department store, complete with everything – perfume, clothes, housewares, groceries, bakery, cafe, luggage, and sportswear. I had my first chocolate chip croissant here. After shopping, we walked through Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, famous theater district. 

Next, we went back to the hotel to rest and eat our fresh bread and cheese from the Harts of London, across from Russell Square Station, near our hotel. Later, we would get back on the tube to Green Park. Everyone rides the tube – young or old, the professional or working class – everyone. The Underground is so efficient. Occasionally, they would close a station for security reasons or because a signal light is not functioning, but trains were always timely and never broke down on us. They say, “Mind the Gap”, “Mind the Doors”, and “This train terminates at Glasgow”. 

We walked through Green Park to Buckingham Palace, which was beautiful. We also saw the non-showy version of the changing of the guards. We finished the day with dinner at Plant Hollywood. 

Tuesday, March 19, 1996

Tuesday morning we actually found Euston Square Station and rode the Circle Line to Tower Hill Station – but that wasn’t before we pulled a cute one. Euston Square Station has several lines running on the same track; Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City lines. Well, we jumped on the first train that came, and it happened to be the Metropolitan. After the train started moving, we realized our mistake, so we got off at the next station, which was King’s Cross/St. Pancreas (sometimes you wonder where they come up with some of these names) and decided to back track. Therefore, we got to the side of the station and traveled back to Euston Square. At Euston Square, we finally caught a train on the Circle line (painted yellow inside) and arrive back at King’s Cross/St. Pancreas. Come to find out that the trains took separate paths, three stations later, so we would have been okay until we god to Liverpool Street Station. We pulled another cute one down at Leicester Square. We were at Leicester Square and wanted to go to Piccadilly Circus. So, we climbed down the stairs into the Underground, walked through the maze to the train, rode the train, walked through the maze, and up the stairs to the street to turn around and look back and see the station that we just left on the next block. More professional people rode the Circle Line as opposed to the more fun-going-crowd that road the Piccadilly Line. 

At Tower Hill Station, we walked out and saw part of the old Roman wall and then the Tower. The Tower of London is a beautiful, massive structure, very different than anything here in America. Within the outer walls of the Tower lived all the citizens of London. Within these same walls, the citizens were protected, built in the walls are cross shapes that arrows were fired at invaders. The fortress was complete with a moat; the moat would act as sewage and waste removal system for the town. The River Thames, located near the Tower, flowed directly into the ocean and was connected to the moat. The only problem was the moat was the moat was built too deep, so the River did not take the waste away, as planned. Next, it began to build up and stink, and someone asked the Queen for permission to fill in the moat. She said yes. In the words of our tour guide, a Yeoman Warder, “luckily she had smelt it”. Today, there is grass growing where the moat was. 

Our Yeoman Warder was both funny and informative. The “beefeaters”, another name for them, actually live in the Tower. 

They were first called beefeaters by the common people because one of the Yeoman’s duties was to taste the king’s food before the king ate it to be sure that the food had not been poisoned. The common people assumed that the king always ate the beef, hence the name beefeaters. 

We also heard the tale of the ravens. Long ago, the ravens were plentiful, and they would make a mess of the city. Therefore, the people of London asked the king if they could kill some of them. He responded, “no, the day the ravens leave the tower is the day that the monarchy will fall”. So, today, they have six with one wing clipped and three ravens to spare.

After the tour, we were free to walk through the museums. We first went to see the crown jewels. There were films running that showed the Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, where the jewels came from, and what type of jewel it was. The jewels came from all over – one that I remember in particular was from Africa. Other museum items included: old armor and old torture devices (many of which had never been used). Next, we walked out of the Tower to get a look at Tower Bridge and take a picture. 

Tuesday night was the night of our gourmet dinner at Leoni’s QuoValis. It was located on Dean Street. For lunch, we had a McDonald’s burger. This was the second McDonald’s we visited. Unlike the first, near the Tower, they actually gave us ice in our drinks. Both McDonalds’ were huge with seating for 200 upstairs. Arriving early for our meal, we stopped at another McDonald’s for hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was much better than the stuff that I got at the hotel. We also got a chance to walk through Soho – an area where different types of people hang out.

Our dinner was delicious; we had our own private room upstairs. The dinner was for everyone in our group. There was soup, bread, main dish, dessert, and a coffee. After dinner, it was on to the theater; Paul got Patsy, Kristy, himself, and me half price tickets to see Chapter Two at the Gielgud Theater. The play had just begun running sometime in February and was very funny. It is a Neil Simon play. 

Wednesday, March 20, 1996 – Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath

We rose early to get ready for our trip with Frames Richard to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. We rode on a coach that was nice and roomy. The tour guide gave us information about the areas that we were about to visit, and we got to ask various questions. I asked what the jig jagging lines along the curb meant. She replied that “you can’t kill anyone” – watch for pedestrians. I now know that they are called zebra strips. Our tour guide from the airport to the hotel called these highways “the biggest carpark in England” due to traffic jams.

The English country side was beautiful. I saw the Avon River and some stone walls, like Robert Front’s “Mending Wall”. On the way to Stonehenge, it sleeted. After driving west, we arrived at Stonehenge, and it was freezing. There is nothing out there but farm land. The wind off the English plains was terrible and went right through you. I got a chance to see one of the most amazing architectural feat ever accomplished; though it was not as impressive as I hoped. After taking a few shots of the gigantic rocks, we paid a visit to the gift shop – needless to say a very popular place. Finally, we packed up and headed over to Salisbury where we saw Salisbury Cathedral. 

When they built churches, they built them huge. The Cathedral was from the Gothic period with large areas of stained glass, pointed arches, and flying buttresses. In the Cathedral, the oldest known working clock is kept. The clock has no face, just notches for the numbers, and it was operated by a large pendulum. Also, an original copy of the Magma Carta is housed at the Salisbury Cathedral. The spire is the tallest in England soaring 404 feet. The spire was added after the church was completed with funds raised by the king.  Also, inside the Cathedral, there was a gift store and workshops. A workshop was setup for making copper rubbings. 

Bath was beautiful! We visited the Roman Baths and the Pump Room. I used a handheld tour guide. Each area in the museum was numbered, and when you get to that, you put in the number and background information comes over the headset. It was really interesting; I could have stayed there all day – except for all the school children that were on a field trip at the museum. When English children learn about the Romans, they get to take a field trip to Bath. However, they were running everywhere and blocking the displays. 

Because of the cold rain the day that we were in Bath, steam was rising off the large uncovered bath at the end of the tour. The water was a warm, mineral-fed from a spring. They used to give the water away to let people taste the mineral water, which is supposedly disguising, and 99.5% would turn it down. Now, they sell it for 50p, and 99.5% buy it. Maybe a slight exaggeration on the part of our tour guide. 

After Patsy and I made our way through the museum, we went out to find a place to eat. On the way to Sally Lunn’s Buns we passed an abbey with a man playing the bagpipes outside. At Sally Lunn’s Bun, we sat next to an old stone fireplace; I had a bun with chocolate sauce – Patsy, a bun with jelly. We both had hot chocolate (much better than our hotel’s). The food was delicious and the atmosphere cozy. (I should become a restaurant critic…). Next, we when back to the museum to find a restroom. Then, we stopped in a few shops to look around. Finally, we went back to the place we were to meet the coach. There we again met this mother and daughter from Utah; they were really nice. 

We drove around Bath some – back on the warm coach; we saw the buildings. They are all similar and are now protected by law. We also experienced the crescents, which were buildings, or apartments built in a crescents on two side with a traffic circle in the middle. 

Then, it was back to London. As we were coming into London, traffic was stop and go. Most people tried to sleep; this lady behind and across from us talked the the whole time to the lady behind us about places she’d been. On the way into London, I saw some interesting billboards. One had oars that moved; another in lights. Finally, we got off the coach and made a v-line to the nearest tube. We were sick of stopping at a light every 2 feet. We took the tube to Leicester Sq. to eat at the Abeleen’s Steak House. Outside of the steakhouse, there were cops and a roped off area with hundreds of people standing around. Some radio station had their name projected on a tall building; later the name was replaced by “Toy Story” – it was the opening night in London (it had already been released in the US). 

Thursday, March 21, 1996

Thursday morning, we finished off our souvenir shopping on Oxford Street. We had nicknamed the tourist shops: TTS for trashy tourist shops; however, we were fans of them. We stumbled into The Fountain, a restaurant in the department store called: Fortnum & Mason. We dined on sandwiches and assorted pastries. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest awhile, and then we went to Madame Tussaud’s, a wax museum. It was really neat. Patsy absolutely refused to get her picture taken with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Before it, we found the Ritz Hotel and walked through it. I thought: “I’m not worthy”. It was done in mauve with a big glass chandelier. We had to ask directions in order to find the hotel, so Patsy asked a policeman: “We are a little turned around…”, she began. He replied, “Oh, you mean you’re lost?” in the British accent. I wondered why in London they have The Ritz, and we have The Ritz-Carlton. 

Back in Madame Tussand’s we saw movie stars, famous people from history, and world leaders. The Pope and the Beatles were also there. They had special sections set up such as: a fright room and an area where we sat in black taxis. The taxis travel on the track, and the travelers looked out at the scenery, which was entitled: “The Spirit of London”. It included information on the plague that hit England and much more. This was really the neatest part because they were able to get the wax to move. 

We crashed early Thursday night and finished up our packing. In the bathrooms, in our hotel, the sink had separate spouts for the hot and cold water. The hot would keep getting hotter, and the cold water keep getting colder. I missed the convenience of mixing them. The bathtub was built above the floor, and even if I reminded myself of the difference before I stepped out of the tub, the drop surprised me. The handle for the toilet was on the opposite side of the toilet, and they had toilets that flushed with buttons and the kind where the operational part was mounted high on the wall with the chain hanging down to flush with (at Stonehenge). In the bathroom, we were given two large towels (except one day they goofed and gave us three. I took my bath first that night and took advantage and used two – sorry, Patsy), two hand towels, and a couple of little soaps. No washcloths or cute little shampoos and definitely no shower caps. As we turned in in our 6th floor room, 627, we attempted to go to sleep. I slept well all the other nights because I was exhausted. We left our window cracked every night because they kept the hotel so warm. There was traffic on the street outside 24 hours a day. We were also near an ambulance station with sirens. People were outside singing (I swear that they were singing) and yelling. London never sleeps. At 12:50 am, the phone rang three times, and the caller hung up. After the third call, Patsy called the main desk, who said if the calls were coming from the hotel they could not block them. So, we left the phone off the hook. It was probably some kids on the floor because after our phone was off its hook, we could hear other phones next door and across the hall ringing. 

Friday, March 22, 1996

We rose promptly at 5:00 am and prepared for the flight ahead of use. We ate donuts from the Hartes, grocery store near us, since the restaurant didn’t open that early. Patsy and I were ready in plenty of time and proceeded down to the lobby. We returned our room key and watched as the other members in our group trickled downstairs. The group loaded sluggishly onto the coach for the commute to Gatwick Airport, south of London. We were dropped off at the North Terminal. We had a few minutes to grab something to eat or look through the shops. There were many shops advertising custom free/duty free/tax free goods. I saw a Sunglass Hut International, like we had at home. We had a croissant and bought some candy bars for the flight. After that, we found Gate 56 and returned to our group. 

On the flight, we watched “The American President” and “Get Shorty”. The return fight was 9 hours. I didn’t get a window seat, but I got up a few times to see the icebergs by Iceland or Newfoundland. I ate a chicken entree (no British beef after the mad cow disease scare), and we were also served an afternoon tea. We sat next to a 13 year old coming over to visit one of her parents. The flights were full both ways. 

Afterthoughts

On our panoramic tour, the tour guide told us the story about a little Japanese man with his luggage on wheels. The man was walking through the subway (in England, this is just a walkway underground, no train). She, our tour guide, had passed him, and there he turned around and she passed him again. So, she asked if he was lost, and he replied that he could not find the trains. She told him he wanted “The Undergound” and that he had taken too many vocabulary lessons from the Americans. The subways were handy when we went to the Science Museum since it was rainy. I had just been sick, so it got me out of the rain and wind. The subways had little clear square blocks to let the light from the street through, so if you were up on the street and saw those squares, you knew something was under there. At some place, we were in a subway and there were signs with exit numbers, and if you wanted to to a certain place, you exit at its exit number. Some subways ran into the Tube, others passed under a heavy traffic area. In some tube stations, they would have gift shops set up. One station came out in a mall.

The weather, while we were in London, was really very nice for London in March. When it rained in London, it never really poured. It was foggy hence the brand London Fog. When the sun shined, it was not intense. It was kind of ironic because they sold souvenirs with the sun in the first “O” of London, as if London is really that sunny. We did a lot of souvenir shopping.   

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