London Dungeon and Madame Tussauds

We got up at about 7am, since it takes the whole crew so long to cycle through the showers. Once we were out with the grumpy group, we drug everyone down to the pub we had been to the night before, since they were advertising a huge british breakfast for £2.50. We got there only to find it didn't open until 10am, so we got on a tube and headed to the London Dungeon. We were once again way early, so I talked the grumpy group into heading over to London Bridge (just upriver from Tower Bridge, that we had been to before). The pedestrian traffic was crazy, because everyone was commuting acrossed to work right then. We took some pics, and Matthias and I grabbed breakfast muffin sandwich things from a stand (kinda like a Sausage McMuffin w/Egg from McDonalds, only with authentic stuff and not crappy).

We went through the london dungeon, which I was quite disapointed with. I had discount coupons, but it was still £15. It seemed like they rushed us through it, and it was really just a cheap disneyland-style tourist trap. It was supposed to be scarey, but the scariest part was really just thinking that something really bad was going to be around the next corner... which it wasn't. I did manage to pick up some history on London's dark side (the plagues, tortures, etc), which was OK.

When we got out, it was a a quarter till eleven; that gave us 45 minutes to get to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. This only takes place every other day at this time of year, and we weren't sure if it was supposed to happen today. In fact, I'm still not sure. It didn't happen today, but there were signs all over saying it can be cancelled due to weather. This was the rumor going through the crowd, even though it was merely a light mist coming down.

We then went to madame tussauds; talk about overpriced! £22!! That's almost $45 USD! That, plus the fact that it was nearly a two hour wait to get in left a bad taste in my mouth. On the plus side, there were more amazing wax statues that you could shake a stick at. Tons and tons of them, plus you could walk over and pose with nearly each one. And, it had a Dark Side of London part that was only a little bit shorter than the London Dungeon, and actually way scarier. Plus, a planetarium thing that was really great, giving a guided tour of the solar system. So, despite the rediculous price, it was a pretty decent visit.

After that we ate at a pub right acrossed the street called The Globe (which I am told is famous), then walked down Baker Street (passing all kinds of touristy Sherlock Holmes stuff) to Oxford Street, which is a fairly upper class shopping district. I picked up some souveniers, then stopped at HMV. I managed to pilfer a total of five HHC CDs for less than 10 pounds, and walked out quite happy.

After that, I decided to head back to the hostel to get a jump on preparing for bed tonight. Money is starting to get a bit short on the trip, but I think I can keep a handle on it since the rest of the trip I'll be all by my lonesome. The rest of the group kinda turned up their noses at all the little shops and bakeries the locals eat at, and instead insisted on going only to fancy sit-down resteraunts and famous pubs and paying usually around £8-£10 (nearly $20) per meal. I'm perfectly content to grab a pastry or something at a little bakery stand, or even the cheap/free meals at my hostel, so that'll eliminate a big expense.

Tomorrow I hope to get up early and hit the London Zoo, which is just on the other side of Regents Park from my Hostel. Then, either the London Library again, or maybe out to IMO records.

I have to admit that I'm getting nearly to the end of my mental list of things I wanted to see in London, but I'm sure a quick look into a tourist book and I'll have another huge list. Plus, I'd be content to just wander through a park for the day, really. The parks here are absolutely gorgeous, and it's refreshing to see locals actually come to the park just to lay around, play ball with their dog, etc. Nobody does that in america anymore, except maybe for the mexicans.