Stranger on a Train

Bridges Crossed: 10/12 (Vauxhall, Lambeth, Westminster, Hungerford, Waterloo, Blackfriars, Millennium, Southwark, London, Tower)
Train Stations: 8/10 (London Bridge, Charing Cross, Victoria, Liverpool Street, Waterloo, Paddington, Euston, King’s Cross)

Well, I didn't meet my goals for Bridges and Stations. My only real regret is that I didn't make it to Fenchurch Street Station, but I only had Friday to really round out my goal, and I decided that running around town to cross bridges and stand in stations wasn't really worth it. All the ones I did visit/cross was out of actual need, so I am quite proud that I accomplished what I did.

My last full day in London was quiet. I was a bit fragile from the previous night's festivities so my first real event was fetching lunch from the Thai food from a cart in the eaves of St. John the Evangelist for lunch. Then I headed to Barbican to see the 50 Years of James Bond exhibit. My brother told me about this show and they had a wide range of 007 memorabilia from the movies such as Q's inventions and Oddjob's hat, as well as many first editions of the books. Afterwards I wandered over to Covent Garden to finally try this place I'd been meaning to: The Icecreamists. They are infamous for their human breast milk ice cream, but I couldn't bring myself to try it. Instead I had a couple scoops of Popcorn ice cream that was just the perfect blend of salty and sweet. I will be dreaming of this flavor for some time.

That evening I went on a Haunted London walking tour with my flatmate. It wasn't necessarily scary, more like a historical tour with the odd ghost story thrown in. We learned a great deal about the great fire of 1666 and the architect Christopher Wren who rebuilt most of the city. It was a nice chance to get to areas of the city that I hadn't seen yet, including the Bank of England. I was the only person on the tour who admitted to liking the Lloyds of London building, the famous "inside out" building. That evening those of us from the program who were still there got one last pint of cider at the Hole in the Wall.

On Saturday I took my massive suitcase on the tube to Paddington station where I caught the train to Cardiff. I had drawn myself a map of how to get from the train station to the hostel, but unfortunately I left off a key street, so I spent much too long dragging my burden around an unfamiliar place. There are always pitfalls and snags in travel--that can be part of the charm--but I loathe being overburdened when I travel. If I could I would only ever have a backpack. Of course as my purpose for being in London involved wearing work clothes I couldn't pack light this time. Just as I had found my way and was approaching the bright orange door of the hostel, a man on the street gave me unsolicited advice on where to go... where had this guy been 20 minutes ago?!

Once I settled in I wandered around the large shopping area, finding lunch and a movie theater to see Spiderman. The movie really made me miss New York. I finished up the evening in a pub called both "Weatherspoons" and "the Central Bar" depending on which entrance you used.

On Sunday I walked down to Cardiff Bay, which was perfectly lovely. I found coffee, breakfast and a wetlands preserve to explore. I took an Aquabus across the bay to the locks and then walked back around the bay. The Welsh accent was much less pronounced than I had thought it would be. Many of the people I met almost sounded American. It was nice to spend some time in Wales collecting my thoughts and easing out of the comfort zone that I'd built in London.