In London!!!--Joey

I'm writing our blog for the 11th on the 12th, since I have several hours to kill (I'll explain why in the next blog...just to keep you hanging in suspense). Something we learned, staying above a pub is cool because it is convenient and fun. Staying above a pub sucks beyond belief because on weekend nights it comes to life so regardless of the fact that you have to wake up at 7 in the morning the people at the pub party like there's no tomorrow. Kelley was able to fall asleep like that enjoying the beat of the music. I had to put in my zune to drown out the pub's music with my own music (confusing isn't it? but hearing muted music through walls that I can't control doesn't help me fall asleep). We woke early, tired, and got our free breakfast. Kelley and I left Kendra at the hostel where she was to take a cab to a train station (with her four bags) to head to Oxford. Kelley and I took off for Waterloo station to catch a train to Salisbury. It was about an hour and 20 minute train ride in which i tried to sleep but was most likely unsuccessful and Kelley continued to listen to the audio version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, fighting off tears as *spoiler alert* Dumbledore died. We bought tickets that included a bus tour and entrance to Stonehenge so we got a quick view of Salisbury. I've decided I would like to go back to the town and explore it some more because it is so quaint. On our journey to Stonehenge, we passed the many burial mounds and good ole' Salisbury Hill. By the time we got to Stonehenge, it was sprinkling (yeah rain....uggg) but nonetheless the stones were still amazing. We had commentary on how the stones came to be and dispelled some myths about them. We spent a good bit there just taking in the stones from all angles and then we hopped on a bus back to Salisbury. The ride back was a twisty and turny one through the various hills and I thought I was going to be sick, but not from the twists and turns but from the French couple making out on the stairs of the bus. Mind you, it was a 30 minute bus ride. While the rest of the bus was enjoying the beautiful sights around us, they were truly enjoying each other's company. We got off the bus at Salisbury Cathedral where we just had a chance to hurry and catch the outside before we hauled butt to catch the next train back to London (they only had one leave per hour and we wanted to get back in time with plenty of time to buy tickets for today to Dublin). We made it back to London and successfully bought our tickets including our fairy ride to Dublin. Afterwards, we went and checked out Harrods, while of course there one and only sale is going on on a Saturday, so it was hectic. We only explored the 1st floor but that was amazing enough. There were some great deals on perfume (even with the exchange rate) and I was tempted to buy some if not for my limited space and likeliness that I'd break it before I returned home. On the first floor alone, was a chocolate and pastry department, a meat department, a deli, a cafeteria, designer handbag department, menswear, Harrods' signature items, and more (on the first floor alone). We then had to take a bus back to our hostel because I forgot to mention that the tube station closest to us was closed yesterday and today so it made getting to the necessary train stations difficult and resulted in almost an hour bus ride. London picked the biggest tourist time to close 2 lines...good move London. But to get to the place we needed to catch the bus we had to take a tube where we heard that another one of the lines was down because of "a person under the train" which was kind of gruesome to hear. Anyways, back on track, on our bus ride back the bus died, I mean seriously died. The bus driver stopped to let some people off, and the engine turned off and would not turn back on. So the whole bus that was packed, mind you, had to get off and wait for more buses to come. We didn't have to wait too long and fortunately it wasn't raining . We stopped to grab food on our way back from the bus station. Kelley got a Kabob (which isn't a kabob at all but more like a gyro with different toppings) while I got sausage in batter (once again, I'm not quite sure what I ate, Kelley described the flavors as one dimensional and I would have to agree). She really enjoyed her Kabob and we watched the end of the movie Wolverine in the hostel common area. The hostel had copies of movies that were yet to be released on video in the states yet, including the Hangover, which we wished we would have seen earlier so that we could have watched it again. After the movie, we headed up to our room to pack and get ready for bed. I took a shower in the same stall that Kelley had taken one in earlier in the week. She described it as a mist and I would have to disagree and say it was even less than that. Probably one of the worst showers I ever had because to top it off the water was cold and the drained stop working. All showered, and relatively packed we headed to bed excited for the next day, Dublin.
Things I want to do next time:
Dungeons of London (meet Jack the Ripper!!!!!)
the London Eye
Visit Salisbury for a couple days and explore the town
Go INTO Salisbury Cathedral
have a picnic at Stonehenge
buy something from Harrods
Explore ALL of the floors at Harrods (including the restricted areas)
Hang out in more pubs and meet the locals
Learn to drive on the left (wrong) side of the road
Eat at a cafe on the Champs Elysees