London Bridge is not actually falling down

London Bridge *was* actually falling apart, which is how it ended up getting sold, moved, and rebuilt in Lake Havasu City, AZ all around 45 years ago.  This new one did not have any severed heads on pikes to serve as a warning to would-be criminals and traitors.  It didn't seem to have a whole lot of anything, actually.  I walked across it yesterday and it kept me from falling into the Thames, so I guess it served its purpose.

So, here is a recap from the past 48 hours, since socializing last night was more important than writing:

• I have "Snow White" jotted down and I can't remember why.  Obviously it was from Disneyland Paris, but I'm drawing a blank what it was for.
• I have not yet seen Mary Poppins.  She would have quite a time getting into our room, since we don't have a window for her to fly in through.
• My train trip on Eurostar was pretty awesome.  It showed its record speed of about 207 mph.  We hit about 180 mph for most of the journey from Paris to London.  Nothing in the US comes even close to that.
• The bar here had an (aspiring) DJ a couple nights ago.  He was terrible.  I feel like he thought he was Afrojack, but I am pretty sure I could have done better mixing than he was.  Karaoke was worse, though.
• I remember about Snow White, now.  It was that they have what amounts to the original version of the black-light ride.  I can see how people always thought it was too scary for little kids.
• They have a newer liquor here called Jaegermeister Spice.  It was passingly okay.  I feel like it is meant for people that don't like Jaegermeister, as it wasn't quite as heavy on licorice flavor.

I just realized that I had already written about Snow White.  Now I don't know why I left it in my notes.  This is going to bug me.  Well, I'm not striking anything out, so I guess you've just read that stuff twice over the past few days.

I went to the Tower of London today, and that was pretty cool.  Crowds weren't too thick and weather stayed dry and about 50 degrees F.  I did the Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour.  Our Yeoman was John Donald and he was fantastic.  He has been doing it for just under two years.  I am sure they are all as good as he was, but since I don't know for sure, I would suggest checking to see if he is doing tours the day you go.  There is quite a bit of history surrounding the Tower and it was easy to spend hours out there.

There are a lot of free museums in town, but the Tower of London cost me $35.  I don't want to hear people complain about the prices Disney charges for admission.  I would pay this again though, as I think it was worth it.

I met up with Richard for lunch yesterday.  He was one of my old Vista Way (Disney College Program) roommates from 20 years ago.  He was nice and waited for me to find him as I visited every statue around the Houses of Parliament.  Because he told me to meet him by the statue.  In his defense, he actually was specific about which statue, and I just had forgot until I was running about 25 minutes late.  We went to a pretty good burrito place called Tortilla.  It pretty much appeared to be a Qdoba/ Chipotle ripoff, but was just as tasty.



View from atop The Monument

My day out in town wrapped up with a visit to The Monument to the Great Fire of London.  That is a mouthful, so it appears as The Monument everywhere.  You can actually trek to the top of the thing for some great city views and it was only 4 Pounds (London Eye is about 20 Pounds).  The down side is that it is steps.  I didn't know how many when I started up and there were no signs telling you how fare along you were, but I was beat when I got to the top.  I counted going down, which turned out to not be necessary.  They give you a little "Good Job" certificate informing you that you made it up 311 steps.  That is a lot of steps.

You already know how the rest of the evening went.  We got four new roommates yesterday, two German guys and two Danish girls.  The German guys went to eat at Shake Shack (crazy to think it is in London and they haven't even spread all over the US yet).  The Danish girls invited me with them to the bar here.  We shot some more pool, played foosball and somehow spent a good four hours in there.  Of the eight of us in our room, six of us have a pub crawl tonight.  The German guys are going to see 'Wicked'.  I applaud their thirst for culture.

Until tomorrow then, cheerio.