England

Ran into the Dutch couple here at The Generator this evening, so I went to the bar and shared a few drinks with them. Now, I've been to plenty of hostel bars on my trip, so I kinda know what to expect these days — but the Generator bar surprised and disappointed me. Not your usual friendly crowd at all. Unlike all the "gringo bars" down in South America, this place is more like being back home in Sydney: that is, clicky and unfriendly. None of the usual "hey dude, where you from" greetings — in this place, you stick with your little group, or you get out. Plus, the music and the DJ'ing were up s$%# creek. And the drinks were hardly the cheapest I've ever slurped on this trip. I hope that this isn't how all hostels in Europe are: if it is, then Europe is going to really, seriously suck.

I'd just finished my tour of London this evening, and I was wandering around Leicester Square, when I noticed a big throng of people near one of the cinemas. I went to investigate, and it turned out that the red carpet was rolled out, in anticipation of no lesser stars than Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush (two of the biggest Aussie names in the world): they were coming here, for the UK premiere of their new movie, Elizabeth: The Golden Age! Cate didn't come very close to the crowds; but Geoffrey came right up to where I was standing, and signed autographs — so I got some good shots of him. Check it out.

This young couple from Holland were two of the people that tried to come on the tour this morning — they ended up bailing out, and doing a bus tour instead. They're staying here at The Generator, on a short trip from home for a week. Very strange set-up that they have: they're best friends, but strictly not boyfriend and girlfriend; they have a private room here in the hostel, but with two single beds! Anyway, they're very friendly, and wish they could be travelling longer.

My hostel, The Generator, advertises a free tour of London, that's meant to leave from the hostel's reception at 10am daily. This morning, seven of us (including myself) turned up at 10am for the tour: we waited for about 45 minutes, but no tourguide showed up! Kwap. Apparently, the tour actually leaves from Monument tube station, further downtown; but someone is meant to come to the hostel, and take the daily Generator group down to this station. Whoever was meant to do this today, they clearly shirked out on their responsibility. We finally gave up, and went to Monument station ourselves — but by the time we arrived, the tour groups had already left. So it was time for a day's guide-yer-bloody-self tour of London.

This lovely Canadian couple are, they claim, from the French-speaking park of Ottawa. They've just finished a few weeks down in Portugal (which they report as being cheap and sunny — not a bad combo), and are now on their way back home. I did some touring around London with them today, to enjoy the sights and the sun of the city while they lasted.

It's not much, but it's about all that England has to offer the world, as far as culinary delights go. And as with a cuppa tea, no visit here would be complete without at least one serving of Fish 'n' Chips. Deep fried. Smothered in vinegar. And served for take-away in a white cardboard box. Almost makes me feel like I'm back home in Oz. Except that the guy cooking it was a Pakkie, instead of a Greek.

Shouldn't that be Cup Of Tea? You can forgive me (I hope) for failing to visit the 'ol Bird (aka Her Majesty) on me first day in London; but missing a cuppa — well, that would be a travesty beyond repent. Fortunately, I did manage to fit in a cuppa today, and I must say it was the best one I've had in a while. They give you milk without you asking. They use real tealeaves. And they serve it on a delicate little saucer, to make even the least snobby of us proud. Nothing like good English tea.

One of the really fun things about travelling in dodgy, economically-mismanaged Latin America is the value for money. Although the mathematics are slightly different wherever you go — in Peru, you divide the local price by 3 to get the dollar price; in Mexico, you divide by 10; and in inflation-scarred Chile, you divide by 500 — in every country, the local currencies are weak, and there's always division involved. Suddenly, now that I'm in Europe, it's reverse mathematics — all the local currencies here (with "all" being the Euro, almost everwhere) are stronger than the dollar; and instead of dividing local prices, I'm multiplying them! Eek!

Well, old chaps, I'm going to commence my British Blogging in a decidedly, well, English way: by moaning about the weather. It seems that every person I've ever met in my life, who's been to England, was 100% right: the weather really is s$%# here. And no, that garbled 4-letter sequence does not translate to "spantabulous"; guess again. Today's weather in London is about as English as any weather I could imagine: cold, overcast, drizzly, and unbelievably gloomy. I guess that's why the Chili Peppers sing about London in the summer time; because now that it's Autumn, there's nothing to sing about at all. Nevertheless, it's still good to be here.

I was rather silly today, for my first day in England: I arrived at The Generator at about 7am this morning; and once there, I promptly went to bed. "I'll just have a nap for a few hours", I told myself, "my alarm's set for 10am". Big mistake! My alarm didn't wake me, of course; and when next I woke, I discovered that it was 2 in the afternoon. Oh s$%# — perfect recipe for jetlag. Should have kept myself awake all day today, and crashed in the evening. I guess that being in The Americas for so long has made me forget about jetlag, as it's been a while since I had significant time zone differences to cope with. I can only hope that it will only take me a few days to recover from my mistake, and to adjust to GMT.