Fun (?) time in London!
Feb. 25th, 2008 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marciadanielleAnother update! I figure one more before I'm home, which is in two days. :( But it will be nice to be home again (and for everything to stop costing so much!!)
London has pretty much been good. There was an incident Saturday night that sort of soured it for me, but in the long run it's not that big of a deal.
London has pretty much been good. There was an incident Saturday night that sort of soured it for me, but in the long run it's not that big of a deal.
So Friday evening I met a friend from high school, Zuzanna. She's living here, working (she's an investment banker - which is crazy, to me anyways!) so we met to catch up. We had a drink at a pub near Leicester Square, then we met a friend of hers and ended up going to see a movie (My Blueberry Nights - which was okay, a bit too weird for me) and then we wandered around Covent Garden trying to find a place to eat, but to no avail. But it was great seeing Zuzanna and catching up with her!
Saturday I slept in, then during the day Hilary and I walked to the grocery store (which is a looong walk, but good exercise!) and bought some groceries and stuff for dinner. Then I took a nap, bummed around the house, ate dinner, then we went to Covent Garden to meet friends of hers and have drinks (it was someone's birthday). Which was fun. Hilary and I split a bottle of wine. I got a bit tipsy, it was good. However, when we decided to leave, I needed to get more money and we passed a bank machine so I stopped and got out money. And then I got scammed and my bank card got stolen and I lost some money.
The scam was some guy threw down a £10 note and had seen my pin (apparently I wasn't careful enough about hiding it), and then asked me if I lost the £10, I said no, but I bent down to pick it up and he took my bank card. I couldn't figure out where my card was, I thought the machine had swallowed it, but then the people standing behind me figured out what happened. So I called the bank and cancelled the card and put a message through to their fraud department. But not before the guy who stole it took out £140 from my account. And so that kind of put a damper on my night. I just can't believe I fell for that and that it got stolen. Bah! I may get the money back eventually from the Royal Bank, but who knows.
And yes, there are a lot worse things that could have happened. I could have been mugged (which would be a lot more tramautizing) or lost my entire wallet or something, but it still sucks. I'm mad at myself for not being more careful. In the long run though, it's fine, it's only money and I may even get it back.
So that was my excitement for Saturday. Sunday I woke up late, and went to the Tower of London. I walked around there, saw the Crown Jewels, then walked along the Thames for a bit and took some pictures. Then I made my way up to Westminster, saw Big Ben and the House of Parliament and the London Eye, took more pictures. Walked along around Wesminster Abbey then up through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace (and yes, stopping along the way for pictures) then over to Victoria station and then made my way back to HIlary's. But it was a long day (well tiring day from all the walking). Then ate dinner and read a bit.
Today I went to the National Portrait Gallery to see a special exhibit (Vanity Fair) and tonight I'm going to see Avenue Q (yay!!) Tomorrow I'm going to go shopping (I need to still buy presents for people) and then at night I'm going out for dinner with Hilary and her friend Astha (who I've met before - and have seen twice this trip already). Then Wednesday, home!
I'm sad to be done my vacation, and I really do love it in London, but everything is so expensive. The movie the other night cost £10, that's $20 just to see a movie. And that's cheap, in Leicester Square the movies are £12.15, that's almost $25...just for your admission...it's max $12 at home. Crazy. So it will be nice to be home where things don't cost so much and where I don't need to spend as much money! Now it's time to start saving for a place of my own!
Cheers!
Saturday I slept in, then during the day Hilary and I walked to the grocery store (which is a looong walk, but good exercise!) and bought some groceries and stuff for dinner. Then I took a nap, bummed around the house, ate dinner, then we went to Covent Garden to meet friends of hers and have drinks (it was someone's birthday). Which was fun. Hilary and I split a bottle of wine. I got a bit tipsy, it was good. However, when we decided to leave, I needed to get more money and we passed a bank machine so I stopped and got out money. And then I got scammed and my bank card got stolen and I lost some money.
The scam was some guy threw down a £10 note and had seen my pin (apparently I wasn't careful enough about hiding it), and then asked me if I lost the £10, I said no, but I bent down to pick it up and he took my bank card. I couldn't figure out where my card was, I thought the machine had swallowed it, but then the people standing behind me figured out what happened. So I called the bank and cancelled the card and put a message through to their fraud department. But not before the guy who stole it took out £140 from my account. And so that kind of put a damper on my night. I just can't believe I fell for that and that it got stolen. Bah! I may get the money back eventually from the Royal Bank, but who knows.
And yes, there are a lot worse things that could have happened. I could have been mugged (which would be a lot more tramautizing) or lost my entire wallet or something, but it still sucks. I'm mad at myself for not being more careful. In the long run though, it's fine, it's only money and I may even get it back.
So that was my excitement for Saturday. Sunday I woke up late, and went to the Tower of London. I walked around there, saw the Crown Jewels, then walked along the Thames for a bit and took some pictures. Then I made my way up to Westminster, saw Big Ben and the House of Parliament and the London Eye, took more pictures. Walked along around Wesminster Abbey then up through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace (and yes, stopping along the way for pictures) then over to Victoria station and then made my way back to HIlary's. But it was a long day (well tiring day from all the walking). Then ate dinner and read a bit.
Today I went to the National Portrait Gallery to see a special exhibit (Vanity Fair) and tonight I'm going to see Avenue Q (yay!!) Tomorrow I'm going to go shopping (I need to still buy presents for people) and then at night I'm going out for dinner with Hilary and her friend Astha (who I've met before - and have seen twice this trip already). Then Wednesday, home!
I'm sad to be done my vacation, and I really do love it in London, but everything is so expensive. The movie the other night cost £10, that's $20 just to see a movie. And that's cheap, in Leicester Square the movies are £12.15, that's almost $25...just for your admission...it's max $12 at home. Crazy. So it will be nice to be home where things don't cost so much and where I don't need to spend as much money! Now it's time to start saving for a place of my own!
Cheers!
