Who Needs Sleep?

I did the requisite sightseeing around London in the Westminster area and hit up the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret’s Church, and Buckingham Palace. I was going to go into the Houses of Parliament but the wait was way too long so I just took a few pictures from the outside. I was able to enter Westminster Abbey for free because it was during a service, and I went in through a separate entrance. I was only allowed to view a part of the cathedral but I was able to get the jist of it – altar, pews, stained glass windows, etc. I took a few pictures of the palace also, which doesn’t open to the public except for in August and September for certain areas. The flag was flying high, which meant the queen was actually present in the palace but I didn’t get a glimpse of her. I’d been emailing back and forth with Tracy, a friend from England I met in Australia, and we met up for coffee after. It was fun to see her again and chat with someone familiar for a while.

I left for Oxford the next day and I was so happy to get out of my hostel in London. The room I was in was tiny with six of us crammed in there. There wasn’t even enough space for two people to stand and talk between the beds. My roommates were also crazy. It was like they went on the street and found the strangest people they could and asked them, “Would you like to be Jenn’s roommate?” One girl from Spain non-stop talked to me and asked me 10 million questions about America. I barely ever had my jacket off before she’d unleash a barrage of questions. She even asked me if I could get her a job at the bar I used to work at and yes, she was serious. She also advised me to find a husband as soon as I could so I could stop working and let him support me. Was she from the 1950’s? I felt bad for her because she was really sick at the time – like 19th century consumption sick with red rings around her eyes and sallow, sweaty skin – but I tried to avoid her as much as possible because I didn’t want to catch anything or answer any more questions. My room was also above a bar that blasted music that shook the floor and a busy southeast London street was right outside my window. Needless to say, the hostel wasn’t very conducive to sleep. I’d barely slept over the past week because before that my roommate in Brighton was a hardcore Mac truck snorer. Trying to sleep was futile once he came home. I’ve never met anyone who snored on the breath in and the breath out, and who snored whether they were laying on their back or side. It was unreal.

I had a fit when I went to get the bus times to Oxford. I had bought a Brit Xplorer pass for 219pounds so I could hop on any National Express bus to virtually anywhere – apparently anywhere but Oxford, one of the biggest tourist destinations in England. I had to fork over another 13pounds just for a one-way ticket to Oxford. I would have just said, “Forget it” but I had already booked my hostel in Oxford and it was too late to cancel. I was so mad. You’d think National Express could work some deal going to Oxford that’s covered by the Xplorer pass. 219pounds isn’t pocket change, and I should be able to go anywhere in England. Just to make sure, I checked my other probable destinations to see if National Express runs services – looks like I’m not going to Windsor anymore.

I spent the day ambling around the town of Oxford taking in the quaint nature of the town. It wasn’t a terribly exciting day, but it was an exhausting night. I was staying in a dorm with 15 people and I ended up with the bed next to the door. People were constantly walking in and out so it was hard to sleep. After a bit of dozing, I woke up to the sound of someone peeing. Yup, one of my totally drunken roommates decided he was above going to the bathroom and just peed in the middle of the floor of the dorm. He actually peed on my other roommate’s boots – she was furious. I would’ve been as well.

The next day, totally exhausted, I headed to Bath. I was going to take a nap before heading out for some sightseeing, but I thought if I did that I might never make it out so I went to check out the famous Roman Baths and took a guided tour around the area. The baths were actually really interesting and what’s fascinating is that they still work how the Romans intended, which really testifies to their architectural genius. That night I went to bed early, before any of my roommates came home, and I finally got a full night’s sleep.

National Express’s other little ploy is to charge 1.50pounds to make a reservation on a bus. I think paying 219pounds should be enough to warrant a reserved seat, but apparently not. I refuse to pay any extra money so usually I just show up for buses, running the risk of being shut out, which happened in Bath. I showed up to take the 10am bus back to London, but the whole bus was booked out by school groups, and I had to wait to take the 12pm bus, which thankfully had plenty of open seats.

I made it back to London, went to the hostel I’d been staying at to pick up my luggage, and then made my way to Shoreditch where I’m staying with a friend of a friend for a few days. It’s really nice to be staying in someone’s apartment and not in a hostel for a change. I can actually sleep without people snoring and climbing over me on their way into the room.

I met Sam, who is in London on a school trip, on Sunday. I was late meeting her because I got lost on the way to the subway, and I had underestimated the time it would take to get to her hotel. It took me over an hour because I got off a stop early on the tube because I wasn’t sure where the hotel was and I ended up going to the wrong Holiday Inn. But I got there, and Sam and I spent a little time catching up. No matter how much time passes between seeing family and friends, once you do see each other again, it’s like there never was any time in between. I felt like I had just seen her yesterday.