Another Celebrity Sighting

I don't know what it is with London, but there seem to be a lot of celebrities around. Prior to coming here I had never seen a celebrity, but I have now seen two. Last week I stumbled upon 50 Cent's movie premiere in Leicester Square. I hung around for a few minutes to get a picture of him. It was loud with many people screaming frantically. "Phiddy!" "Fiddy!" "Fifty!"

On Tuesday I was venturing out of one of those crappy grocery stores and I stepped aside for a man coming into the store. He looked up at me, and naturally, I looked down at him, and the man just happened to be Patrick Stewart...a.k.a....Professor X, Captain Picard...and some other famous roles. Anyway, he looked like he just got spotted because he caught sight of my double take, but he was safe. I didn't say anything. I know if I had to sport a hat everywhere with the collar popped on a coat to hide myself I would really appreciate my privacy. However, that did not stop me from looking back a couple times to see if it was really him...and it was.

Tomorrow I am taking a trip to Stratford -On-Avon. It should be Shakespeare and all that, but I just have to get up early again...dang it. I got a tour of Westminster Abbey yesterday and in one corner of the Abbey I walked over the burial places of Dickens, Kipling, and Handel. I don't really get a kick out of walking over dead people, but it was interesting to find out who is buried in the Abbey. Oh, interestingly enough, King Edward I, from Braveheart, is buried within one of the most sacred parts of the Abbey. Apparently, Edward I had a soft side (I don't believe that really) that is most definitely not shown in the depiction of him in Braveheart. This was all new to me because I don't know much about the royal history of Great Britain.

Anyway...I am spending most of today at my internship at a publishing company. It's pretty fun so far, but it took me an hour and 20 minutes to get here this morning. I wish it was a bit closer by Tube, but I don't mind it. Actually, I am there right now, but the guy that I am working with today is still on his lunch break. I hope that I can write maybe 2 or 3 of these a week instead of writing the same email 20 times, or writing out mass emails. I definitely prefer this method.

Soloist

Okay, now that I have the blog specifics worked out I can write a little something. I spent the majority of my time this weekend seeing different sites throughout London by myself. I tend to enjoy my own company, but even more so when I am somewhere completely new. This may sound mean, but when I am alone I don't have to deal with other people slowing me down. I essentially don't trust those with me that they will want to do the same thing I want to do. When they aren't there the problem is gone. Excellent. Now...where were we?

I took a long stroll through Hyde Park on Saturday. It was a sunny day, but still a cold one. I sat on a bench and wrote some. After a while I walked toward Kensington Palace...took a look around...and then I made the horrible decision of walking over to Harrod's. That place sucks. I walked about 100 yards of the store and it was, up to this point in my life, the culmination of all that I hate about shopping: hundreds of people, many displays, a very large concentration of short people who walk slowly to begin with; and even more slowly when shopping, expensive things, ridiculous advertisements, and a lot of "oh my God that guy is tall" stares.

A thing to mention about cars in some areas of London. Because I see so many Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls Royce, and other incredibly expensive cars they no longer have the same impact on me as if I were seeing them in the streets. On my trip to Harrod's I saw at least 5 of each of those brands of cars among many others. A 360 Modena was parked in a line of cars on Hyde Park like it was just another automobile. I truly turned around five times after I passed it to make sure it was still there. Incredible.

Sunday...went to Trafalgar Square and I whisked through the National Gallery taking in all the paintings that were marked on the map as "Highlight Paintings". One of which was Van Gogh's Sunflowers. I then walked to Westminster Abbey for a free organ recital. Wow, that was loud. On the way over I snapped this shot of Parliament and the Clock Tower. Many people refer to it as Big Ben, but that is only the name of the bell inside, but it's the name that stuck for many tourists and I believe for most of the British.

Oh, I know why people can't cook very well over here...the grocery stores suck. In central London you have two really crappy grocery chains...Tesco and Sainsburys, neither of which have any sort of variety. Wonderful. That is all for now.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new PICCADILLY LINE. I left out a C on the old one and I couldn't live with myself without changing it. So, here it's. The new shady record of some of my time in London.