London

After the overnight boat ride across the North Sea, the group arrived in London at the Paddington Underground Station during the afternoon. The London Underground, also known as the Tube, proved to be the cheapest and fastest way around the city. The five of us ate dinner at a nearby pub, where we met up with Goldscher, a friend from high school. The food was actually very good. Later, we went out to the Picadilly Circus area and roamed from bar to bar. We actually met some girls that study at the University of Maryland, which was pretty random but cool.

On Sunday, we walked through Hyde Park. Hyde Park is the most amazing park I have ever seen. In my opinion, it kills Central Park. Below are some pictures of Hyde Park:

Another reason we walked through Hyde Park was to find tickets to the concert that night. The concert venue, named Hyde Park Calling, hosted one of the two Live 8 Concerts, along with over a million spectators that witnessed it. We finally found the concert venue around 5pm. We found a few girls who were selling their extra tickets back, but we didn’t have any cash. They gave us five minutes to get some cash so Brett and I ran to the nearest ATM, which was far off in the Hyde Park Corner Underground Station. We came back around 15 minutes later and luckily they were still waiting for us (although we figured they wouldn’t strand us because they wanted money). The band Jet started about 10 minutes after we bought drinks and claimed our place in the crowd. They were amazing during their 90 minutes on stage, but there was much more to come. Next was Audioslave, who was also good. The grand 90 minute finale was Aerosmith. Their music, especially the song “Love in an Elevator,” captured me. Run D.M.C. came out on stage to perform the encore, “Walk this Way,” with Aerosmith. The concert was unbelievable. Below is a concert advertisement that I found on Google:

On the third day, I went on a computer science field trip to Bletchley Park. The location was just over an hour away. Bletchley Park hosted American and British scientists who cracked strategic German military codes during World War II. The site was very interesting. At night, we met with Goldscher and another high school friend named Carie. We went out to the Roadhouse Bar, which was American-themed. The bar/club was actually very nice, along with the live music.

Tuesday, I attended some personal business. I returned to the hospital I was born, named Wellington Humana Hospital in the St. John’s Wood area. Next, I visited my former house between the Maida Vale and Warwick Avenue Underground Stations on the Bakerloo Line. It was located on Sutherland Avenue. Interestingly, when we lived there, Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Hackman were our next door neighbors. Afterwards, I met up with the other guys and we visited the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge. The surrounding area was very nice. The Tower Bridge is amazing.

The London Bridge, on the other hand, is very boring. I thought it was supposed to be iconic. We attempted to see the British War Museum, but they closed early that particular day. Again, we met with Carie and Goldscher and went out to the Sports Café, a popular two-story pool bar. It was college night and pints of beer were only one pound.

For our last day, I unsuccessfully searched for “The Who” concert tickets. I was very disappointed due to the fact that “The Who” is one of my favorite rock bands. Afterwards, we visited the British War Museum, this time successfully. It was very interesting and authentic. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel for the Eurotour reception to commemorate the last night.