Day 5, i think.

hold on, let me check my notes.

yes. hello. i keep notes on my iphone, when something occurs to me or i see something interesting, that sort of thing. i then use those notes to compose what you're currently reading and what you will soon be done reading. anyway.

i've sort of run out of interesting things to see or do in London that aren't eye-gougingly expensive or stereotypically touristy. although i'm going to tour Westminster Cathedral tomorrow, so there's that. on the bright side i'm leaving the city on Friday. maybe tomorrow. going to Brighton for the weekend, should be nice. i'm pretty sure they have beaches so i may get lobstery red, and that'll look very odd on me. anyway.

i realized yesterday that i've taken quite a few pictures, but not one of them includes me. so i have actually no proof at all that i've been here. perhaps i'll risk getting my camera stolen and actually exist in a photo for once. dunno.

to everyone who talked me out of wearing my Cons in Europe: thank you so very very much. it still hurts a little to walk, from my "adventure" Monday night, but here's a story: i was riding the tube up to Camden yesterday, and this couple walks on. definitely backpacking around England, these two. he's wearing athletic shoes, Nikes or such, and she's wearing Cons. they get on the tube, sit down, and she immediately takes one of her shoes off to tend her many, many blisters. her feet were bandaged and simply existing was clearly painful to her. so again, everyone who poo-pooed the Cons, thank you.

back to the "tube to Camden" part of the story. went to Camden, met up with Peggy and Babs, friends of friends sort of thing. we went to a restaurant called The Ice Wharf. the place had a dinner special, Steak With A Drink, £6.59. (for those of you who want to know how much that is in "real money", it's about $9.75) so i had salmon, vegetables, chips (french fries), and a beer for dinner. i think it was a good decision.

after dinner we all had another beer, then went to this bar called The Fifty-Five. more expensive drinks, but a fun place. kind of dead, since it was Tuesday, but that's not unexpected. so it was okay. i had a margarita. well, it was trying very hard to be a margarita, but it couldn't quite get it right. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't a real margarita. anyway. tried chatting up the lady bartender, it didn't go well. she introduced me to her fat friend, which i took to be a sign. alas. moving on.

i caught the last tube back to the hostel at just midnight. whoever said London closes early was right. got back to the hostel, then stayed up until 3am talking to whoever was around. fellow hostelers, previous employees of the pub below the hostel, and i had a rather long and diverse conversation with Jose the barman. good times. i slept until noon. not so good times.

today so far: i tried to watch the American football match, at this place called Texas Embassy restaurant, but they were at capacity. Peggy invited me, i guess she thought i'd like to be reminded a bit of home or something. actually, i may go back to Texas Embassy for the food, just to see how authentic it is. as for the game, i heard US won. and that's okay.

after i got shut out of Texas Embassy, i decided to check out Westminster Cathedral. yes, i already said i'm going tomorrow, but bear with me. i went to Westminster, found everything closed except the gift shop. plus i didn't have my camera with me. so tomorrow i'm doing it right. i just need to find some virgins to sacrifice on the altar. that's what they do there, right? eh, bad joke. moving on.

so that's basically that. i'm going to Brighton tomorrow, i've got a hostel reservation for one night, then i'm staying with a friend of my mother's. should be interesting, and hopefully i'll have more internet access, so i can actually tweet and facebook and all that really important stuff that keeps me from living. hooray!