In order to most effectively express the whirlwind that was last weekend, I feel a timetable is an appropriate form of communication.

Friday, November 24, 2006
1:00- finally “bedtime for Bonzo,” as Bonzo had put off packing until then
5:30- alarm went off
6:10- walked toward U3 Neubaugasse to catch the subway to Erdberg
6:30- frantically searched Erdbergstrasse until locating RyanAir shuttle to Bratislava
6:50- bus left for Bratislava
8:20- arrived at Bratislava airport
10:00- flight departed to London Stansted
11:15- arrived in Stansted
11:45- Stansted Express train left for London (English countryside is pretty sweet. I especially liked the cows...or were they horses?)
12:30- arrived at Liverpool Street Station, which is quite lacking in the whole map department
13:00- after a seemingly unnecessarily long orientation time, set off (at what some would say is a “brisk” pace) for Tower of London
13:15- snapped a couple pictures of the fortress. Polynesian man asked me to take a picture of him with Tower Bridge. Apparently accidentally pressing “Mode” messes up some camera functions. Who knew? Also in response to my bewilderment about the peachy blur on the display, Polynesian man kindly explained that I needed to move my finger out of the way of the lens. Clearly I was firing on all cylinders.
13:30- crossed Tower Bridge
13:40- unfortunate episode with the puddle along Thames Path
13:50- visited HMS Belfast, London Bridge (as in “London Bridge is” not “London Bridges”) and Southwark Cathedral
14:00- walked past Shakespeare’s Globe and Tate Modern
14:15- greatly impressed by the London Eye (and the sweet statues guarding County Hall)
14:25- made my way across Westminster Bridge
14:30- visited Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and the general Westminster Abbey area
14:40- strode on to St. James’s Park
14:55- visited Buckingham Palace (Definitely not designed for the in-and-out visitor in mind. Trashy fences without gates.)
15:10- hastened along The Mall
15:25- passed by Duke of York Column and through Admiralty Arch
15:30- missed out on a prime statue photo-op with the lions on Trafalgar Square (At least I got to photograph others enjoying the giant statueness, right?)
15:35- continued along A4 and/or Strand
15:38- started regretting bringing only one pair (blister inducing) shoes
15:40- rain began
15:50- finally decided to break out the umbrella
15:51- rain stopped
15:55- visited St. Paul’s Cathedral
16:00- started heading back toward Liverpool Street Station
16:10- African American man asked me if I worked in this area
16:12- Asian woman asked if I knew where the closest post office was (Clearly I looked like a local.)
16:20- caught Stansted Express back to the airport
17:30- met Melissa for the first time in six months (woo-hoo!)
17:50- slid in to greet (and startle) Joy
18:50- bus to Birmingham left, 20 minutes late. Oh, National Express.
19:30- Joy made the acquaintance of our lovely National Express driver. If there only had been an “accident.”
22:00- arrived at Digbeth coach station, 20 minutes early (Clearly all the traffic laws were obeyed by said driver.)
22:30- checked into Birmingham Central Backpackers hostel (sparkly purple bathroom decor, anyone?) and hopped into bed for the night.

(Because this is bordering on tedium, I’m going to switch over to narrative for a bit.)

Saturday was the big day as we were planning on visiting Cadbury World. There was a moment of crisis when we were told that we had to have reservations before we could get a train ticket, but no worries, we beat the system. The word that best describes Cadbury World? I’d say “magical.” From the company propaganda to the Cadbury Dance Dance Revolution, this was a one-of-a-kind experience. Another one-of-a-kind of experience was had later that night when we wandered into a Congolese wedding at St. Martin’s Church. The rest of the time was spent shopping (scorpion lollipop, anyone?)/eating/watching movies until...

Sunday, November 23, 2006
0:30- returned to Digbeth coach station to catch National Express back to Stansted
0:30-2:00- friendly French émigré (okay, she didn’t leave because of political reasons, but it is of the language) told me her life story. It was quite interesting; I’m only afraid that the rest of the bus was trying to get some shut-eye.
4:30- arrived at Stansted
6:25- plane took off
9:35- arrived in Bratislava
9:45- attempted to rid myself of my last SKKs. Hawaii toast and hot chocolate, a winning combination.
10:30- shuttle left
11:45- arrived back in Vienna
12:15- arrived back home

My body was screaming for sleep, but sleep I could not. Trashy hot chocolate. It’s all right, though. Rest is negligible with such a weekend.

Come on, you know something’s important when it has its own train station.

Interested in more pictures? Check out the England album.