previously on my story..

Greetings from Holland. Sorry it's been a whle, with traveling and getting settled in here, and the hassle of not having a computer with me.. sigh--woe is me.

So, where was I? Oh, that's right--Trafalgar Square. For those of you who don't know what that is, basically it's the Times Square of London.. it has the big lion statues that you see in movies and pictures, and at the back of it, is the National Gallery, which is an impressive domed building with stairs that are almost as impressive as ours on the Philadelphia Art Museum, but not quite.

Anyway, the day I was hiking all over Westminster and Whitehall, was my only day of consistent sunshine, and while nice for catching a concert in a garden--it wasn't really conducive for my hike, and by the time I got to the square, I was ready to rest again. (my need to rest always increased exponentially throughout the day as my backpack grew heavier and heavier--we won't comment on whether that was because I was getting tired or buying books). So when I arrived in Trafalgar Square, it was less impressive than usual, since they had a lot set up for a festival--jumbo screen announcing that they'll be televising the Olympics.. fences, sound equipment, etc. So I headed to a fountain, trying to circumvent the group of mischievious children that were ahead of me. I found a spot to sit, just clear of the spray of the fountain, so every now and then I got a refreshing sprinkle. Many people had put their feet in the fountain...a tempting thought.

Well, no sooner had I pulled out my tour book to find out about the buildings I had just passed, than the rambunctious children found me and proceeded to climb on the fountain in all the available space around the foot square space I was taking up. Squirming, shouting, squealing children. Who of course, got in the fountain.. and even though I was hot and tired and getting annoyed--their joy won me over, and before I knew it, I was lending a hand to them so they didn't fall in, laughing at one of their number who slipped and managed to get wet from the waist down and just joining in to the spirit of the day.

Shortly after they left.. I took my shoes and socks off and turned around and placed my feet in the exceedingly cold water.. ahhhhhhh. It was heavenly to sit there, soaking my very sore feet.

I dried off the best I could and meandered my way back to the hostel. On the way I "got a curry" which is British for going out for Indian food. I had passed this place ealier in my travels and it looked good. It was posher than I thought it was, so I felt a little conspicuous eating by myself--but the food was super good.

My last day was spent seeing the London Eye (a really really big "observation wheel" that looks like a ferris wheel but goes slower) and visiting the tower of London--which was so cool. I mean, where can you find a place that has served as a palace, a fortress, an armory, a prison and a place of execution? I even got the audio guide that told me where to go and told me all kinds of stories of the most famous of prisoners. It's funny--the rooms they held the prisoners in don't look a whole lot like prison cells now--but there's still etching on the walls as traitors waited their day of reckoning. I visited the site of Anne Boleyn's execution (and listened to her farewell speech on the headset, which is enough to break your heart) and then across the courtyard is the chapel where she's buried. I was amazed that although there country had dubbed them traitors, the church still took care of their mortal remains, and buried them respectably.

There have been times when I've thought that I was born a hundred or so years too late (mainly when I see chivalry at its best and some of the really amazing clothes people wore) but I couldn't help be thankful, as I walked through this place that had had such a turbulant history that I live when I do--and in a land that, though people may get upset over the government, the leaders aren't allowed to arbitrarily send people to lose their heads.