The Frat House

Remember the frat house atmosphere I spoke of. Well, it was in my dorm room last night. The previously mentioned Aussie couples had left. One Aussie couple had replace them but when I got back last night, there were packs galore throughout the room. I'm usually the first one bedded down for the night and last night was no different. In fact I think I was really asleep when 'the boys' got in. One of them try to whisper something to the effect that someone was asleep but to no avail. I didn't bother introducing myself or trying to join in the conversation. I thought my best defense was to play 'possum. Joining the conversation would never have been an option anyway. For one thing, even though I had been spending more than a little time with the Aussies, I didn't catch a lot of what these guys were saying and frankly, I wasn't really trying to because the parts I did understand, well, these were 20 something guys, a few drinks in 'em (they really didn't seem drunk), away from home. . .use your imagination. I didn't need to! At last, in the middle of one descriptive escapade, snoring could be heard from one of the bunks. This stunned the speaker for a moment but then seemed to have had a sedative effect on the others because everyone shut up and for the first time I was glad to have had a snorer in the room. About 15 minutes after they all had passed out, the other Aussie couple, Darcy and whatshisname, came in quite as mice. They were cool but I wish they had bee there when the boys showed up. Darcy's presence might have shut 'em up a bit. Lucky for me, I was leaving in the morning so I beat feet out of there quick as I could this morning. I've still got to hang around London for a few more days until I get my passport back but when I booked that place they were booked for part of the time I wanted to stay. The new place is a single sex dorm room so it worked out well, finally.

Once I got the sleeping arrangements made my day was free so I headed back to Buckingham Palace to at last see the Changing of the Guard. It was as big a deal as I thought it would be but there's a brass band concert during the pomp and ceremony. Today's selection included the Star Wars theme. Honest! A real fun part of the event was the conversation I had with the Dutch woman standing next to me. She's traveled here quite a bit and was probably one of the best tourist info points I've found in London! I have been trying to get info on getting across the channel. I don't want to take the Chunnel. A)it's pricey B) they recently had a fire and are not up to full capacity C)it doesn't take me to Belgium and D)I like boats better. The Dutch lady was the first one to give me info on catching the ferry!

The rest of the day was a long stroll through and picnic in Hyde Park because as rainy as yesterday was-that's how sunny it was today!

This is pretty cheap internet so I might be able to go daily until I leave London so maybe more tomorrow!