just touched down in london town

Hey all--

this is going to be a be short entry, but I have a little time while I wait for my slow friends to get ready to go out today.

I'm in London! I'm visiting a friend Madison who's studying here and another friend who is here visiting on Spring Break. You know what I was thinking though... I really can't believe my month. Austria, Barcelona, London, and next week Cordoba and Seville. Next year when I am feeling overloaded and stressed and depressed by the sucky Wisconsin weather, I'll just have to think back and remember that just in this one month, I've had enough vacation to last me at LEAST a whole year. (But let's be real, its probably going to have to last me about 30 years until I can afford and have time for another trip like this).

London is another very cool place. I am staying at a great hostel (for 15 pounds a night) in the "Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea." I've seen some numerous Bentley's and Rolls Royces and we're amongst numerous embassies. (The Embassy of the Netherlands WOULD have a huge bike rack out front). There are shops ranging from H & M to Mossimo Dutti to Herrods department store to Gucci and Burberry.

Another thing about London and Europe in general-- the architecture and just the spacial construction. I'm not sure if that's the right word to use, but what I mean is that everything here makes you want to stroll down the street or sit down on a bench or eat at an outdoor cafe. Let's think about the US for a minute. You drive to Target (no offense Alicia). You park your car among 100s of others, walk over the cement to the enterence. The layout of the store is expansive and spacious. Next door is a Sentry Foods and some other retail stores. On your way home you notice some stop lights, fields, highways, house or two in the distance.

What happened to city centers? Square blocks? Sure, we have more space in the US, but why does that mean that we have to spread everything out more? Did planners ever realize that making buildings look like huge warehouses might be ugly and boring? Just a thought... Just think about how much more asthetically pleasing it would be to go grocery shopping or to target or wal-mart if all our buildings didn't look like brick cubes surrounded by an endless sea of asphalt.

Well I'm off to see the sights today!

Hasta LUEGOO!