A "Wicked Ole Time"

Today is the day we kick it into high gear. Ready to see the sights, experience London, and live life we leave our hostel with only a map and each other.
First, the gruesome and bloody Tower of London. Known as the site of famous executions of prominent men and women such as Sir Thomas More and Queen Elizabeth I, the Tower is one of many Royal castles around Britain. We took a guided tour throughout the castle walls listening to tales of old London during the times of the Tower, happy and tragic.

Following our time at the Tower, we grabbed a sandwich down by the river. It turned out to be on bread with an outside texture of a rock, but turned out to be delicious.

We followed a tip given by our tour guide to check out an evening walking tour just north of the Tower of London about Jack the Ripper, the notorious 1888 London serial killer. This was a creepy, but awesome tour along the sites in White Chapel, London of all the murders. It was given by a friend our previous guide for seven pounds for two and a half hours! At first we were hesitant but afterwards we are convinced that it was a seven pound story.

Alright, here are some of the hidden things we stumbled upon during our day.

1. A THOUSAND cocktail parties, It seems that part of the culture here is to get off work and while still wearing your suit head to a pub on the way home and "have a pint" as they say here. It's incredible still being in a nation very similar to our own and being shocked by little things like this normal day in the life of a Londoner. Maybe it is just a midwest thing but we either look incredibly like Americans (most likely in our polos/tshirts/shorts/tennis shoes) or it is just the nature of large cities to always dress up. Brett says every girl looks like they could be on the top fashion magazine "because with their clothes, every girl is trying to make a fashion statement."

2. Harry Potter fans eat your heart out! While walking the streets of London just north of the Thames river we found the filming site of Diagon Alley, where Harry Potter bought his first wand!

3. Just beyond the set of Harry Potter we walked by the secret meeting place where Marx and Engels met to write Das Capital and other famous anti-capitalist works! Ok, John is probably the only one who cared about this at all (silly political science majors).

4. After the sun set we figured out the London Underground system and traveled to the South Bank of London to the London Eye. It was a bummer though because the Eye was closed. The good news is that we have great pictures of the Houses of Parliament at night.

The South Bank area turned out to be pretty hip so we hung around for a while. Tomorrow we will go back but today we decided to walk down to the pier. If you have not caught on yet, we probably walked about 37 miles today so on that note, we are off the "Chill Room" at our hostel to relax and meet people from around the world. After all, we are just Three Men on One Summer Abroad.

London Bridges

Leaving Rome was an interesting trip. After dropping off our bags at the university in Rome we caught the Metro to Ciampino, Italy then a shuttle to the Ciampino Hotel...well, not really to the hotel because when the driver dropped us off he pointed in some vague direction and told us the hotel was just around the corner. So, off we went, packs and all, hiking with hopes of seeing our hotel sometime soon before we dried up in the heat like the grapes in the vineyards guarding the roads of Italy. Two times we stopped to ask for directions. Our Italian is by no means great, but I think we may be getting better! Once in the Hotel, we all essentially passed out from exhaustion and jet lag. Yet before we called it a night and while the sun was setting we all shared a bottle of red wine to celebrate our safe arrival in Italy.

The next morning we took a cab at 5:15. for a 5 minute ride to the airport he charged us 20 Euro. What a rip-off! But it got us there when the shuttle was not running so we cannot complain too much.

Admittedly, we were a bit worried about our less than $100 dollar Ryan Air flight to London early that morning. However, it was pretty decent for the price. It reminded us of a Southwest flight marinated in a pool of capitalism. They tried to sell us everything from bottled carbonated water to European lottery tickets! After landing safely it was a relief to be able to ask for directions to the St. Christopher's Village Hostel without having to ask if they spoke English. Well, English in Britain is not exactly what you would expect. More of our adventures in London to come soon!

When in Rome...

Good news! Brett and John met up safely with Ryan (who was not wearing a k-state proud shirt but did have a sign made of paper) in Rome. Once John arrived the two spent the evening walking along the streets of Rome and seeing the sights. It was a leisurely walk because both had spent a bit of time in Rome before so they simply enjoyed the evening.


Later that evening, Ryan and John briefly met their first "character" of this trip. Alex, a Canadian girl about their age was traveling Italy on a whim with her girl friend. They had no plans for stay at night nor were they concerned about where the wind blew them the next day. Sounds like they are living the good life! It would be incredible to cast you worries to the wind and solely focus on gaining new experiences to enhance life. However, we like our plans. We have assured a place to stay for the next 16 days in 3 different countries until we arrive in Florence, Italy at our apartment. What we do during the days are still fairly left up in the air for debate but we for sure will get the most out of our experience.

The next morning Brett arrived through the gate after a 24 hour layover in Toronto with a bright red CANADA hat on. Priceless! We then took him to the best pizza joint near our hostel then we found our way to the Rome branch of our university to drop off our big bags. This was a long HIKE.

What's worse than hiking through the narrow, hilly streets of Rome? How about London while the subway system is on STRIKE! More to come soon...

T minus one day...

Tonight is our last night in the States.

Well, for Brett and I that is the case. Ryan is already in Rome waiting for us to arrive. Tomorrow at 5:30 Brett and John fly from MCI in Kansas City to Canada. From there we split up. I hope this is not telling of what is to come! John flies to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Rome. It's pretty much going to be the longest day ever. During that time, Brett will be chilling in Canada for a WHOLE DAY before his connecting flight straight to Rome leaves.

Hopefully, I (John) will exit my plane in Rome to find Ryan waiting for me at the gate. It really would make my day if he were in a suit with a dry erase board with my name on it like they do in the movies (if you're reading this Ryan, see what you can do). For some reason I expect a K-State PROUD shirt and a huge grin. That will do for me.

That night we will find a hostel and see the sites for a bit. I have been to Rome before so it will be great to see my favorites from the last trip with Ryan. The next morning we will pick Brett up from the airport and then head out for the day. I'll be honest, we are not too certain where we are staying that night (Moms, don't worry... we will work it all out). Luckily, the rest of the trip is well planned out.

Tonight is our last night of certainty.

It has the feel of closing our eyes as we cannon ball off the high dive on your very first entry into a pool. It is the unknown and the unexpected. We, three juniors in college are about to take the trip of a lifetime! I sit here anxious, thrilled, and nervous. It reminds me of the 2007 film Into the Wild where an Emory graduate decides to break away from society and "go north" on an adventure. While we are not as divested from mainstream culture as he, I wholly agree with the main character's belief that "the core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences." These next few weeks will be full of new and exciting experiences and we all hope they will renew, refresh, and build upon the core of these three men, during one summer abroad.

Looking Forward,

Three Men, One Summer Abroad