Today was an experience

Well what an amazing day I had today!  It started pretty early as I was so tired last night and ended up heading to bed at 9 pm so was ready to start my day at about 4:30 am this morning haha.  So I tried to lay quiet until it was a respectable time to move around my hostel room as quietly as possible.

I was down in the pub (which is like a common room for our hostel) first thing at 7 to greet the free breakfast.  Nothing fancy but enough to fill you.
I decided to head out for a walking tour so had a 25 minute walk to get to where it was starting.  Had a great guide named Thomas and he showed us around to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, Hyde park corner, Nelsons Column, Trafalgar square, Wellington Arch, Horse guards, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and many more places.  From there we all met up at a pub for lunch.  Two other people I met at the tour, both Canadians, one from Edmonton and one from Vancouver we decided to continue on together for the afternoon to London Tower.  It was stupid pricey to go in so we just saw from the outside and it was beautiful!!  We went to 3 markets down by the River Thames, walked the Millennium Bridge.  I navigated the tube train station and the buses.....thank goodness for having help the first time I did that because overwhelming was an understatment!!  Chaos was about the only way to describe it.  We ended up in Piccadilly which felt like a mini Times Square.  People were bustling about and the tube station was a fight for your life kind of zone.  WHEW!!

I managed to get on the right bus and head in the direction of my hostel.  It was supposed to be a 5 minute walk from the bus stop but of course I seemed to be going in circles so it took me awhile to find where I was headed again.  It was dark now and have been told not to spend too much time walking alone after dark so was on a mission to find my way.
Got to the hostel safe and sound.....had been walking for about 10 hours straight by this point...thank goodness for wonderful comfy shoes because my feet don't even hurt....but the rest of my body sure does!!!
So today I spent a whole lot of time out of my comfort zone....which is what you tend to do while your travelling but for those of you who know me personally know I'm a pretty sensitive person.  That being so even spending 3 days in Vancouver tends to make my head spin so although proud of what I accomplished on my first full day in London I am BEAT!!
Upon returning to my hostel I had a fight with my wire mesh bag protector thing that was securing my backpack to my bed while I was out for the day.  My lock decided it wouldn't open so after about 10 minutes of putting in the same code, some colorful words and alot of pulling it finally opened.  Must fiddle with lock now before I try that again!
As far as "hosteling" goes I need alot more practice.  You can tell the people that have been travelling for awhile and those like me who are total newbies.  The rest seem to stay up late and party, stumble into the room late, sleep in so they don't need to worry about waking the others and then shower and out the door they go.  I seem to take more time to do....well....everything but I suppose this will get easier.  I don't like being an inconvenience so I don't turn on lights while people are sleeping and try to be relatively quiet ect.  I am always packing or organising my bag or something it seems haha.  Maybe the others are too I just don't see it.  I'm going with that :P  What a learning curve!  But I can do it!!!
Anyway I hope this makes sense....I'm sitting back in the pub as the Internet connection won't work up on the 3rd floor where my room is.  It's loud and I'm sleepy.  I'm hoping this is still somewhat jetlag and being sick because I don't have any energy to party.....but there's plenty of time for that!!  Costs too much to drink anyway!  Hoping I get over my cold soon as it almost felt worse today....yuck!!
I will upload some pictures soon as I took LOTS today.  Hoping to go to Stonehenge and Bath tomorrow but need to get busy researching to make it happen.....so here's to hoping the Internet holds out.
Goodnight all!!