After a harrowing day yesterday, and a little more adventure than I really intended out of the trip over here, I'm finally here. Got in around 7:30 last night, and am currently writing from an internet cafe around the corner from Piccadilly Circus (pretty much the Times Square of London, really awesome part of town).
I guess I should clarify what I meant by "adventure." I picked this little quote up somewhere, can't quite remember where, but it goes, "It's not an adventure until something goes wrong." I guess the travel part of the day actually went pretty well, so far as a 15 hour journey is concerned (could have driven almost the whole way from Ithaca to SLC along I-80 in 15 hours, or flown from Dublin to London 15 times). Got up around 2:30 to make my way over to the bus station for a 3:30 bus down to Rosslare. Dublin on a Friday night was a little scary actually--full of drunken mobs of Irish people and tourists stumbling around and yelling at each other. I guess Hamburg had a bigger party scene, but it had such a different energy, wasn't as crazy. Made it to the bus station without trouble though, and made the journey to Rosslare in a few hours. Caught the ferry after that, and then took a train from Fishguard in Wales to Cardiff, and switched to a train to London after that.
The adventure part of the day started after I got off the train. London is crazy enough during the summer at the height of the tourist season, and the whole place is permanently under construction in preparation for the 2012 Olympics, so it was enough trouble just getting to my hostel period. I had made a reservation a few days previously for the 24'th, but given the bus/train/ferry schedules to London (or lack thereof), I had to head over here on the 23'rd. I sent an email to the hostel a day or two before leaving asking them to extend my reservation for the night. I didn't get a reply back, but assumed that they had received it and just not written back for whatever reason. Plus, Piccadilly Backpackers is one of the largest hostels in London, so I figured even if they hadn't received my email for some strange reason that I'd be able to negotiate some other deal for the night.
Well, I guess you've probably figured out how it turned out: I got there and was turned away. Not only had they not even received my email (there was some sort of internet trouble with their computers), but they didn't have a single free room for the night. I was too cracked out and exhausted and jaded after traveling so far for the words to really even register a response at that point, but the situation at that point was pretty damn dire: I was stranded in London--a massive, crazy, incredibly expensive city--at 8:00 PM on a Saturday night at the very peak of the tourist season without a place to stay for the night. Even before looking online for another accommodation option, I knew it wasn't going to be good.
I wasn't going to find anything anywhere near the center of the city, and was also not prepared to pay $150+ for a hotel room for the night. I considered the options: Couchsurfing? Nope, too short notice. Ask somebody on the street to sleep on the floor of their hotel room? Nope, too sketchy. Grab a case of beer and some food and just chill out on a bench all night? Nope, wouldn't make it the whole night before falling asleep and probably getting arrested. For a minute I was seriously considering finding a park somewhere and laying out my sleeping bag. Hyde Park was too busy, but maybe there was a smaller one somewhere out of the way? Do I sleep with my backpack next to me or stash it somewhere so I don't get robbed in the middle of the night?
Not expecting to find anything, I found an internet cafe and logged on to a hostel search website, going through the formality before resigning myself to some sort of extreme measure. One result, however, ended up showing up: the London House Gay Hostel out in Edgware. I guess beggars can't be choosers. It was pretty reasonably priced, only £18 a night. The only problems were 1) it was way the hell out at the end of the Northern Line in Zone 5 (there are only 5 zones in the London Underground network), and 2) it involved another 30-45 minute walk from the Tube station to get there, which, after 15 hours of travel, seemed really, really unappealing. I considered not taking it, thought about getting woken up by a London police officer at 4 in the morning while trying to catch some sleep behind a bush somewhere, and reluctantly hit the "Reserve" button on the website.
The trip out was ok, and once I got out of the train I booked it down the street like a bat out of hell to make the walk as short as possible. I showed up around 9:30 and checked in. The guy who ran it, Spencer (who looked and sounded exactly like a old, pudgy Alan Rickman) was nice enough. The hostel was his apartment at one point I'm guessing, which he converted to a "hostel," aka added a handful of bunk beds to the rooms at the back. The place was nice, though, and there weren't too many others there, so it ended up being a nice place to finally fall asleep (although I'm sure anywhere would have been nice after the day's adventures). I did, however, have to sleep right next to a framed black and white photo of some naked dude pouring water all over himself with a big metal watering can. Oh well.
The hard, fast walking down to the place with a heavy backpack after a whole day in trains and ferries and buses took it's toll though: my left knee has been aching since this morning. Pretty sure sign of tendinitis, which is not a good way to start off five straight weeks of hiking. I've been taking it really easy all day and taking escalators and elevators where I can, so hopefully it'll be gone by the 26'th by the time I start the Camino. If not...well, we'll deal with it if it gets too bad. Bringing along plenty of pain killers in my bag.
Flying out tomorrow though! And officially starting down the trail the day after. I've been looking forward to this for months now, so it's really exciting to finally be on the edge of it. If I can find a computer I'll definitely chime in with how it is.
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