Good morning from London!

View of downtown Seattle and Bainbridge Island (first pointy thing from the fin is touching it) where my parents live.

I ended up sitting by a mate that was from London and he's like, "you know you look like the guy who won a gold medal in the Olympics" and I said, "you want my autograph?" haha. Apparently I look like Orlando Bloom and now a dude from the Olympics. Cool stuff.

 Incredible view coming into Reykjavik.

When we were touching down in Iceland I couldn't believe the terrain, it was so bizarre! Literally not one tree or even a bush! Whaaaat! I wouldn't have been surprised if they would have said, "Houston, asking for permission to land on Mars" ha. Not to mention I only saw one small gathering of houses and apparently there is something like 325,000 people here. Hmmm. 

Enjoyed a nice breakfast of MJOLK and Potegull salt and pepper chips (think ruffles with more flavor). Can't get over MJOLK. Too good.

 Had to throw one on here of the Iceland Monsters. 

 Touching down in England!

 The landscape looked like Ireland from the pictures I saw, with lots of rolling hills. Very lush. Reminded me of Seattle quite a bit minus all the insanely tall trees. 

Just in case anyone reading this is interested in doing something like this, make sure you do some research beforehand (thanks Dad). When asked where I'd be staying, what I'd be doing, and how long I'd be staying, I had all the answers I needed and pretty much the main reason I got through was because I had a bank statement from my Dad (to show I had enough money to survive without working) and a return ticket home (will cancel later heehee). Now I'm golden for 6 months should I choose to stay that long in the UK. 

Walking through the train station I felt like Jason Bourne, truly. It was absolute madness. So many people from every nationality you could think of. It was a lot of information to take in but a lot of fun to see!

When the train started up I could hear the engines going and then a few seconds later it went silent. I'm thinking "hmmm we stopping or something?" but we kept going. The trains are smooth here producing very little noise. It was interesting to see all the houses/apartments. Everything is so ancient here!

After this train I got off and hopped on the underground train and made it to my hostel, which is just outside of London. I used a computer they had to check in with my parents and this older guy was sitting next to me and brought up a picture on Facebook. I was like, "who is that?" And it was him years ago smoking a joint hahah. And he started telling me all about his life and how he made some stupid choices and how it was all about sex, drugs, and rock n' roll back in those days. Very interesting to hear him talk about his life to say the least. He grew up in Italy but is now a musician in London and has been living at this hostel for the past couple months. We ended up having a great conversation. Such a homie! Franco is his name. I love those kind of conversations that are actually real you know? Not some nonsense like oh how you doing? How's the weather? You know that kind of on the surface stuff. 

After that I took a little power nap and was on my way to journey around this town. I had dinner at a place right by the hostel and I want to say it was Persian but I could be wrong. Ordered a lamb shish. It was amazing! It was kinda like a gyro but with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickled red and white cabbage, cucumbers, and a chile sauce that was to die for. So tasty. I was walking around this part of town and was like no I'm not feelin it, so I went to the train station and found out the day pass I have is good until 4am. Peeeerfie. Simply took the train and got off at random stops and looked around. As I was wandering around town I see a long strip between two big buildings and it looks like there is a castle at the end. I'm thinking, "castle in London eh?" Let's see this! It was actually the London Bridge! Ha. Such a groovy spot. I have the Thames River in front of me, a sunset to my left emanating an orange glow, bridge to my right, a flock of birds flying over me, and some of the gnarliest architecture I've ever seen. And now I'm thinking to myself, "wow, this is what I was looking for." That's the beauty of a lifestyle with no itinerary. Surprises are abundant! 

That whole strip leading up to the bridge was lined with cafe's, restaurants, you name it. I stopped at a Marks & Spencer (grocery store) and was pretty much drooling at the classiness of this place. So awesome. I could have spent 100 pounds easily. I had dinner right in that area at a modern looking place. Got some Moroccan meatballs with brown rice and again they had this sauce that was to die for! Amazing thing is that it was a fast food type place but was still great. And the girl that helped me was so welcoming, she gave me a free drink and wrote down directions to the best museums in town. The accents kill me! Ha. 

Anyways, gotta run. Off to some museums and whatever else I feel like doing!