Europe Part One: London

What I love about London:-the chocolate ice cream at the theater. Surrounded by the dark wood chairs lined in gold and in front of a giant stage, you can still get a calorie fix at intermission. And you can eat it. Right there. IN THE THEATER! With the oftentimes starchy British rules and regulations, I was amazed. I mean, even in laid back So Cal you can't eat in the actual theater theater. You have to eat in the lobby. So major points to the Brits for letting you enjoy a two inch container of creamy goodness (even if it costs six bucks).-the tube. At times it can be an assault on your olfactory senses. And at times there is a peculiar, hot wind blowing through the tunnels (I have no idea where this heat comes from...the earth's core? A breeze coming up from hell?). But, for some odd reason, I find the advertisements, liberally dispersed over the walls of the metro, to be a fascinating art exhibit and peak into the British culture. They are racier in variety than what you see here (I remember one ad in which a woman wore nothing but a few carefully placed spoons) and quite a bit more wordier (American advertisers obviously rely more on flashy pictures and key words as opposed to relying on their target market to actually read something).-the flower shops. I'm talking old school flower shops, with beautiful blossoms bursting out of wooden crates, prices scrawled enchantingly on little chalkboards. Come to think of it, I have no idea how they had such gorgeous flowers as it was the middle of winter. Maybe they were imported.-the busyness. People were everywhere, all the time, at all times. And I loved that.What I didn't like (because you can't love everything):-the faucets. One faucet for hot water. One for cold. Which created the following dilemma: do you want to wash your face in scalding hot water or water that's sub zero in temperature?-the cold. IT WAS FREEZING! I would have to steel myself physically and emotionally every time I left the hotel. I was so cold, I probably looked like I was going through withdrawals, I was shaking that hard.-Autumn