A few weeks back it was announced that Yahoo acquired Flickr. Flickr is the site I now host my photos at, and I liked it enought that I purchased a “pro” account. What that means is basically you can upload more photos per month (1GB, now expanded to 2GB) and your photos are available to download at full resolution.

I just got an e-mail saying that, because I paid for membership before the acquisition, they are rewarding me by doubling my pro account time (to 2 years) and giving me 2 additional pro accounts to distribute to friends. So, who wants one? Please only shout if you think you’ll actually use it.

Most of the rest of my trip was work-related and therefore not interesting to the blog. I put up some extra random pictures though, so feel free to browse them all here.

Well, I woke up too late to receive my complementary breakfast, but that was okay. I was able to find Schulte’s e-mail with the list of crap I’m supposed to visit. First stop today was St. Paul’s Cathedral. Unfortunately, they’re not really open for tours on Sundays. You can go in, but most of it is in use by people who are actually there for a service. I walked around and it was pretty neat, but didn’t get to go up top (which I’m told is great). I started to leave and noticed you could go downstairs where there’s a gift shop and a bathroom. I came up with this brilliant idea that they should sell T-shirts right outside the bathroom that said “I dropped a deuce at St. Paul’s Cathedral.” Or, perhaps more tactfully, “A little part of me is still at St. Paul’s Cathedral.”

Anyhow, after that stop I decided to check out the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, which Schulte recommended highly. It was excellent. The museum was probably the most technologically advanced museum I’ve ever seen. Touring the actual cabinet war rooms was cool too. Just to get to this museum, I had to get off in the Westminster area, so I saw all the regular London sights (see obligatory Big Ben picture).

I decided I’d try going to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch but somehow got lost and wound up at Piccadilly Circus. It’s kind of like London’s Times Square. I stumbled upon the area where all the plays are in London. I was told that London has great plays and that I should see one. I then walked by a movie theatre. That struck me as a cheaper and easier idea than a play. So I walked in and saw the movie Melinda and Melinda since it starred Will Ferrell and was directed by Woody Allen. It was expensive (8.50 pounds – like 15-16 bucks) and mediocre. I would have seen Downfall, but it wasn’t showing at a convenient time.
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I had an overnight flight and arrived at my hotel for the weekend – the Alhambra. I chose it because it was inexpensive (these next 2 nights are on me) and centrally located (a short walk from the Kings Cross tube station). My flight got me in at 6:15AM and I got to the hotel a little before 9AM. Since the room wasn’t ready yet (I chose one of the “fancy” rooms with a bathroom and a shower in it) I went out exploring.

I didn’t fire up the e-mail Schulte sent me about places to go, so I picked up a tube map and picked something that looked familliar – the Tower of London.

This place was pretty cool. They had actual Beefeaters show you around, and they gave an excellent tour. There were a lot of interesting stories about people who died here (mostly beheadings). Also within the Tower of London is a building with the crown jewels. One of the sceptres had an absolutely disgusting diamond of 530 carats. At that size, it just plain looks fake. Evidently it is the largest cut diamond in the world.

After the Tower of London I made my way back to the hotel for a nap. Then I headed out and found a brochure for the Hard Rock Cafe. Schulte had informed me that this is actually the original Hard Rock and not some knock-off tourist trap. The wait for dinner was an hour and a half, so I moved on and had dinner elsewhere. Schulte wanted a T-shirt, although I found the cheapest one was 13 pounds (about $25). A weak dollar does not make for good souvenir shopping. Although, even if the dollar were stronger this shirt would still be hilariously overpriced.

I ended up going to a pub near my hotel for dinner. They had good, “extra cold” Guiness on tap and the bartender made sure to leave a clover on top. The bar was pretty funny – I could kind of make out the “no smoking” sign amidst all the smoke. I then ate one of the grossest cheeseburgers of my life (on a table with an ashtray) before turning in.

I just ordered Mitch Hedberg’s Strategic Grill Locations CD a few days ago. I already own his Mitch Altogether album. It is hilarious. The guy is hilarious. I couldn’t believe it this morning when I heard that he had died.

Unfortunately, I have to skip on Opie and Anthony on opening day down at Fenway (April 11th). I will be in London for work. Incidentally, in booking the tickets I came across this pretty cool site – SeatGuru.com. Now I’m reasonably comfortable that I picked seats that have a power outlet in them, thanks to the nice map they have of the Boeing 777.