Days 26-28- London and back to Madrid

As I mentioned in my last post our flight to London was delayed a couple times so the extra 11 euro we paid in order to have some time in London on Saturday wound up being for naught. We eventually got to the airport in London, from which we had to take a 40 minute bus ride and a 30 minute train ride to our hostel. Once we finally got to the street it took us a few minutes to find the hostel because you had to walk through the bar below it to get to the entrance. Even after figuring that part out, it took another few minutes to realize that we actually needed one of the bartenders to check us in using the same computer that they use to put the orders in. The whole process would probably have been easier had it not been for the 75-100 rabid soccer fans crowding the bar to watch the English national team play Kazakhstan in a world cup qualifier.

After finally navigating our way to the room to set our stuff down we made our way back to the bar to get something to eat. Apparently this particular bar had a Saturday wing special where 10 wings were 8 GBP, but 50 wings were only 15 GBP; I'll leave you to guess which we ordered.

Sunday morning we got up in time for the free breakfast at the hostel and (theoretically) for an 11:00 tour. We took a train and two subways to the spot where the tour was supposed to meet with two girls from the hostel, but by the time we got there it had either left or wasn't going at all that day. In any event, the four of us decided to just make our own tour which covering the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square, a couple exhibits at the British Museum, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the tower of London and tower bridge. After a break short break we continued past the Globe theater to the London Eye, basically an overgrown ferris wheel, that, despite the unique views it offered, was the opposite of worth 17 GBP.

After the Eye we had the bright idea to eat dinner and go out in Soho, not realizing that the metro closed at 11:45. After a brief attempt to figure out the bus schedule we got into a cab. The cab would've been really cool had it not been a pretty expensive ride back to Greenwich, because it was one of the old style ones where the back seats faced one another.

We made it to the airport shortly before our flight began boarding, leaving just enough time for Ryan Air to rob us blind before boarding. Apparently Ryan Air isn't a real airline it just pretends to be, they require you to check in online and print your boarding pass online, or face a 40 GBP/person airport check in fee. That's a pain, but doesn't really seem like that big a deal, until their website locks you out and wn't let you check in online. You'd think that when it's their fault that you can't check in online they'd apologize and waive the airport check in fee; instead they charge you and give you a fax number to complain to, because apparently in England it is legal to rob people. @#$#% you Ryan Air.

When we landed in Madrid the aforementioned airline further demonstrated it's arrogance by playing a triumphant jingle and recording bragging that our flight was among the 90% of Ryan Air flights that arrived on time. That was immediately before they announced that we'd be waiting another 20 minutes for gate to open up. @#$#% you Ryan Air.

After checking into the hostel yesterday afternoon we retrieved Sean's extra bags from the train station, which was shockingly easy considering that he'd lost the ticket and left them in the locker well over the 15 day maximum. Later on we went to see Star Trek, which was thankfully in English with Spanish subtitles.

Tonight we're hoping to see a bullfight before heading home in the morning. My flight should be getting into RDU at 6:45, see you all soon.