My Last Night in London

Today I got Ryan up out of bed, and we caught the tube over to The Tower of London. No one told me this, but it seems like the Tower of London is the biggest tourist attraction in the history of ever. It's like Disneyland, but more commercial. There were people selling T-shirts, gift shops with little executioner stuffed dolls. I half expected to walk into the Bloody Tower and see Mickey Mouse working the rack. I didn't see a single local individual walking around the Tower who wasn't paid to be there. I went to buy my ticket and noticed that behind the ticket counters were nothing but rows of scowels taking money and dealing tickets in a very mechanical type of dance. When (heaven forbid) someone should disrupt the routine by reaching into their pocket trying to find money, or having trouble working the credit card machine, the booth operator would sigh and her eyes would glisten over and in her mind she begged for someone to end her pitiful exsistance. The idea that the Tower of London is retired is a myth. They just now put the prisoners in the ticket booths.

The whole experience of The Tower of London was both eye opening, and nausiating to me, and it had nothing at all to do with the history of it. I stood through endless lines, not leading to some amusement park attraction, but instruments of torture and the poor victim's last momentos he carved into the walls with the edge of his fingernail. I started to people watch wondering what kind of people travel so far to see such a place. Are these people who thurst for knowledge of the past in hopes to avoid its mistakes? And I turned and saw children less than 10 years old taking a picture with a man in a giant cartoony bear dressed up like a gaurd costume just like you'd see at Disneyland. The children all had T-shirts, and smiled as they posed next to the thumbscrews and chopping block where the heads of famous prisoners of war were lobbed off. As you walk into the "Bloody Tower" (which is the tower where the torturing took place) there's a little automated machine with the question "Do you think torture should be used?" written on it. Below it were three buttons labeled, "Yes, to punish", "Yes, in certain circumstances", and "No, never". As I was still reading the question, four people walked past me, and without even thinking about it pressed down the first button. I was going to give my answer, but instead I stood next to it for a minute or two and watched the reactions of the other people, and what they chose. In my time sitting there, I saw only one person press the third option, and no one even touched the second one.

My whole life I thought torture was a bad thing, and I thought most people agreed with me. Like the holocaust, I thought it was one of those things we look down on in our history. How could you come to a place like this and say torture was anything but a bad thing? There are still blood stains on the walls, and the graffiti all talks of men pleading for mercy. One inscription read, "I will say to you whatever it is you tell me to say", another quotes a bible verse about deliverence from pain and suffering. These were all broken men and women. Guilty or not, I think anyone who's ever endured physical or spiritual torment will have something to say against it.

We walked all around the Tower for the good part of the day, I got some good pictures of the Tower, and Tower Bridge, and the HMS Belfast was docked right outside so I took a couple good pictures of that as well. The HMS Belfast is a huge battleship that was famous for something, though I can't remember exactly what for. Regardless however, it was big and beautiful so I made sure to document it. Later in the day I got some frozen yogurt (what they call soft ice cream), and we took the tube to Ryan's school Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Ryan showed me around the campus, and took me up into the fly loft of the main theatre to show me what he does whenever they have a show. I met some of his friends who go there, and he showed me the pictures of all the famous people who graduated from there, which I have to say was really impressive. And afterwards we walked down to Liverpool street and I got another one of those amazing Kebabs I had a few nights ago, and it was just as good the second time around.

I never made it to Liverpool city and the Beatles Museum, which I was a little bummed about. Although I checked the bus schedules this morning and it turns out it'd take me 5 hours to get there, and the only bus was going to leave at 3pm so that would put me in at 8pm, the museum would be closed, and then I'd still have to get back. I didn't realize how far away the other cities in England are. It seems like I could just pop over when you look on the map. It didn't seem to take all that long traveling through cities in Ireland and Scotland, but then I guess those are much smaller countries. However, I did get to see everything I came to see, and more in London. I found some great places, saw some great shows and learned a whole lot. I managed to confront one of my biggest doubts, and mastered traveling through a big city. I know now and can say confidently, that I'd be able to survive and find my way around. Through this trip I'm becoming more and more travel savy, and am learning how to take care of myself, and manage myself in tough situations. I'm learning that damage control is one of the most importaint fuctions a traveler can have. Things will go wrong all the time, but keeping a level head and finding the next course is what keeps you alive.

Tomorrow I go to Cairo where I'm certain I'll need all the skills that England, Scotland, and Ireland all taught me. There's still a long way to go till I reach the end, so don't tune me out yet. I'm certain that this epic journey is just about to begin...