After we had completed the tour from where we left off yesterday, we hopped off the bus and had lunch at a nice steak house in Kensington. After a leisurely lunch, we headed off to Westminster Abbey, which is absolutely fabulous. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside, but I did sneak one with my camera phone because the ceiling in one part of it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen (at the time it was made it was one of the wonders of the world). After Westminster we walked about 10 minutes to our last London stop, the London Eye, which is a ginormous ferris wheel with enclosed compartments so its toasty warm while you go around. To make the whole rotation is takes about 25 minutes, and it goes super slow so you can get lots of pictures and take in the amazing view - at the very top you can see all of London.
After the Eye we took a Taxi to the train station that took us to Gatwick airport. We flew into Rome around 10:15pm, and took a taxi to our hotel which we are now at. It is kind of ghetto- It's clean but super dark and depressing and looks like an orphanage as Chloe has described it.
look how close together those beds are... you can see in the bottom left corner Chloe's cot. Plus that window was the only window, and the shutters were stuck shut so we couldn't get any natural light.
Plus when we pulled up there was a big car accident outside our window with a dead body under a sheet. Yea. Then besides the fact that this hotel is on a loud busy street that we can hear since our room overlooks it, the front door doesn't work so the desk guy has to come down and get us every time we come back from leaving, and he smokes like a chimney right outside our room at his desk even though about 5 feet away there is a glaring sign that says "ABSOLUTELY NO SMOKING" in English and Italian. I was the first brave one to say out loud that I wouldn't be upset if the guy had lost our reservation (because there had been some confusion when we arrived) and now that the ice has been broken the hunt has begun for a new hotel for tomorrow. Erika and Chloe are furiously searching the internet on their Blackberry and iphone respectively, and I sit and watch. But this is the thing: we're not spoiled brats (well, Erika is, and she readily admits it) we just don't want to be choked by smoke, kept awake by traffic, and thoroughly depressed on Christmas day. All we want is something comfortable and spacious enough that we don't feel like we're in dorms/orphanage on the most special day of the year. Hopefully our search is fruitful... details tomorrow.
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