I got made fun of them on the way back to our hotel tonight. I came back alone because Logan and Phil went on a little pub crawl and I just felt really tired after dinner. I almost fainted at lunch today (I'm a wuss and Logan was talking about his skull fracture) and fighting off the faint really wore me out. So did the 311 spiral steps of The Monument. And hiking around London for the second day in a row. Anyway, I was walking back to the hotel from the Underground station nearby and on the route I have to walk by some more "hip" restaurants and a little club. A whole bunch of pretty, young, well-dressed people stand about sipping on drinks and making small talk in ugly English. As I walked by I heard a man shout, "Ey, you!" and I turned to see who he was talking to. I was surprised to see he was pointing at me, and I responded, "Yeah?" Hit him with an American response: a southern "Yeaaahh?" slow and direct. His next move was to say, "What in the 'ell 'ave you got on youh feet?" and his little gang laughed.
Now what I wanted to say was, "Freedom shoes," but what I said instead was, "Sandals, what does it look like?" He was a little taken aback with my curt and humorless response, but he was just as aware as I was at the dullness of my counter. I walked on and back to the hotel. Nothing else happened. That was my Chaco story.
But London is so much fun. That guy was the first experience I've had with anyone treating me differently because of my nationality. I guess people have put ice in my water fairly often, but I'm not sure if that's because of my accent or just the custom of the couple restaurants we went to. It's been a pleasant experience.
London is best described, as Phil often says, as "eclectic." It's such a weird mix of people, cultures, and accents. So many languages, like in New York City, but such a different mix than that of NYC. The city itself is odd because you can see a building that is almost a thousand years old right next to a building probably built in the last fifty years. I constantly am turning to Phil and saying, "This city is so weird." Not that I see anything wrong with this city. I love it here. Not enough to ever want to live here, but I certainly will want to come back here again on another trip. I guess my trip hasn't really even begun yet, but I can already tell I'll want to come back again.
The real issue with London, however, is the daunting amount of men wearing stupid hats. Like, it's ridiculous. Between the police and royal guards I thought I'd seen all the dumb hats a man could ever see. But some mounted royal guards of some sort rode by Phil and I a couple times as we explored the city and they definitely qualify for the dumb hats club. And the guys at London Tower today had some pretty stupid hats too. Okay, they had the MOST stupid hats I've ever seen on men. I understand they wear a certain costume so that you can find them in the crowd and ask them questions, but are the stupid hats really needed? I don't think so. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of the British in the stupid hat department; they kind of originated the big stupid hats people wear for country club activities, but I've just been literally floored by the hats I've seen here. I wore a ball cap for a little bit when Phil and I went out really late last night to a McDonald's (pretty much tastes the same here, not really any good stories) and I felt like people around me were thinking, "Man his hat game is so TAME." Except they wouldn't talk like that, but this is my blog, not theirs, so I'm gonna put it how I want. And I felt so tame in my hat game.
Aside from the stupid hats, London is full of positive eye-openers. Seeing Parliament from across the Thames today and yesterday were the coolest things I've seen in my entire life. Pretty sure it'll stay that way until I see someone say yes to marrying me. That's literally the next thing that could happen in my life that would be more amazing. So far I've just wandered this huge, odd, beautiful, old, modern, and lovely city. Very little plans, just the eyes and feet of Philip and I clearing a path through this urban jungle. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Well, I'd like to see another pair of Chacos.
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