After an uneventful drive to Orlando, and a quick "ferry" from Tiffany and Kyle's house (thank you both very much), I was at the Orlando International Airport. I arrived pretty early (since it was an international flight) and had time for a nice dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill (pre-security). My flight left at 8:10pm and was good - I flew Aer Lingus. I lucked out on the row - first in the rear section of the plane, and no one sitting next to me either. They served a tasty pasta dinner and then I was in and out of sleep for the 7.5 hour flight to Dublin. I went through a Customs-y area in the Dublin airport where my passport was stamped and waited a few hours for my connection to London Heathrow. No problems there either - exit row all to myself. I landed at about 12:30pm (GMT), got my bags - no passport stamp here :-( - and headed immediately to the Underground (also known as The Tube) - London's subway system - to meet up with Cathy Dean, the director of Save the Rhino International and my London host, at her office.
Me with Cathy Dean, Director of Save the Rhino International at the office.
The locals were out in full force as I trudged through the Borough Market area with my luggage to get to the office. It was a Friday and I guess they start early. It was nice to meet the staff of Save the Rhino with whom I had been exchanging marathon-related e-mails for months, and after a quick hello, getting my running rhino shirt photographed and tweeted, and instructions on how to get to ExCeL London, I was off (sans bags - Cathy graciously offered to take them to her flat where I'd be staying the next two nights).
I headed back to the Tube and ended up at the DLR platform where I spotted a celebrity. I actually misread the timetable for the DLR and could have caught a train to the ExCeL center sooner, but I'm glad I didn't. I was just soaking everything in - these were my first hours in London! - looking at the architecture, the people, how they dressed, listening to their accents, everything! When...while waiting on the platform...a rather handsome blonde caught my eye, and then I did a double-take. He looked familiar and just as we made significant eye contact, I realized who it was. Ed Speleers! Who to me, will always be Eragon, but to most people in America (who watch Downton Abbey), he's better known as James "Jimmy" Kent, the footman. After freaking out inside and realizing that I'd never get a photo of him without being creepy (because of the aforementioned eye contact), I just made my way around the crowd and asked if he minded if I took a picture with him. He kind of laugh-scoffed and said "Sure." I said, "You're Ed, right?" He said, "Yup," and smiled. I introduced myself, held out my hand and he shook it. *sigh* I took the photo, said it was nice to meet him, and that was that. Then the train came and he got in the same car as me! I was still shaking as I updated my facebook status. I didn't want to bother him, so I just kind of ignored him after that. He got off the same stop as me, so I started thinking "Maybe he's running the marathon too." But, after I got into ExCeL, I waited by the front doors and I didn't see him come in, so either he was avoiding me (lol) or he stopped somewhere else...because I googled him later and found out that he was running this year's marathon (which would be his third one). In any case, it was a wild series of events that led to meeting my first celebrity in London. I was sure to see celebrities every day! Alas, it would be my only one. But it was still awesome!
I headed back to the Tube and ended up at the DLR platform where I spotted a celebrity. I actually misread the timetable for the DLR and could have caught a train to the ExCeL center sooner, but I'm glad I didn't. I was just soaking everything in - these were my first hours in London! - looking at the architecture, the people, how they dressed, listening to their accents, everything! When...while waiting on the platform...a rather handsome blonde caught my eye, and then I did a double-take. He looked familiar and just as we made significant eye contact, I realized who it was. Ed Speleers! Who to me, will always be Eragon, but to most people in America (who watch Downton Abbey), he's better known as James "Jimmy" Kent, the footman. After freaking out inside and realizing that I'd never get a photo of him without being creepy (because of the aforementioned eye contact), I just made my way around the crowd and asked if he minded if I took a picture with him. He kind of laugh-scoffed and said "Sure." I said, "You're Ed, right?" He said, "Yup," and smiled. I introduced myself, held out my hand and he shook it. *sigh* I took the photo, said it was nice to meet him, and that was that. Then the train came and he got in the same car as me! I was still shaking as I updated my facebook status. I didn't want to bother him, so I just kind of ignored him after that. He got off the same stop as me, so I started thinking "Maybe he's running the marathon too." But, after I got into ExCeL, I waited by the front doors and I didn't see him come in, so either he was avoiding me (lol) or he stopped somewhere else...because I googled him later and found out that he was running this year's marathon (which would be his third one). In any case, it was a wild series of events that led to meeting my first celebrity in London. I was sure to see celebrities every day! Alas, it would be my only one. But it was still awesome!
It's Ed Speleers! Squee!
The Expo was amazing - it was at the ExCeL Centre, which is the largest convention center in which I've been. I picked up my bib/packet and walked through a smoky tunnel (ooooh!) to enter the area with all the vendors and speakers and fun stuff. I bought a London Marathon Adidas shirt and browsed a few of the vendors, but it was pretty much the same selection as I've seen at other ones. I hit up the photo booth and posted my photo to their wall (an actual physical wall in the Centre). I picked up my race shirt that I had mailed over to have my name printed on it. Thankfully, it was there - and they spelled my name right! I didn't linger long - I had more to see.
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I made my way back to the DLR and the Tube and headed to the British Museum - woo hoo! If I could see only one thing in London, this was it. The museum houses the controversial Elgin Marbles. I visited Greece and saw the Parthenon in April 2000 and it was certainly awe-inspiring. However, this old dude "rescued" the sculptures from the temples of the Acropolis and they are now in London. Whichever side of that disagreement you are on, their magnificence is not up for debate. In fact, all of the Greco-Roman antiquities wings at the British Museum were stunning, and kept me occupied for over three hours. This is not surprising since it is my favorite period - history and art-wise. I made a quick trip around the rest of the museum to see the "must-see" items according to their brochure. Eh. A few of them were cool - the Easter Island man-stone, the samurai armor. I found another wing of neo-classical sculptures - I was pretty much a speed-walking, picture-taking, museum marathoner. I stopped in the Gift Shop as I was prepared to leave, looked at (and later bought some) postcards and realized that I missed a few interesting things. Luckily, the Information Desk knew where to find the ones that were not out on loan - the coolest of which was Albrecht Durer's original Indian Rhino woodcut :-(
After four hours in the museum, I headed back to the Tube and made my way to Cathy's. The Tube is amazing! So easy to get around! She and her husband made me a lovely dinner - bangers and mash - I showered and went to bed, ready for the next day's adventure.
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