Europe NEVER takes down its Christmas trees! we were well into January...Turns out, England puts this mysterious security chip with a PIN on almost all of its credit cards. Needless to say, Rachel and I didn’t have said ridiculousness and when we went into a 7-11 type store to buy milk and candy we practically broke the whole place down. To be fast, Rachel went in the cashier line and I did the automatic check-out. Soon enough, the English guy asked her where her PIN was. Rachel, thinking he was talking about a debit card PIN, said that she could give it to him, and he was like, “No. Where’s your PIN???” pointing like we were idiots to the place on the card where that chip usually is. More confused than we had ever been in non-English speaking countries, we proceeded to hold up the line, and I practically broke the automatic check-out machine, it asking for a PIN chip or manager. Why does England insist on a security system that makes itself incompatible with THE REST OF THE WORLD??? Anyway, some guy behind us took pity on us and just paid for our stuff, candy and all, saying that “It probably counts as charity…” The bank we then went to to withdraw cash rejected our cards, and it was another one of those moments… we had lost our baggage, our clothes, we were really far from home with no cash and all we had to our names were these cards that the Queen would have no part of… we just wanted to be let into their secret, English society of fancy—well, at least functional—PIN security chips!! Well, the next morning we went out in search of a bank owned by an American corporation and, sure enough, we were able to take out cash. Rachel basically paid her bills and fled the country.
I then met up with Sam and Betty through the day after I went to the National Gallery (actually a let down after Paris) and a pretty sweat choral mass (wait—what do Protestants call church time?) at St. Paul’s.
WEAK (national gallery).Next, we paid “Speaker’s Corner” a visit, which is the only place in London where you can protest without a permit, drawing the articulate crazy and sane in equal measure. It was, without a doubt, my favorite place in London.
EXTREME Zionist and very anti-Islamic
This guy was the best.We had a pretty solid time at some pubs and I went back so I could wake up early the next day to go to the London Castle. The tour was the coolest thing ever and the whole castle and complex and history was incredible. The crown jewels, like I said, were actually kind of lame after the Hapsburg Treasury, though…
way cool place.
Best historical tours ever.
Okay seriously, what's with all these British soldiers that look approximately 5? This guy is guarding the CROWN JEWELS. My 14 year old host brother here in Chile could take him, even with the rifle.Anyway, the next day I headed off on my series of horrific flights (train to Heathrow, bus to Gatwick, plane to Dublin, plane to Heathrow, plane to Boston… basically hell) and that completed our epic Christmas adventure in Europe!!
