Tourism+debauchery=Debauchourism....the new voluntourism?

I begin this blog while I listen to the familiar sweet siren song of Steph, puking in the bathroom adjacent to our dorm room. She's puking because we got back to said room at 4am after 2 bottles of prosecco, a bottle of wine, a strongbow, a mojito, a few gin and cranberries, and a couple of ill-advised mystery shots. London, we have arrived. I am lucky enough to a.) have spent the last 2 months training rigorously for such a night and b.) be predisposed to not puke under virtually any and all circumstances. My genetics may have saddled me with a giant curly afro and a pig nose, but they sure help the drinkin'.

It should be noted here that those bottles were not just for Steph and I. We were joined by my lovely former roomates. You may remember them from that blog - Rosie and Jenny, the English girls we shared our ramshackle backpackers flat with in Melbourne. One of the English boys from across the courtyard, Simon, also assisted us (if memory serves, he was responsible for ordering them). It was great to see those girls. Its amazing how long ago that was! And how little everyone has changed since then. We got along like we had seen each other last week. The 3 locals took us to a pub off Piccadilly Circus where they have 1/2 price drinks and had some "Taste of London" card that gets us 1/2 price food, which you have to appreciate in a city where the cost of living is double. We had some decent grub, some drinks, some laughs, and once they discovered that we actually knew what Strongbow was, well, we just had to wander off to another pub to find some. And so the night began, and you already know how it ended.

Prior to that experience we actually had quite a productive touristy day. We rolled our jetlagged butts out of bed at 8 and grabbed some freeby breakfast at the hostel. Steph has been here before but has never seen the Tower of London so I joined her for my third tour. Its still cool. I'm enough of a history buff and have forgotten enough info since my last trip that it was still a good day for me. We spent far more time there than we thought we would and spent the few hours between the Tower and dinner with the girls just wandering around central London, Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens, and Leicester Square.

Today we had big plans to push through the hangover and get all museum-ing early, but that hasn't exactly worked out. I'm going to rouse my little friend and drag her off to do something educational, and swing by the half price ticket booths to score some Wicked tickets for tonight...wish me luck!