A day off from work on Monday meant that I got to travel for the weekend.
Luckily, tons of my friends are abroad too, so I decided to visit Katie in London.
At such short notice, train tickets are exorbitantly expensive. Again, luckily, buses work great, too! (Although they take much longer)
So I hopped a coach bus late Friday night, and headed to London. Went through customs at 3a.m. (the British border patrol is mean! but I have another stamp), rode the ferry across the English Channel, and arrived in London around 6a.m.
Day 1
I met up with Katie and we headed into town to meet up with another friend, Sarah. Katie and Sarah headed to Buckingham Palace to see the Trouping of the Colours Parade for the Queen's birthday while I took off on my own to be a crazy tourist. True to form, the first thing I did was get lost. I found the parade route by accident, waded through the masses of people, and promptly walked in the opposite direction of Buckingham Palace (also by accident).
Found Westminster Abbey without too much trouble and walked through. No pictures allowed inside, but it was really neat to see in person the spaces that I'd seen on TV for the royal wedding. The whole of the church is covered with monuments, crypts, and plaques to kings, queens, musicians, artists, and authors.
Of course, Parliament and the Clock Tower with Big Ben are right outside, so I spent quite a while staring at those building and all the other people doing the same.
Then I took a boat tour of the Thames. I LOVE boats!! The weather was beautiful and riding down the river is a relaxing way to see the city from a different perspective. We passed the London Bridge - totally underwhelming, and besides, the real one is in Arizona, and then docked right by the Tower Bridge - the one most people think is the London Bridge anyway.
I walked into the Tower of London, not quite sure what I was getting myself into. The Tower was a medieval palace, a zoo, and a prison. Now it is a huge museum with historical re-enactors, and you can walk the walls and see the embattlements, and walk through 500 years of armory.
Next, I went to St. Paul's Cathedral and climbed the 530 stairs up to the Whispering Gallery, and further up to the top of the dome for a bird's eye view of the city. My legs still hurt.
I met back up with Katie and Sarah for dinner. We found a pub on Fleet Street (yes, Sweeney Todd's street), and the girls humored me while I searched for the barber shop, and nearby pie shop - neither of which actually exist.
Day 2
Apparently my list of sights to see was a little bizarre. Katie and Sarah are beyond wonderful for humoring me. I think I kept things entertaining. :)
It was rainy and cold all day. A bit of a bummer for the middle of June, but expected.
First we went to Hyde Park and, more importantly, Kensington Gardens. All things Peter Pan is one of my well known obsessions. Kensington Gardens is where it all began - J.M. Barrie's inspiration, Finding Neverland, and where Peter first ran away from his nurse. There is a statue of him in a little clearing down one of the side paths.
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Never grow up!!!
I LOVE PETER PAN! |
Next destination was an obligatory stop at King's Cross Station. While Platform 9 3/4 is not actually between the real platforms 9 and 10, it was still a fun photo-op.
Got word of a heinous crime that we needed to solve, so we headed to 221b Baker Street to make a few important calls. Actually, we took the tube, played in the gift shop, and dressed up as Holmes and Watson with the police man.
The Beatlemania shop across the street was a definite sign that we should head immediately for Abbey Road - which we did. It happens to be the most ordinary and yet the most thrilling street to cross ever. We stopped traffic! Haha. I think they were probably just amused by our attempts to walk in step while smiling for the camera. Did you know that you can watch people cross the street via live streaming video?
http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/
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Help! Do you want to know a secret? I want to hold your hand. Ask me why? Tomorrow never knows.
I'll follow the sun. In my life, if I needed someone, baby it's you.
P.S. I love you |
Making our way back into town again, we stopped at Harrod's... on a Sunday... wow. I am sure that it would be overwhelming on any day and at any time, but particularly on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The best description would be mass pandemonium. I don't know how anyone finds anything in that store. We managed to find the chocolate bar and the teddy bears, which was enough for me. Although perhaps I would have enjoyed buying an elephant or an airplane, alas we did not find those departments. ;)
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Can you see the guy in the back?
My new best friend |
Passed by Buckingham Palace and walked down the mall back towards the river.
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| It's a long way down if you do... |
We rode the London Eye, which is the second largest, and quite possibly the slowest ferris wheel in the world. It was sort of a one-time deal, not something I'd do again, but worth doing once.
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| View from the top! |
On a more general note, I taste-tested a few different Cadbury chocolate bars - wish we had more of those in the States, and had a good portion of chips and vinegar.
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| Exit? |
This part sounds ridiculous, but I was acutely aware of being in a different country, mainly just that it was not the U.S. It's amazing how natural it is to look in a specific direction before crossing the street... look left first, then right, then left again - clearly the first traffic approaching will come up on your left... Ha Strangely enough, being so aware that I was not in the U.S., I was consistently surprised that people spoke English.
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| Yield? |
Not sure I can even make that sentence make sense... It's not a comment on the British accent, but rather my having to consistently remind myself that everyone could understand me, and that I could freely ask questions or order at a restaurant. I guess I'm just used to being elsewhere.
On the other hand... Maybe British is a different language than American. I'll leave that open for debate.
Headed back to Brussels bright and early Monday morning, and this time we took the Chunnel (Euro tunnel) to cross the Channel. The bus drove into a train car behind a long line of other buses, and then we headed off. Just a bit later we were on the other side, driving out of the train car. I didn't even see the water.
