Spring Break II : London Calling

LONDON! I love this city. I have made the decision that I will spend an extended amount of time at one point in my life. It rained the entire time we were there, but I've never loved anywhere so much.

We took the train from London Southend into the center of the city and immediately had to adapt to the Tube. We also had to adjust to the money system. It's not bad, we just didn't have a lot of it, everything is so expensive. Speaking of money, I like the coins. It was easy enough to figure out, as long as you made sure to separate your euros from your pounds... oi.

The hostel (St. Pauls YHA) was pretty cool. It was right on the central line of the tube, literally a stone's throw from St. Paul's cathedral and the Millennium Bridge (all you Harry Potter fans know what that is) it was lovely. Right in the heart of the city of London, and the absolute best place to hear a cockney accent... everyone sounded like Adele, as opposed to Emma Watson. It was actually the old choir dorms for the St. Paul's choir boys. The only weird thing about it was the bed situation... observe below.

This cupboard under the bed (the Harry Potter puns will only get worse as this post goes on...) was my little space. It was quite snuggle-y, but as you can see in the pictures, it looks weird.

After we got settled we set off on an adventure around our neighborhood. we discovered that we were just a five minute walk from Fleet Street (Sweeney Todd, anyone?) and Shakespeare's Globe Theater and the Tate Modern were just across the Thames via the Millennium Bridge. After our adventure, we set off in search of some fish and chips. We found it in no time. The London Pub experience was different, don't expect anyone to come to you with menus, and make sure to give your order to the bartender. Also, unlike Italy, they eat at a normal time, not at 9 pm and unlike New York they don't stay open all night. So if you want a midnight snack, make sure you buy it early...

The Tower Bridge

The view of St. Paul's from the Millennium Bridge

The next day we woke up bright and early and made our way to the City of Westminster. Time to say hi to the Queen!

Buckingham Palace

She wasn't home though -- boo. We had a nice time without her, and even got to see some fancy men make their way to the castle in a horse and buggy. Then, it was off to The Abbey. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, so you'll just have to settle for my description of it. Let me preface, it is not my favorite place in London. It's not as majestic as you would imagine it to be. It's quite a bit smaller than it looked on the TV screen during Will and Kate's wedding. Also, there are graves, monuments, and epitaphs EVERYWHERE! It is the most cluttered place, there are statues upon statues, upon statues. Poets Corner was quite possibly my favorite place in the entire Abbey (big surprise) there were so many famous people literally below my feet, it was amazing. It was great to be there and have a free audio tour (narrated by Jeremy Irons) but I didn't love it.

Westminster Abbey

Next, we were exploring more of Westminster, like seeing BIG BEN! Standing on Westminster Bridge and looking at the Houses of Parliament is one of the prettiest views in London.

Big Ben

We went to Piccadilly Circus next, London's equivalent to Time's Square and home to the biggest souvenir shop ever, where Caitlin got to meet the Queen, sort of.

Piccadilly Circus

Caitlin and the Queen

Then we decided to go to the Globe theater. As a lover of all things Shakespeare, this was one of my favorite things. Although it's not the real thing, it's pretty darn close. The guy who gave us the tour was pretty cool too in his knee length black leather trench, trying much to hard to be Kenneth Branagh.

The Globe

Holland Street

We went to the Tate Modern. Chris and Caitlin weren't really feeling the modern art, but it was pretty cool. After that, we headed over to the best part of that day. But first, we made a stop on Holland Street.

View of the Houses of Parliament from the top of the London Eye

The Eye

The Eye was great, the weather wasn't so great. we could only really see as far as the other side of the Thames, but it was still great. I was up there, fear of heights and all. Thank God for that little bench in the middle, otherwise I would have been hysterical. The weird part was getting on the car, the wheel never stops. It keeps going like a gigantic Disney World ride, you just have to hope that you make it in the door before it leaves the platform... ok, it's not that bad, but it feels like that.

We spent some more time in Westminster, then hopped onto the Tube and made our way back to St. Paul's.

The next day was full of good times. First on the agenda, The Tower of London, home of the glittering Crown Jewels. We saw many a stereotypical English Guard, the very spot that Anne Boleyn was beheaded, and the tower she and her daughter, Elizabeth I, were locked away.

 

We then ventured down the street to the Tower Bridge. It's really, really beautiful.

If you wash your TOMs, make sure you rinse well... otherwise you end up with sudsy feet when it rains.

 After spending sometime in the bridge and it's engine rooms, we went on a ferry ride down the Thames and got back to St. Paul's freshen up before dinner. Then we met up with LORA! Laura is one of my suite-mates from last semester and one of the loveliest people ever. She is studying in London this semester, lucky lady. We told each other all about what we've been doing in our programs and from what I hear, this lady is going places. It was so good to see her before she headed to Wales!

Our last day in London was spent doing as many free things as we could squeeze into twelve hours. We went to Kings Cross to be complete Potterheads first. Yes, we did get our pictures taken getting on to Platform 9 3/4, it was amazing.

Then we got back on the Tube and headed to Holland Park, strictly for me to take a picture by the sign. Just a quick word about the Tube, it is so clean, efficient, and fantastic. The escalators were really fast too, the only downside was learning to walk on the other side of the walkways.

Then Baker Street and Abbey Road, because why not. Just a Tip: don't try to cross the famous Beatles Crossing at Abbey Road... you will end up dead. Too many cars.

Beatles Crossing at Abbey Road

We went to Portabello Road in Notting Hill for some shopping, and posed with some red phone boxes.

 

We finished up our day in London at the British Museum hanging out between mummies and the Rosetta Stone, not bad.

 After that, we were completely wiped out! We collected our magazines, books (we had to buy magazines and books in English), and bags, and made our way to Victoria Coach Station to board our Megabus for a nine hour bus ride.