I just got back from London at midnight and it was amazing. I definitely have a greater appreciation for London now that I am older. Being there brought back a lot of memories of when I went back in the 8th grade. It truly is an amazing city.
We left our dorms at 5am on Friday to catch the megabus. The megabus took four and half hours to get there and unfortuneatly only one of us got any sleep. I started to laugh when I saw how far back the seats tilted back... a whole quarter inch!!!! wow! The good news is that megabus is only 18 pounds round trip to London whereas the train is about 50! The only reason it is so expensive is because it is London...thats it.
Took us awhile to figure out how to use the Tube...but we purchased an Oyster card for 13 pounds that works as a prepaid card for the rails. They can only charge you a maximum of five pounds per day so it ends up being good if you are travelling around a lot. The tube system really is great it is so easy to understand. If you look at the map as a big picture it looks terrifying but if you look at it as stop to stop its very easy. We were staying in South Kensington, Gloucester Road. We found the street our hostel was on but couldn't find the building. We walked back and forward back and forward and finally walked into a small Italian Restuarant to ask. The man laughed and pointed to the door directly next to us. Above the door was a small sign that said Astor Kensington Hostel upstairs. It was literally soooo small! This really was our first REAL hostel experience since the International Society hooked us up with the Edinburgh one, it was really clean. The boys that ran the hostel were 'stoner' like and really chill/whatever. The lights in a lot of the rooms flickered a lot but at least the beds were clean. Well my sheet had blood stains but I just took it off. The room consisted of 10 beds...7 smelly boys and us three girls. (I forgot to mention I travelled with the UW girls, Stephanie and Brianne.
After settling in we headed to the London Eye. This was really fun but just something I wanted to do once in my life. It takes thirty minutes to go around and you get to see all of London on it. Supposedly on a really really clear day you can see all the way to Windsor Castle! We really lucked out on weather it was clear skies both Friday and Saturday and rained Sunday. Right next to the London Eye are a lot of people that paint themselves up and look like statues...kind of creepy. There is also this random House of Terror and people are hired to run around and scare people. There was a girl in a cage just screaming and then a man running around. I didn't see anyone near me and suddenly this bloody man cornered me by the fence and kept asking for the time. I'm so weird I just like stod there laughing because he really freaked me out!!!!
That evening we went to the Mexicana Loca for dinner because it was near our show and it was decently cheap. The men there were crazy and immediately gave us all sombreros to wear. I ordered the nachos that were made out of Dorito Cooler Ranch chips... weird. We then went to the show Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. The show was absolutely amazing I would easily pay 50 pounds again to see it over again. The girl who played Alphabe, the wicked witch, had an incredibly voice! I definitely recommend the show!
The next morning we had our All Day London Experience. Our tour guide was this really cute grandpa/brittish guy. He had a floor length trench coat, a cute Santa belly, a bow tie and an adorable accent. Our first stop was the St. Paul's cathedral. I saw the Light of the World painting that hangs in our living room at home. I love that cathedral I think it is so incredibly beautiful. We didn't have time to go to the Whispering Dome this time because they had to get ready for a wedding. Princess Diana got married in this cathedral. And the steps of the cathedral is where that old lady from Mary Poppins sang that song to the Pidgeons.
Next stop was Buckingham Palace. Again we couldn't see the changing of the guards for some reason. But we were able to harass some guards and Brianne pretending to grab one's butt...poor guy. I really do feel bad for them... but I took my picture anyways! The Palace was gorgeous, so many tourists it was insane!!! I would have loved to tour the inside but it is only open in the spring time along with Parliament. This palace is where Prince Charles and Camilla live. Supposedly no one really likes Camilla?
Lunch, Gringots Bank from Harry Potter, Trafalgar Square, then our boat tour. We got to tour the river and see the sights from that on the way to the London Tower. In the London Tower we saw the execution sight where many famous people were killed like some of King Henry the Eigths wives and others. We saw the place that the Boleyn Girl was held before she was killed. I cannot remember which girl it was where they had to chop at her head like 40 times before it came off... they were ask her to move her head left to right until it finally came off ... HORRIBLE! We also saw the ravens. The Brittish have this thing that there has to be six ravens held here at all times or else the London Tower and Bridge will fall. The raven caretaker has to be in the Brittish army for 25 years before taking care of the ravens. Once he does take care of the ravens he can go see the Queen at any time with just a snap of the fingers. We also saw the crown of jewels. I found my favorite ring there.
While visiting London I definitely realized that it is a 'city experience.' We had many crazy encounters. When walking to our early morning tour a man in a bagel shop ordered an egg bagel and the man who worked there pulled out a 8 inch long butcher knife, jumped over the counter and held it to his heart yelling "YOU WANT EGG!!!?" I don't know what this was all about apparently you should never order egg bagels in London. Also while at the Westminster Abbey Station an emo girl dressed in all black and hot pink had twenty black balloons. Obviously tripped out on some insane drug shown by the crazy smile on her face. She would run run run as fast as she could with the balloons flaling behind her and then do crazy twists and turns with her arms and legs like a modern dance. People were laughing and video camering her. I thought it was hilarious until I got on the escalator and she stod right behind me with her balloons. It was then that I became terrified! Lastly, we went shopping on Oxford Street for awhile and someone that morning and shattered all the windows to the Rolex store and stolen pretty much everything eeee.
Sunday we went to Abbey Road, ate lunch at a pub by the London Bridge with my friend Jenny. Then we all went to Harrods. I was so glad we went since I had not seen it last time and it is incredible. Each room has its own theme and its decked out. A chocolate room, tea room, christmas room, ice cream room, Versace Room, Chanel Room...etc etc. Jenny, Brianne and I split the Sundae for 10 pounds and it was huge and gorgeous!! not to mention delicious.
Overall my trip was incredible. I feel rejuvenated from seeing my friend Jenny (she is studying in Milan and will be my roommate when I come back). I leave for my week long trip to Italy on Thursday night and I am so excited!!
Natalie
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