lovely london :)

            London was absolutely amazing! It is not really what I expected (although I’m not exactly sure what I did expect), and it was extra-perfect because of the fact that we experienced REAL English culture more so than just doing the “tourist” things.

            We flew in on Thursday evening and were immediately immersed in British accents. I loved it! We decided that the English language sounds so much more intelligent, proper, and polite when it is spoken with a British accent. We stayed in a hotel close to the airport we flew in to (which was northeast of downtown London) and then Friday morning we took a 2 hour bus ride to get to where we were staying for the next two nights (which was southwest of downtown London).

            The woman who we stayed with is a friend of Kayla’s family, and is one of the most hospitable women I’ve ever met. She is an 81 year old woman from India who comes up to about my shoulder. We weren’t expecting anything more than simply a place to stay from her, but she insisted on feeding us (tons of food! huge breakfasts in the morning and then for dinner PILES of pasta, etc…) whenever we were home. It was very convenient to get into town from her house, which was really nice.

 

            London’s public transportation is the best that I’ve seen anywhere. I know I’m not exactly an expert on this subject, but it’s cheaper, faster, and easier than any other transportation system I’ve used. I’m quite proud of how quickly we mastered using the buses and the “Tube”. Another reason I loved the public transportation was because it was such an interesting place to watch people. All sorts of people ride on those metros! A few times, I started talking to whoever was sitting or standing next to me. I had a couple of the best conversations I’ve ever had… and they were with complete strangers! I know I’ll probably never see those people again, but talking with them helped me to see how every individual has a story to tell… And each person’s story is no more or less important than anyone else’s.

 

            On Friday night, we went downtown to the Museum of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Picadilly Circus. The cathedral is MASSIVE. I felt so small standing next to it! There was a clock tower on one side, and being the dumb tourists that we were, we thought it was Big Ben at first. We were really excited for a minute until we realized it was most definitely NOT Big Ben. Picadilly Circus was really cool to see at night. It was all lit up and there were tons of people. I felt like I was in New York City! We strolled through Chinatown as well, which was really fun. There were all sorts of fun decorations hanging above the streets and it smelled like delicious Chinese food everywhere.

 

            Saturday was our huge sightseeing day. Our first stop was Buckingham Palace, where we (kind of) watched the changing of the guards. There were TONS of people there, so it was hard to see. But honestly, we didn’t really know the significance of changing the guards anyways so we just enjoyed the sun and taking pictures of fences and the back of people’s heads. J

 

            Next we walked over to Big Ben (the real one), the House of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. They were all so beautiful! We didn’t stay long because it was pretty chilly outside, but it was an amazing feeling to just be standing in the midst of all those famous landmarks. The British Museum was our next stop, and that was really cool. It is the biggest museum in the world! We found out how big it was very quickly since it took me and Kayla at least forty minutes just to find the section we wanted to look through. 

After the musuem, we went to the Millenium bridge. (there is a picture of me and Kayla in front of it) It crosses the Thames River between St. Pual's Cathedral and the Tate Museum of Modern Art. The view was so, so beautiful. We came to it at the perfect time because we got to see it in the daylight, and then after we walked through the Tate we got to see it again at night. From the bridge we could see the London bridge and the London eye in the distance. The Tate Modern was very cool as well. Art museums are not necessarily up my alley, but I really enjoyed it!

Overall, I would say that going to London was definitely worth the trip. I do have more to say about it but right now I'm getting a call on Skype from a very special friend. The rest will come later! (soon!)