(no subject)
Just got back from London this morning. Running off of 3 hours of sleep due to my plane leaving at 7am and needing a 3:30am wake up call to have time to get to the airport.
The trip was short but really fun. Such a beautiful city. I got there at 330pm, Tuesday. By the time we left the airport, it was dusk since the sun sets really early so far up north. Got to my friend, Gavin's at around 6. He cooked me dinner and then we took a cab down to Big Ben. Took some pictures of the area then walked to Leicester square. We went to this really awesome pub that was built around a tree apparently. It had a bunch of different rooms you could sit in and it was just really relaxed. It was just a nice place to sit and talk. We had a couple of glasses of wine and caught up with each other. The place closed at 11 which is unheard of to me but he said that's a fairly common thing in London. It was ok though because I was pretty tired. Went back home and went to sleep.
The next day, Halloween, he had to work so I was on my own. I got up early and headed to the London dungeon. I was in the LOOONG line and I heard someone say that it was a 3 hour wait from where we were standing. I was seriously debating leaving and just buying my ticket that day and going the next day for a quicker line. As I was about to go, this girl came up to me and asked me how many I had in my group. One. So she then asked me if I would like to get into the dungeon in 10 minutes and only pay 10 pounds rather than 20. Didn't need to think twice. Apparently, she was in a group of about 7 and they had bought a 15 person group pass to make it cheaper and they just went through the line finding a few more people to make it 15. I was one of the lucky ones that they asked. It was a really fun and scary at times, haha. Pretty good history lessons though. After that, I just walked around for hours. For some reason it took me ages to find a place to eat. I kept finding either really expensive places or really gross places. I decided to head to Liecester square again because I remember seeing good places to eat around there. As soon as I got onto the street from the tube, I saw a burger king. I gave in and had a delicious double whopper. I forgot how good they were. After I ate, I didn't really know what to do and then I remembered I had wanted to get some books while in England since I can't really enjoy novels in french yet. I went to an information booth to ask where a good bookstore was. The guy told me that the biggest bookstore in europe was right down the road. I started heading there and realized the entire road (Charring Cross Road) was FULL of bookstores. New ones, chain ones, and tons of vintage and used bookstores. I went into practically every one. Spent a good hour and half on that road and got tons of books. After that, went back to the house where Gavin was and we headed out. Went to a few pubs and just had another relaxing night.
The next day, we went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I remember going there when I went to London with my parents when I was 5 years old and I LOVED it. It wasn't the same this time but it was still great. Obviously a lot bigger than the one in Amsterdam. It had a lot more interactive exhibits and at the end, a little ride to go through the history of London. Very fun. Afterwards, we got a nice english pub meal in Covent Garden. Saw a bunch of street performers there and everything. After our late lunch, we walked around London and went to see the main sites. Hyde park, Buckingham palace, Big Ben again, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. Then we headed over to the Victoria area to see WICKED!!!! It was such an incredible musical. I had heard a lot about it but it was seriously one of the best musicals I've ever seen. The fact that I got to see it in London made it that much better. I wanted to go out afterwards but I knew I was going to have to wake up super early, plus Gavin had to work this morning so we just went back and went to sleep, haha.
It was a great trip. I wish I had been there a little longer but I did get to see most of the things I wanted to see plus it was just so expensive despite not having to pay for lodging or most of my food/drinks. That definitely helped. I'll definitely go back for another visit before I head back to the states.
Things I learned from London:
- If a statue has a man on a horse and the horse has all four feet on the ground, it means the man died of natural causes; three feet means died from a wound after a battle; two feet means died in battle.
- There are thousands of security cameras all over the entire city.
- The women royal guards wear boring uniforms.
- The underground is one of (if not the) oldest subways in the world.
- Going to a discount ticket booth for shows is the only way to do it.
- Getting tickets early for Madam Tussaud's and the London Dungeon is a smart plan.
And since most people probably don't read this and just look for pictures...
Big Ben at night
Trifalgar Square at night
1/5 of the line for the London Dungeon
London Bridge
Sherlock Holmes
Daniel Radcliffe and I
Tom Cruise, Gavin and I. SCIENTOLOGY!!!
Johnny Depp, Gavin and I.
This is for you, Mom! Mary, Queen of Scotts.
Picadilly Circus
Trifalgar Square by day.
Gavin next to the lions
Me next to the lions.
Me getting down from the lions. Which was very difficult and scary.
Seeing the lions made me remember a video of when I was little and I was up on the lions back. So I tried to recreate it. Well apparently I must have gotten help to get up there because it was IMPOSSIBLE to do it on my own. Here's a video to document my attempt.
Hyde Park
SO pretty.
The Buck
The women guards who did NOT have the right uniforms. Pretty disappointed about that one.
Gavin and Westminster
Westminster
Blurry me and Ben
The London Eye
My favorite picture that I took
The Wicked Marquee
I'll have more pictures to add to this once Gavin uploads his. But until then!
The trip was short but really fun. Such a beautiful city. I got there at 330pm, Tuesday. By the time we left the airport, it was dusk since the sun sets really early so far up north. Got to my friend, Gavin's at around 6. He cooked me dinner and then we took a cab down to Big Ben. Took some pictures of the area then walked to Leicester square. We went to this really awesome pub that was built around a tree apparently. It had a bunch of different rooms you could sit in and it was just really relaxed. It was just a nice place to sit and talk. We had a couple of glasses of wine and caught up with each other. The place closed at 11 which is unheard of to me but he said that's a fairly common thing in London. It was ok though because I was pretty tired. Went back home and went to sleep.
The next day, Halloween, he had to work so I was on my own. I got up early and headed to the London dungeon. I was in the LOOONG line and I heard someone say that it was a 3 hour wait from where we were standing. I was seriously debating leaving and just buying my ticket that day and going the next day for a quicker line. As I was about to go, this girl came up to me and asked me how many I had in my group. One. So she then asked me if I would like to get into the dungeon in 10 minutes and only pay 10 pounds rather than 20. Didn't need to think twice. Apparently, she was in a group of about 7 and they had bought a 15 person group pass to make it cheaper and they just went through the line finding a few more people to make it 15. I was one of the lucky ones that they asked. It was a really fun and scary at times, haha. Pretty good history lessons though. After that, I just walked around for hours. For some reason it took me ages to find a place to eat. I kept finding either really expensive places or really gross places. I decided to head to Liecester square again because I remember seeing good places to eat around there. As soon as I got onto the street from the tube, I saw a burger king. I gave in and had a delicious double whopper. I forgot how good they were. After I ate, I didn't really know what to do and then I remembered I had wanted to get some books while in England since I can't really enjoy novels in french yet. I went to an information booth to ask where a good bookstore was. The guy told me that the biggest bookstore in europe was right down the road. I started heading there and realized the entire road (Charring Cross Road) was FULL of bookstores. New ones, chain ones, and tons of vintage and used bookstores. I went into practically every one. Spent a good hour and half on that road and got tons of books. After that, went back to the house where Gavin was and we headed out. Went to a few pubs and just had another relaxing night.
The next day, we went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I remember going there when I went to London with my parents when I was 5 years old and I LOVED it. It wasn't the same this time but it was still great. Obviously a lot bigger than the one in Amsterdam. It had a lot more interactive exhibits and at the end, a little ride to go through the history of London. Very fun. Afterwards, we got a nice english pub meal in Covent Garden. Saw a bunch of street performers there and everything. After our late lunch, we walked around London and went to see the main sites. Hyde park, Buckingham palace, Big Ben again, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. Then we headed over to the Victoria area to see WICKED!!!! It was such an incredible musical. I had heard a lot about it but it was seriously one of the best musicals I've ever seen. The fact that I got to see it in London made it that much better. I wanted to go out afterwards but I knew I was going to have to wake up super early, plus Gavin had to work this morning so we just went back and went to sleep, haha.
It was a great trip. I wish I had been there a little longer but I did get to see most of the things I wanted to see plus it was just so expensive despite not having to pay for lodging or most of my food/drinks. That definitely helped. I'll definitely go back for another visit before I head back to the states.
Things I learned from London:
- If a statue has a man on a horse and the horse has all four feet on the ground, it means the man died of natural causes; three feet means died from a wound after a battle; two feet means died in battle.
- There are thousands of security cameras all over the entire city.
- The women royal guards wear boring uniforms.
- The underground is one of (if not the) oldest subways in the world.
- Going to a discount ticket booth for shows is the only way to do it.
- Getting tickets early for Madam Tussaud's and the London Dungeon is a smart plan.
And since most people probably don't read this and just look for pictures...
Big Ben at night
Trifalgar Square at night
1/5 of the line for the London Dungeon
London Bridge
Sherlock Holmes
Daniel Radcliffe and I
Tom Cruise, Gavin and I. SCIENTOLOGY!!!
Johnny Depp, Gavin and I.
This is for you, Mom! Mary, Queen of Scotts.
Picadilly Circus
Trifalgar Square by day.
Gavin next to the lions
Me next to the lions.
Me getting down from the lions. Which was very difficult and scary.
Seeing the lions made me remember a video of when I was little and I was up on the lions back. So I tried to recreate it. Well apparently I must have gotten help to get up there because it was IMPOSSIBLE to do it on my own. Here's a video to document my attempt.
Click to viewHyde Park
SO pretty.
The Buck
The women guards who did NOT have the right uniforms. Pretty disappointed about that one.
Gavin and Westminster
Westminster
Blurry me and Ben
The London Eye
My favorite picture that I took
The Wicked Marquee
I'll have more pictures to add to this once Gavin uploads his. But until then!