"You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." -Samuel Johnson
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So once upon a time, back in the time where I had braces, I went to London with my mother. Yes, it was right after 8th grade. It really was an amazing trip, and the entire time we have been studying abroad, it has been the one place that I have been DYING to go to. And we could not have picked a better time to go.
London is known for its rain. And given how we have had horrible weather in Barcelona, wherever we've travelled, etc.....I was expecting the worse. I brought my Uggs, heavy coats, long sleeve shirts, and more snuggly items. However, the entire time we were in London...not one drop of rain. What a fabulous thing!
So anyway, I get off the train at Euston Train Station not exactly knowing how to come into contact with anyone given my lack of phone. So I grab a bagel...yum....and cross the street to the Travelodge where they kindly let me pay for their internet. Got into contact with everybody and tried to figure out how to meet them. I found a guy who worked down at the tube, and he helped me map out how to get where I was going. Well somehow I ended up on some train that was going the wrong way and I just gave up and got off. I ended up paying 12 pounds for a taxi ride...but it did take me through a pretty scenic tour through Hyde Park, so maybe it was worth the money. I got to the apartment where some of us were staying, but I didn't know which flat was theirs. So I waited outside until a girl came out and let me in. Once we were finally all in one place, we began our London tour.
Since I didn't know we were waiting to have lunch and I had just had my scrumptious bagel, I just sat there while everyone had the supposedly "better than Chipotle" fast food Mexican. It did look pretty great. Everyone was definitely satisfied afterwards. Then we walked on. I loved all the greenery in London...there were tulips everywhere and green grass. It was such a shift from the dirty streets of Barcelona. We definitely need more tulips here. Anyway, so we walked down the Millenium bridge, walked through a harbor, walked across Tower Bridge, walked around Tower of London, and eventually took the tube to Harrods.
(Example of London's beauty!)
Harrods was quite how I remembered....overly large, ovelry priced, overly touristy, and overly AMAZING. Girls and boys separated....girls to see perfumes and purses....guys to see plasma TVs and weirdo gadgets. We even went to see the animal floor...which was precious. There were little baby puppies....yes there was a yorkie...and yes I wanted to cry....I miss Lou. Anyway, I thought I should get Lou something, but there was nothingggggg in my price range. There was even a dog designed called Holly & Lily, kinda like Holly & Louis....but the collars were outrageous....like a lot a lot a lot. And while we were in Harrods, I got the urge to get my fringe cut again like I did with my mom back in the good ole days. And after that, I do know that my face shape cannot handle a blunt bang, but I was thinking side swept, and what a fun London tradition I could have. But alas, I did not cut my hair.
(Michael outside Westminister Abbey. I just really like this picture of him!)
Afterwards, Pete and I met Austin and we walked around some more. This day consisted of the most walking I think we have done since Rome. Yikes. We walked through Hyde Park during sunset and it was gorgeous. We saw the Princess Diana memorial there, and it was stunning. It was simple, symbolic and peaceful....I really couldn't imagine anything more perfect for her. Then we went to grab our stuff and go drop it off at Austin's. We quickly got ready and went to meet everyone for dinner at this restaurant called Little India. In the means of full disclosure, I have never had Indian food before. Ever. So I decided to branch out from my pasta and pizza and see what all the fuss was about. I do have to say that Indian was much better than I thought it would be. I definitely think I will try it again!
Then we went back to the other apartment to have some wine and hang out. And they were playing beer pong....something I have not seen in over 4 months! There was Law and Order on the TV and American hip-hop songs busting from the speakers. I was in heaven. It was like being back in America...but when I looked out the window, Hyde Park was across the street. After hanging out for awhile, we headed out to Piccadilly Circus to go to some club...not even sure what the name of it was.
Once we got there, we stood in line to get in....where we got carded! I have not been carded in a long time...and while I haven't really missed it...it was kind of refreshing. So weird to say. Anyway, Katherine ended up meeting us there and it was like an MICDS reunion....Katherine, Austin, Peter, Michael and me. It was a lot of fun. We left on the earlier side, but not without stopping by Austin's kebab place. It had amazing fries. So delicious. And then we went to bed.
The next morning was a little rough, and I didn't quite make it out of bed until 12ish. Austin, Peter and I walked down the street to this cute place that not even Austin had been to. It was called Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and we had amazing fries, amazing burgers, and sat in the gorgeous sun. The other half of the group was at Wagamama for lunch, so Peter and I wandered over to that area to meet them. On the way, we found a bookstore where Peter got a book called "Freakanomics" and I got a huge 500 page Beatles book. I haven't started it yet, but I will. Then we all left to do touristy things.
(Just a simple stroll through the park.)
We got off the tube at Big Ben and Parliament where it was so crowded. It actually got a lot colder than it was earlier in the morning, so Peter and I were freezing with no coats. We both got some pretty sweet London gear...my hoodie saying "I HEART London" and Pete's navy shirt saying London, England with a zip up sweater saying London to match. We were quite the cute tourists. We all took picutres of Big Ben, Parliament and the London Eye. Oh, and until that day, I thought that Big Ben was named Big Bend....I was trying to figure out why I would just randomly add a "D" to the end of a huge historical monument in London....then it hit me.....Big Bend Road in St. Louis. I really should be blonde. I looked for the Saatchi Gallery, but couldn't find it...sorry Mama.
(Sweet London gear in front of "Big Bend.")
(London town.)
Then we walked through Westminister Abbey and the whole area. Then we strolled over to Buckingham Palace while also going through a gorgeous park on the way....can't really recall its name, but it was so pretty! Michael was convinced that the park put fake swans in the lake to make it look better. It made no sense because all the ducks were moving. It took a good couple of minutes to convince him that those were REAL swans. Anyway, once we got to Buckingham Palace, we all stood outside and admired the guards. We couldn't figure out how they could stand so still and why anyone would want such a job. It almost seemed like punishment...not an honor. That would just be awfully boring.
(Michael pondering the swans...are they real or are they not?)
That night, I really wanted to see Mamma Mia. I was convinced that there was no way cheap tickets would sell out, so of course I waited until 2 hours before the show to find tickets. Well of course the show was sold out, so of course scalpers were selling tickets for outrageous amounts. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it. But it is okay. I'll just watch the movie! After strolling around looking for tickets, Peter and I went in and out of shops to look at souvenirs. Since I was a little bit bummed about not seeing the show, Pete bought me a Cinnabon to cheer me up. It was sooooo goooooood. Then we headed back to the other apartment.
(Pete outside Buckingham Palace.)
The big Barca and Real Madrid game was that night, so we all went to a typical British pub to watch the festivities go down. It was actually a lot of fun watching the game. We ordered pub food....think fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding.....and had a really fun time. We were there for a few hours and were all completely wiped out after a long day.
Sunday morning, we all woke up to go on The Beatles walking tour. It was a lot of fun! We saw where Paul McCartney's offices area, the studio where Hey Jude! was recorded, where John and Yoko met, the old HQ for Apple and the rooftop where their famous last concert was played, and of course...Abbey Road! I thought it would be cool to look for my mom's and my signature on the outside of Abbey Road studios...where we wrote it 8 years ago. I later found out that they paint over that wall 6 times a year. So if you calculate, our signatures were hidden under 48 layers of paint....so we didn't find them. Then we took the typical Abbey Road pictures while making all the cars passing through extremely peeved.
(Meghan, Michael, me, Peter or....George, Paul, Ringo and John)
Then we went to this GREAT authentic Chinese food restaurant....still doesn't beat Yen Ching though! After lunch, we went back to Austin's apartment to pack up and meet up with Katherine. We finally got to our bus, which took us to the airport, and then we were gone back to Barca. Finally got home that night after a long travel day....and crashed. I didn't want to leave London. It was so fun to see so many familiar faces...be around Mizzou people...speak English....eat American like foods....
(Listen, do you want to know a secret?
Do you promise not to tell?
Close, let me whisper in your ear.
Say the words you long to hear...
I'm in love with you.)
Lucky for me, I believe I will be returning to London for a short period of time in a few weeks. How amazing would that be! If I didn't have my love for the Spanish language, I think I definitely would've studied abroad in London. It is such a fun, beautiful, culturally rich city! And while the pound sucks...its not that much worse from the euro! Either way, I'm so happy that I have been in Barcelona. But yes, I do heart London.
