I Love London!

Modern Architecture in London

I had an incredible time in London this weekend. Since I have been so homesick, it was wonderful being in a place that was a lot more similar to home than Spain is. It was so comfortable and easy to get around with everything in English. I hadn't been in a place where the dominant language was English since arriving in September, and I'm not sure I had realized how much I miss it. Not only was the language great, and the accent even better, but the city has so much to offer.

Rebecca and I took a late flight from Sevilla on Thursday night and arrived at Erica's house around 2 am. Ryanair flies to an airport 90 minutes outside of the city, so we had to take a bus from the airport. Erica welcomed us into her super warm home (something non-existent in Sevilla) and we climbed the seemingly endless stairs to her room. We went to sleep almost immediately because we had London to conquer over the next few days.

Beefeater at Tower of London

On Friday, we went to the Tower of London. It was quite different than I remembered (I pictured more of a tower) but it was pretty and surrounded by awesome modern buildings. We did a tour led by a Beefeater, who was very funny and dramatic. He startled a little girl and made her cry, which probably would have been me many (or not too many) years ago. After the tour, Rebecca and I saw some of the exhibitions but mostly ran through them because we were meeting Erica and her sister for tea. We attempted to take the Tube to tea and make it there on time, but there were delays and we ran around asking everyone how to get there. That is where English came in handy. Eventually, we took a different route on the Tube and made it there quite late. It was in a very fancy hotel called The Landmark, and we joined Erica and her sister, who already had their tea and food. We ordered our own and feasted and caught up on life. The food was incredible - tons of tiny, delicious sandwiches and endless different mini desserts. We sat there for three hours, finishing with the most delicious scones with jelly and clotted cream. It cost 40 Pounds, and I may have gained 40 pounds from it, but it was worth it. I wish I could dine like that everyday. After tea, we rushed home to get ready to go to a bar. We were trying to beat the time when the bar charges a cover, but we got totally lost right around the area. Luckily, Erica just barged in and told them we had a table so we never got charged. The place was playing great music, but it was somewhat awkward because only a few people were dancing, including me. We hung out there for a few hours and headed home for bed. Apparently, Prince Harry goes there sometimes. :)

Afternoon Tea

The next day was one of the most touristy things-packed of my life. We started off with a walking tour of Westminster, led by an adorable British lady who seemed exactly like an English professor. We saw all the necessary buildings - Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament. It was great to have someone show us all the hot spots and give us an adorably worded description of them. After the tour, we walked to Trafalgar Square and saw the monuments there. We crossed the Thames and headed to Borough Market. But along the way, we found the best thing in the world for English-deprived Sevillanas - a book fair! I'm pretty sure we spent half an hour there scanning every title. I ended up buying two books, as that is all Ryanair would allow me space for. I was like a kid in a candy store, though. We eventually continued along and ended up at Borough Market, where I spent another hour deciding what to eat. I ended up with curry and banoffee pie...both delicious. The market was wonderful and it was great to see such a diversity of food. Next, we stopped at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, but all we could see without paying to get in was the outside. In a moment of daring spontaneity, Rebecca followed a group of students in on a tour. Apparently they sat in the audience and then started singing on stage, so she snuck on to the back of a tour group in the theatre and caught the end of it. Lucky girl. I waited outside with some necessary coffee and my newly purchased books. Then we headed to the Tate Modern museum. It was really big and full of incredible modern art. We zipped through it because we had to make it to the theatre on time! Earlier in the day, we had randomly stopped at a discount ticket booth and secured two tickets to see Wicked. I had seen the show before and loved it so I was pumped to get some theatrical culture back into my life. The theatre was quite big and we were in the second-to-last row, so it wasn't the world's greatest view, but the show, set, and costumes were incredible. Plus, I discovered the binoculars for rent at intermission so I could actually see some of their faces. The actress who played Elphaba had the most amazing voice, so I had chills for most of the show. It also made me miss belting out "Defying Gravity" with Kathy most nights of the week during college. After the show that I never wanted to end, we got some Italian food and a very quick drink at a pub. Everything in London closes super early, which I like more than the schedule of Spain. The last call for the pub was at midnight and the Tube closed soon after, so we rushed home. What a day!

Big Ben

Tate Modern

On Sunday, we went to attempt to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. It turns out that you can only see the majority of the ceremony from a very small part, but I saw the procession in and out of the band and guards. It probably was not worth standing there for an hour for 5 minutes of excitement though. I got off the Tube at King's Cross Station to try to be a Harry Potter tourist. I saw the space between tracks 9 and 10 but apparently missed the shopping cart stuck in a wall in the lobby of the station. Whoops. I continued along to the Angel stop, where I wandered around before meeting Erica for the ballet. There was a mall there with stores I miss from home, like Gap. Too bad everything was in Pounds and too expensive. I enjoyed a burrito, something Sevilla is also missing, and a yummy milkshake. I met up with Erica at Sadler's Wells Theatre to see a ballet of Cinderella. It was set in the time of the London Blitz. The show was amazing - the set, the plot, the DANCING! They made everything seem so effortless, and they did it in high heels. I would like to be able to do any move that they did in the show. It was a total pleasure to watch. After that, we got some Nando's chicken for dinner and had a lazy night in, watching It's Complicated and eating Ben and Jerry's FroYo.

Buckingham Palace

I slept in a bit on Monday with the sound of rain on the skylight. I packed up for my trip home and headed out to explore Notting Hill. It was such a cute neighborhood, filled with fancy white houses. I walked up and down the streets and saw the cutest thing ever - a group of school girls all dressed in the exact same grey pea coats, red pants, rain boots, and hats. It looked like a picture out of Madeline. British children are coming in a close second place to Moroccan kids for cuteness. I went into endless bookstores and fawned over all the titles I couldn't carry home. I also went to several grocery stores and wished I could buy all the food I'm missing in Spain. But I did get one more scone and a delicious bagel.

 Notting Hill

I got very lost on the way back to Erica's house but got there with the help of everyone's GPS on their phones. I grabbed my stuff and said a sad goodbye before making the trek to the airport. The bus to the airport was an hour late, so, for the first time ever, I was sprinting through the airport to catch my flight. I made it to the overcrowded plane, and the flight attendants eventually got the luggage out of the aisles so we could fly. I got home pretty late and went straight to bed because real life was happening again at 6:30 the next morning. I miss London already. I'm sure I'll be back there again someday. If only there weren't endless other places I wanted to visit first...