My trip to London started off less than enjoyable. I decided to stay out and celebrate Arthur Guinness day instead of stay home and go to bed earlier since I had to be outside waiting for the bus to the airport at 5am. I was still feeling the drinks, and the hangover at the same time. Then to top it all off, once we got to the hotel around 10am we couldn't even check in for another 5 hours. Instead of going to sleep like I had planned, I went shopping. I didn't buy anything but it was fun to window shop. Not only does 1 pound equal about 2 dollars, the clothes are mostly high fashion and expensive anyway. We went into Harrod's. That was pretty crazy. It is the biggest most expensive store I have ever been in. The word massive doesn't do it justice. It was 4 or 5 floors, with escalators. Maybe about the size of Providence Place but it's just 1 store. Once the clock hit 3 I went back to the hotel and took the most glorious shower of my life. I just stayed in bed and watched the tele for the rest of the night until I fell asleep.
Saturday morning we had to be downstairs in the hotel lobby for our sightseeing tour. We went to all famous things in London. Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, London Towers, the Eye of London, Coveant Gardens and the Millenium Bride (from the newest Harry Potter). It was interesting to see all these things I've always seen on TV or in the moves in person. Everything had a story, and it was lovely to see. After the guided tour was over we got to go out on our own. We all bought oyster cards for the subway and explored. We went to King's Cross station and found Platform 9 and 3/4. This was seroiusly probably the highlight of London. I was so excited! We then made our way over to the St. John Wood station and found Abbey Road. It looks exactly what I imagined. The crosswalk is on a normal road, and the locals don't exactly enjoy the load of people that were stopping in the crosswalk to re-enact the famous Beatles picture. There was lots of beeping, and flailing arms.
Saturday night was for Broadway! Everyone else went to go see Grease (which I've already seen :D) but Kendra, Kara and I went to go see the Lion King. I can not reccomend this play enough. I was blown away. The way that they portray the animals is so creative. The voices on the actors are also amazing. The woman who plays Rafiki had the strongest most powerful singing voice I have ever heard. It was well worth the money and I'll definitely go see it again if I ever have the chance. We found a bar and grille afterwards to go have dinner. I had a jalapeno and chili burger. Not an American burger but it was still yummy. We decided to be responsible and not go out so we just went back to our hotels. Kara and Kendra were staying in a hostel kind of far away so I took the subway by myself most of the way home, and then walked from the subway to the hotel alone. Being the paranoid person I am I put my camera, vera bradley, and money in my jacket figuring if I got mugged they could have my bag :). When I got back to the hotel the rest of the girls were already back from Grease. We just stayed in and had a girls night. We decided to walk to the 24 hour store down the street around 1am to get some ice cream and snacks and I got laughed at for my pajamas...a few times. I guess not many people walk around in boxer shorts and mocassins in London.
Sunday we had to check out and got to do whatever we wanted. We decided to take advantage of the free museums near by. We went to the natural history, and an art museum. They were so huge and the architecture of the building was incredible. I'm not sure what the building was before a museum but the gargoyles and all the fixtures were beautiful. Lindsey and I then went to do a little shopping and found a sushi restaraunt (the 1st in Europe). It was then time to go back to the hotel and then to the airport. It was very warm without a cloud in the sky when we left that morning, so we didn't bring umbreallas. We got stuck in a very heavy rain storm. Completely soaked by the time we got to the hotel. Although not my favorite place, London was sure pretty sweet. Oh! We also saw that lady I think from India who is famous for having so many piercings in the subway station. She was quite the sight!
10 more days until Italy and I just booked my flight to Poland for Thanksgiving weekend. LIFE IS GOOD!
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