It's Big Ben, in case you couldn't tell. How amazing is that? I totally wasn't expecting it. We were really close to the Thames, so we could have crossed over and gone to the London Eye, but we decided to walk around and see the House of Parliament. The House of Parliament is literally the most beautiful building that I've ever seen. I can't imagine what's in there, it's huge. It's so beautiful though, I love it.
Seriously though, I can't get over it. Anyway the first picture is of me, Kate, and Erin. They both go to Boston College but didn't know each other before they got here. We stood and stared at the House of Parliament for a while and decided to come back in October when Parliament is in session to take a tour and see the House of Commons and everything.
After that we went to Westminster Abbey, which is right across the street. It was really beautiful and also quite large. It cost 12 pounds to go inside and we decided to do that another day as well. I'm embarrassed to say this, but I didn't know what Westminster Abbey was until I got there. Apparently Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are buried in there, which I find really cool.
At that point I pulled out my map so we could find our way to Buckingham Palace.
I'm not sure how you spell his name, but Talho is from Manchester and he was the one in the group that did most of the map reading, although I tried. (I love maps.) We walked for a while until we found Buckingham Gate and the Palace.The area around Buckingham Palace reminded me a lot of Washington DC. It was very high security, (I saw the guards!) and it looked very pristine and open. The Palace didn't look as palace-like as I expected it too, but it was really big. All of these buildings are really big. There were only three guards in red suits and we'd missed the changing of the guards; it happened earlier in the morning. I guess you can take a tour of Buckingham Palace up until October 2, when the Queen comes back from Windsor Palace. Unfortunately I didn't see Harry today, but maybe he'll be there next time I go.
Next we walked into Green Park and sat down to enjoy the scenery. Green Park was gigantic and really beautiful, probably my favorite park that I've ever been in. Hyde Park and St. James's Park were also nearby. The people there were intrigued by the squirrels, Talho said that there aren't a lot of squirrels around here. They had a ton of free lawn chairs that people were sitting in the sun in, reading and talking. It was really a nice day to do that, about 75 degrees and sunny.
After that, we took the path and walked towards St. James's. St. James's is a really really expensive section of London; the first thing we passed was the Ritz Carlton. All of the stores looked pretty, we even passed the place where Elizabeth James had her dress shop in the Parent Trap. We stumbled around for a while looking for a pub to have lunch in. We eventually found Tom Green on a side street a bit farther away from the main part of St. James's. I had a steak burger and fries, which was really good. I wanted to order my first pub beer but I was afraid I wouldn't like what they had on tap, so I ended up just getting a Corona with lime. (I know, I'm such a typical American.) It turned out to be a good thing that I didn't order the house beer because I tried someone's and it was gross.
We next walked to Piccadilly Circus, which reminded me of Times Square in NYC. It didn't have anything special like the New Year's Ball and definitely wasn't as big or crowded, but it was pretty similar. We walked through there and on to Lelcester Square, which was the theatre district. The premier of "Eat, Pray, Love" was today and they had a huge set up and apparently Julia Roberts was there, but we didn't see her.
I pulled out my map again and led us to Trafalgar Square. That was pretty awesome as well. It looked like something you see in the movies-tons of people, a museum, a fountain, a statue, and Big Ben in the background. I liked it there, but it was a bit crowded. I guess there are supposed to be tons of pigeons there but I didn't see any really.
After that long day, everyone was tired so we knew it was time to go back. We took the Bakerloo line to Embankment and got back on the District Line to Mile End. I liked the tube, it was similar to the NY subway. You have to make sure you tag in and out or else you get charged. Also don't forget to mind the gap, as if there weren't enough reminders everywhere.
I really liked walking around London today, and boy was it a walk. I was very wrapped up in my map and in looking at all the sights, but I was amazed at how many different kinds of people there were there all walking around doing the same thing I was. In some ways it's like NYC in that there are tons of tourists, but it's also a much more diverse pool of people and there are so many people everywhere. I had fun today :)
When we got back at about 7 we relaxed for a bit and Kate and I met our new flatmate from Scandinavia. Then we headed out to Drapers at 8:45 with Anna to meet Sammi and Erin. I ended up talking to this cute guy from Rome and he told me all the things he liked and disliked about Rome compared to London. He said London is very organized compared to Rome. It's hard to find things and Rome and the transportation isn't reliable and he also said that school system in London is also much better. His favorite places in Europe for weather are Rome and Spain, but for living and the city are Berlin and the UK. I really like talking to the Europeans and getting their opinions on everything. I'll listen to whatever they have to tell me.
We left around 11:30 and came back to our rooms. I'm not sure why it took me so long to get on here and post this, I guess because I showered and I was skyping with my friend from Nova, Meaghan. There are loads of people outside my dorm still, it reminds me of Stanford freshman year, but I'm going to sleep now. Kate and I are going to talk to the head of the politics department about a British Politics class and then we all have to go to Sainsbury's to buy cheap t shirts and shorts for the Neon Rave at Ministry of Sound tomorrow night. xoxo
M
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