OH MY LONDON!
My trip to London was beyond my wildest dreams! After living in a place for so long, where every conversation starts with, “do you speak English,” it was such a refreshing weekend to hear my natural language spoken. Not only that! There were endless wonderful, floury English accents swirling around the city wherever I went.
It started out late on Valentines Day. Seren and I flew into Luton airport, which according to the hostel guy is the “shittyest airport in London.” He told me this before laughing and hanging up. I didn’t think it was so bad, though we did have to ride a bus for 2 hours before we actually made it into the city.
We looked for a place to eat out on Valentines Day, but alas we had to settle for McDonalds the only place open at 11:50. Romantic no? Haha, but I was just so happy to have made it to London.
We stayed in a hostel called Ashlee House. I got very little sleep in the hostel because we got up so early, but it was worth it. The next morning we went to the British museum and had a guided tour. I saw the Rossetta stone and everything! That place was huge! Seren was just going crazy to actually be in the museum. I was worried one of us would have a heart attack. Actually I was worried Seren would have the heart attack, and I would get run over by a double-decker bus while absentmindedly skipping across Abbey road.
Afterwards we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, a tower giant of buildings. We walked into the basement part, which turned out to be a crypt. we wondered where we were. Surely, we thought, such a tall cathedral would have a higher roof than the dark dank room we found ourselves in. Then we found the steps up. Low and behold, it was like a second sky when I looked up at the ceiling. It streatched up forever and I couldn’t even see the top. We climbed all the way, stopping when we reached what we thought was the top; a curcular balcony that looked down on the rest of the church. Through we only discovered that this was but ¼ of the way up. There were even more steps. 259 total, which seems like such a lie to me. I thought I might throw myself onto the ground in exhaustion a few times, but I fought the urge. The view was worth it. We looked down at the puny roads only to have them distorted by distance. It was an incredible discovery. Looking up into the arches, I felt so lost in the grand existence of such a creation.
At dark we found our way to a cute pub called the Lucas Arms Pub. It was cozy, and bartenders were friendly. I had a half pint, just for the experience even though I hate beer. Of course the bartenders chuckled at our girly orders. The table across from us held the more common type of customers. People so drunk they began playing strip-spin-the-beer-bottle. It was quite entertaining actually.
We got back to the Hostel, exhausted, but we met some nice French guys who wanted us to join them at another bar called O'Neill's. Seren and I exchanged a glance and thought, why not. I’d never been bar hopping. And this place turned out to be REALLY popular. It was packed from end to end. We never found the French boys who were to meet us there, but Seren and I danced the night away and enjoyed ourselves listening to great music.
Saturday was the fullest day of all. We went to Big Ben, The tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace to watch the guards change, and Westminster Abby.
Westminster Abby was my favorite. Such a place of history. I gazed with wonder at all the tombs. Chaucer, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and poets who I’ve read for years: Alexander Pope, Wordsworth, and Shakespeare even! Though a lot of those were just commemorate plaques.
At night oh my! Oh my! What a night I had to enjoy. We went to Lord of The Rings the Musical! It was SO terrible! But so wonderful at the same time. haha. I got to see Gandalf dance, what a treasure. It was some of the worst acting I’ve ever seen, but the dancing Orcs were pretty fantastic, and the Ringwraith was frightening!
That night in bed, wrapped in my coat for warmth, I was awoken by the most unpleasant of things. The French boys returned to our room, totally pissed, and one of them brought a girl. I couldn’t fall asleep after that, as the couple began going at it, making little noise, but enough to keep me awake. And in a room of ten other people! I was reasonably grossed out, just hoping that they would hurry it up. I guess it was at least warmer for them than it was for me. London was freezing!
Our last day in London we went to the British Museum and saw the terracotta warriors from the Qin Dynasty in China. They were so alive, it was almost scary looking into their stoic faces. We had to wait in line for hours to see them, as it was a once in a lifetime chance. I was so impressed to lay eyes on something so old, that exuded so much power. I wished I could have touched one.
At last we finally made it to the tower of London. I would have wanted to live there, had I been alive then. And not in the torture chamber, mind you. It was like a little walled city. There was a whole museum dedicated to the crown jewels. Shiny! So sparkly! I had no idea how many times the crowns were remade, and the stones reset. What used to be the biggest diamond the world was there, but of course they had to cut it down. It was still beautiful of course, but only the size of my fist instead of the size of my face. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration :P
Then it was to Abbey Road! So much publicity, for just a little road. I was so happy to go though. It was dark dark DARK when we got there, but we made it after all. Too bad I didn’t know any songs from the Abbey Road album to sing.
The last pub we went to was the most amazing. It was called the Marlborough Head, and was decorated to look like a mysterious house, a haunted mansion, or something out of clue. I asked the bar tender where the bathroom was and he pointed to a bookcase. I looked back at him and said, “you’re kidding right?” “Nope. Just watch,” he replied and pushed on the bookcase to reveal a secret door. Then we got Treacle pudding tart! Like in Alice in Wonderland! It was a dream of mine to eat some, and it was absolutely scrumptious. And so was London in general! So glad I made it.
It started out late on Valentines Day. Seren and I flew into Luton airport, which according to the hostel guy is the “shittyest airport in London.” He told me this before laughing and hanging up. I didn’t think it was so bad, though we did have to ride a bus for 2 hours before we actually made it into the city.
We looked for a place to eat out on Valentines Day, but alas we had to settle for McDonalds the only place open at 11:50. Romantic no? Haha, but I was just so happy to have made it to London.
We stayed in a hostel called Ashlee House. I got very little sleep in the hostel because we got up so early, but it was worth it. The next morning we went to the British museum and had a guided tour. I saw the Rossetta stone and everything! That place was huge! Seren was just going crazy to actually be in the museum. I was worried one of us would have a heart attack. Actually I was worried Seren would have the heart attack, and I would get run over by a double-decker bus while absentmindedly skipping across Abbey road.
Afterwards we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, a tower giant of buildings. We walked into the basement part, which turned out to be a crypt. we wondered where we were. Surely, we thought, such a tall cathedral would have a higher roof than the dark dank room we found ourselves in. Then we found the steps up. Low and behold, it was like a second sky when I looked up at the ceiling. It streatched up forever and I couldn’t even see the top. We climbed all the way, stopping when we reached what we thought was the top; a curcular balcony that looked down on the rest of the church. Through we only discovered that this was but ¼ of the way up. There were even more steps. 259 total, which seems like such a lie to me. I thought I might throw myself onto the ground in exhaustion a few times, but I fought the urge. The view was worth it. We looked down at the puny roads only to have them distorted by distance. It was an incredible discovery. Looking up into the arches, I felt so lost in the grand existence of such a creation.
At dark we found our way to a cute pub called the Lucas Arms Pub. It was cozy, and bartenders were friendly. I had a half pint, just for the experience even though I hate beer. Of course the bartenders chuckled at our girly orders. The table across from us held the more common type of customers. People so drunk they began playing strip-spin-the-beer-bottle. It was quite entertaining actually.
We got back to the Hostel, exhausted, but we met some nice French guys who wanted us to join them at another bar called O'Neill's. Seren and I exchanged a glance and thought, why not. I’d never been bar hopping. And this place turned out to be REALLY popular. It was packed from end to end. We never found the French boys who were to meet us there, but Seren and I danced the night away and enjoyed ourselves listening to great music.
Saturday was the fullest day of all. We went to Big Ben, The tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace to watch the guards change, and Westminster Abby.
Westminster Abby was my favorite. Such a place of history. I gazed with wonder at all the tombs. Chaucer, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and poets who I’ve read for years: Alexander Pope, Wordsworth, and Shakespeare even! Though a lot of those were just commemorate plaques.
At night oh my! Oh my! What a night I had to enjoy. We went to Lord of The Rings the Musical! It was SO terrible! But so wonderful at the same time. haha. I got to see Gandalf dance, what a treasure. It was some of the worst acting I’ve ever seen, but the dancing Orcs were pretty fantastic, and the Ringwraith was frightening!
That night in bed, wrapped in my coat for warmth, I was awoken by the most unpleasant of things. The French boys returned to our room, totally pissed, and one of them brought a girl. I couldn’t fall asleep after that, as the couple began going at it, making little noise, but enough to keep me awake. And in a room of ten other people! I was reasonably grossed out, just hoping that they would hurry it up. I guess it was at least warmer for them than it was for me. London was freezing!
Our last day in London we went to the British Museum and saw the terracotta warriors from the Qin Dynasty in China. They were so alive, it was almost scary looking into their stoic faces. We had to wait in line for hours to see them, as it was a once in a lifetime chance. I was so impressed to lay eyes on something so old, that exuded so much power. I wished I could have touched one.
At last we finally made it to the tower of London. I would have wanted to live there, had I been alive then. And not in the torture chamber, mind you. It was like a little walled city. There was a whole museum dedicated to the crown jewels. Shiny! So sparkly! I had no idea how many times the crowns were remade, and the stones reset. What used to be the biggest diamond the world was there, but of course they had to cut it down. It was still beautiful of course, but only the size of my fist instead of the size of my face. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration :P
Then it was to Abbey Road! So much publicity, for just a little road. I was so happy to go though. It was dark dark DARK when we got there, but we made it after all. Too bad I didn’t know any songs from the Abbey Road album to sing.
The last pub we went to was the most amazing. It was called the Marlborough Head, and was decorated to look like a mysterious house, a haunted mansion, or something out of clue. I asked the bar tender where the bathroom was and he pointed to a bookcase. I looked back at him and said, “you’re kidding right?” “Nope. Just watch,” he replied and pushed on the bookcase to reveal a secret door. Then we got Treacle pudding tart! Like in Alice in Wonderland! It was a dream of mine to eat some, and it was absolutely scrumptious. And so was London in general! So glad I made it.
posted by Integrity at 3:57 PM
2 Comments:
that sounds simply delightful! i'm so glad you had a good time and i love reading about all your adventures
wow..that sounds like quite an adventure. thats funny. a few weeks ago i went to a bar where they had a magical bookcase as well. it was kind of set up as a speak easy..you needed a password to get in the bar too
"books"
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