Weekend in (not so) foggy London town!

Well this post might be a little long since the weekend was so incredible. Bear with me here.

So where should I even begin? First, our trip took place from Thursday afternoon to Sunday night and we were constantly moving and having a great time. There was a group of 7 of us who braved Ryanair and took the very short plane ride across Ireland and England to the amazing city of London. After arriving at Gatwick airport and traveling into the city center, I got to my friend's apartment at Queen Mary College where he is studying for the semester. After getting settled we headed down to the Covent Garden section of London which is the theatre district. It is right next to Picadilly Circus which is like London's Times Square (though it does not compare at all). So for Thursday night we explored that section of the city with all its shops, street performers, markets, and all kinds of other interesting places.

Friday morning was the ultimate tourist day where I took pictures of anything and everything. First on the agenda was Buckingham Palace and the changing of the royal guard. There were hundreds of people crowded outside the palace to see the changing of the guard and it turned out to be quite the spectacle. Royal marching bands came up the street leading to the palace and entered the gates with trumpets and tubas blaring. Along with the bands were men on horseback and soldiers in pristine uniforms walking in perfect time. For about an hour they marched to different commands and then played a mini-concert for the crowd which included two very regal hits, "Thriller" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." That was really funny and unexpected. Other than those two less sophisticated moments (still awesome) it was a very royal ceremony and just what you would expect from an event at Buckingham Palace. After the ceremony we walked through the streets and made our way past Downing Street, the Cabinet War Rooms that Churchill used during WWII, and up to the intersection where our jaws dropped as we looked up at Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. I proceeded to take a ridiculous amount of pictures.

We got on line for Westminster Abbey and it did not disappoint. It was an absolutely fascinating and incredible place. The physical structure is enormous and so intricate with all its stone work, stained glass windows, and magnificent ceilings with all kinds of gold designs. The tombs and monuments and statues were totally mind-blowing with some dates going back a thousand years ago. After leaving the abbey we walked along the Thames River, past the London Eye, through a very cool street fair, and back across the river to the Royal Theatre on Drury Lane where we saw "Oliver! The Musical." We sat in the very last row of the balcony but we could see everything and the show was really great. The talent of all the children in the play was something else.

Saturday morning was yet another day of sightseeing and wandering around the city. London really is an amazing place with all it's history and charm, but it's also physically very spread out. Thankfully, they have the Underground, or "tube," to get you all over the city. It's a really efficient system and much cleaner than NYC (but I wouldn't trade those mutant NYC subway rats for anything)! So our first stop on Saturday was Harrod's Department store which is just totally insane. It's like Macy's in NYC but a billion times bigger. They sell everything there. There are huge food halls, clothing stores, electronics and appliance stores, antique shops, and so much more. I probably could've spent the whole weekend in there. From there we walked through Hyde Park to Kensington Palace. We saw the gardens there and then had some authentic English high tea at "The Orangery," a very nice fancy tea hall right next to Kensington. We ate cucumber sandwiches, mango tarts, scones, and drank some great tea. Our last stop for the afternoon was a very unique and special monument for all of us kids who are frighteningly growing up way too fast. On the edge of Hyde Park is the Peter Pan statue. We admired it, took some pictures, and then hopped on the tube back to the apartment of my friend's cousin. She married an Englishman and they live in a beautiful flat in Highbury, a very upscale neighborhood in London. You can see Emirates Stadium outside their back window. That is the stadium of Arsenal FC, one of the most famous soccer teams in England, and really the world. We walked around the outside of the stadium and now I can finally say I've seen an English soccer stadium in person. Saturday night we went on a pub crawl with my friend's cousin and her husband which was a great time. We heard some great music and were dancing and laughing all night.

Sunday morning we took it easy after staying up until 5 AM singing along to Tom Petty in my friend's cousin's apartment. However, Sunday afternoon was my favorite part of the whole weekend as we made the holy pilgrimage to Abbey Road. Yes, I took a picture walking across the crosswalk, and yes, one of my friends was third in the line and he was barefoot. I don't have that picture on my camera but I'll get it soon and post it up here. We walked up to Abbey Road Studios and wrote on the wall just like so many other people did before us. There were messages of thanks, Beatles lyrics scribbled in different colored markers, and even a big marriage proposal message in spray paint. How romantic. After that surreal experience we did our last sightseeing of the weekend. We saw Tower of London and Tower Bridge, both of which were very cool, just as I expected.

I'm sorry this was so long but the weekend was really awesome. I can't believe I just hopped on a plane and spent the weekend in London. The semester just continues to get better and better every day. I'm also glad the weather was kind to us again with blue skies all weekend in London until Sunday afternoon when the typical London fog rolled in. I guess you have to experience that too when you're there.

Thanks for reading. Hope all is well!