An English speaking country!

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I just got back last night from my trip to London! The trip was AMAZING! I would have to rate London as one of my favorite cities in the whole world! I would never want to live there (it was cold and very expensive), but it was a wonderful city to visit.

I left Saturday morning from Madrid and arrived at the London-Gatwick airport at 1:00. I traveled with Ashley Berkland, Julie Meisner (2 girls from Furman studying in Spain with me) and Oli. At the airport, we met up with Oli´s friend Rick from Manchester because he wanted to visit London for the weekend. We waited around in the airport for awhile because Katy (my friend from Furman who is studing in London this semester) said she would meet us in the airport. Finally, I decided to call her to see where she was. She said she was still in the hotel and wasn´t coming to meet us because she didn´t realize that she couldn´t take the tube (London´s subway system) to Gatwick and a ticket on the train to Gatwick was very expensive. So we left the airport around 2ish. We had to take a train from Gatwick to Victoria station. The train ride was only about 35 minutes so not too bad. Then, we bought a metro pass and took the metro to Russell Square where we met up with Katy. When I first saw her, I just dropped my luggage right there and ran to hug her! I hadn´t seen her since May!

Katy took us to the Royal National Hotel which is where the Furman group is staying. Their trip is so much different from ours because everyone is together living in a hotel while on my trip, we are all separated living with señoras. We dropped off our stuff in Katy´s room and then went to the British Museum. It was incredible! Basically, the British Museum houses all of England´s treasures that they took from other countries when they ruled the world. I saw the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, mummies from Egypt, etc. As we were all walking out, Rick started to walk away around the side of the building. So Oli and I decided to go get him because he was walking in the opposite direction of the exit. We turned a corner and Rick was on the ground having a seizure. It was really scary because he kept banging his head on the concrete and was spliting his head open. We called for help and some guards came to help us. We also called an ambulance. Luckily Oli knew a little of Rick´s medical history and knew the number to call his parents. Oli left with Rick in the ambulance. He didn´t have a cell phone with him and none of us knew Rick´s number, so there was no way of us getting a hold of either of them. At this point, we really didn´t know what to do and we were all starving because we never ate lunch so we went down Shaftesbury Avenue to a Thai restaurant. After that, we met up with two other girls studying in London and we walked down Regent´s street to see the Christmas lights (yes, the Christmas lights...it´s only the beginning of November but already the city is decked out). Then, we walked down to the Thames River and saw Big Ben/Houses of Parliament and the London Eye all lit up at night. They were shooting off fireworks because November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day in the UK. It was drop dead gorgeous! We walked back to the hotel and Oli was sitting in the lobby waiting for us. He said that Rick was still in the hospital but that he probably would be discharged the next day. Oli then took a taxi to his hotel and we crashed in Katy´s room.

Sunday: The weather all day was HORRIBLE. It was raining and windy, your stereotypical London weather. Lucky me, I didn´t bring my umbrella to London, so I had to buy one off the street. We went to Regent´s Park in the morning and walked by the London Zoo which is the oldest zoo in the world. Then, we walked down Oxford Street and ate lunch at the Subway there. We then went to Speaker´s Corner in Hyde Park and walked through Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens where we saw Kensington Palace (where Diana lived). We stopped in a restaurant in Kensington Gardens just to use the restroom and get out of the rain! From there, we went to Notting Hill then took the tube to Leicester Square.

In Leicester Square that night was the WORLD PREMIERE OF HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE!!!! It was INCREDIBLE. I got there at 5 right as it was starting but being small was able to wedge my way through the crowds to a spot right by the fence that was holding back the crowds. I saw all the characters from the Harry Potter films, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint (Harry, Hermione, and Ron)! We also saw Madonna because she was going to the premiere as well!! They were all only about 100 feet in front of me! They all were interviewed as well before they went into the theater. It lasted about 2 hours and afterwards, Rick and Oli took us to a classic English pub. (Rick was doing very well, he only had cuts all over the one side of his face) I got steak pie and ale 😉 When we got back, Katy was back at the hotel too so we didn´t have to wait around for her to get back to let us into her room.

Monday: We walked from the hotel down to the Houses of Parliament. From there, we walked through St. James´s Park to Buckingham Palace and watched the Changing of the Guard. Then, we walked through Green Park to Trafalgar Square where we went into the National Gallery. Then, we walked to the London Eye (the biggest ferris wheel in the world!) where we met up with the England people from Furman. We all rode the London Eye together, so it was tons of fun! And the views from the top are fantastic! From there, we walked up to Piccadilly Circus where we got the student rush tickets for the musical "Les Miserables." The play was amazing!!!! I loved the book and knew all the music, so I had been wanting to see the play for awhile. Our tickets were very good as well. We were in the balcony but in the center, and I could see perfectly. After the play, we walked back to the hotel before crashing again in Katy´s room.

Tuesday: We bought a one day metro pass because we knew we´d be using it this day! We took the tube to King´s Cross Station where I got to see Platform 9 3/4 (from the Harry Potter books!) Then we headed down to the Tower of London where we toured the inside. The Tower of London is where all of the old monarchs used to live. It is also the site of many executions that took place including the executions of many of the wives of Henry VIII. We also got to see the Queen´s crown, which is the priciest hat in the world. From here, we walked across Tower Bridge and could see London Bridge across the water. However, I must say that London Bridge is the ugliest bridge in the city; it´s just famous because it was the first bridge. Then, we took a double decker bus 😊 to St. Paul´s cathedral. This is the cathedral where Diana and Charles were married. We then walked across Millenium Bridge to Tate Modern which is a famous art museum. After visiting this museum, we traveled across town to Harrods, which is a HUGE department store in London. The store was decorated for Christmas already and had specific areas that were just selling Christmas decorations. We had "high tea" at Harrods. We had to dress up for it too! You order what kind of tea you want and then they bring everyone their own pot along with a 3 tier platter filled with finger sandwiches, scones (my favorite!), and pastries. They keep filling up your tea and food plates until you are so stuffed you can´t move. The food was amazing as was the tea, and it was really fun getting to experience "afternoon tea" in London. After looking around Harrods for awhile after tea, we headed back to Piccadilly Circus because Ashley wanted to buy standing tickets to go see the musical "Guys and Dolls." Julie and I weren´t going to go because we didn´t want to stand anymore or spend any more money. But the show hadn´t sold out so they weren´t selling standing tickets. The cheapest ones were 40 pounds. Ashley was debating whether she was going to pay that and go by herself when a guy on the street came up to us and offered to sell us 55 pound tickets for 30 each. Julie and I still weren´t going to go so we just started walking away. Then he yelled out he´d sell them for 27 each. We just kept standing there and telling him that we wouldn´t buy them for more than 20 and eventually he said he´d sell them to all of us for 20 each. Well, Julie and I really had nothing else to do that night, so we decided, what the heck, we should just go. So we bought the tickets for 20 pounds each. And let me tell you, the show was AMAZING!! Our seats were on the main floor right in the center too. It was so funny and I actually knew a lot of the music as well. Ewan McGregor (famous actor in Star Wars films, Moulin Rouge, and Big Fish) was the star. I am definitely glad I went to see it!

Wednesday: We went to Covent Garden (an outdoor market), then to Westminster Abbey, then back to Harrods to look around some more because we didn´t have much time the day before. We had to leave around 1:30 to get back to the hotel to get our luggage and head out for our flight. We had to take the train again to Gatwick, and our flight back to Madrid left at 4:55. I got back to my house last night around 9:30ish. I was so tired because the trip was definitely exhausting!!

Tomorrow my family is coming in and I am very excited to see them! They leave Tuesday morning, so they really don´t have too much time to spend in Madrid. If anyone wants to hop on the plane with them, you have a free "Spanish" tour guide here 😊

¡Hasta luego!

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Photos

The London Eye
A view from the top of the London Eye

Houses of Parliament
Me in front of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

The World Premiere
The sign for the World Premiere of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Rough weather
Walking through the rain in Kensington Gardens (my umbrella actually did turn inside out!)

London Eye
The London Eye with Big Ben in the background

Buckingham Palace
At Buckingham Palace right before the Changing of the Guard

Trafalgar Square
Me with the lion statues in Trafalgar Square

Platform 9 and 3/4
For Harry Potter fans: I went to Platform 9 and 3/4 but couldn´t get through to the Hogwarts train...guess I´m not a witch