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Published: November 14th 2011
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London
In between the business of the Remembrance Day ceremonies, my colleague John and I planned a trip to London. Perhaps a bit crazy on our part, but so worthwhile as our trip was wonderful!
In order to save time and money, we opted for the overnight bus from Lille to get to London. Very little time spent actually sleeping on the bus, as we were woken up for customs, a ferry ride and finally an arrival in London very early in the morning. However, you can imagine my surprise when I realised the time zone change and the fact that we hadn’t arrived at 6 AM but rather 5 AM local time. Now London is a busy city, but even there, nothing is open that early in the morning.
We therefore spent about 2 hours in the bus station sleeping on metal chairs, heads against walls, our hands or our knees. When we awoke around 7 AM, we hunted down a Starbucks to warm up in (we arrived in rain and cold weather). Two hours later (not kidding) we left Starbucks and went to the tourism office. The worker there was incredibly helpful and friendly: not
Westminster Abbey
The crosses in front of Westminster Abbey for Remembrance Day. only did she help us with the information we needed but she gave us tips on how to save money on tickets!
Our first sight to visit that day was Westminster Abbey. The lawn in front had been completely covered with Commonwealth crosses, in honour of the men who served from various countries. The Canadians had a section as well. It was a very special find for both John and I. The Abbey itself was gorgeous and much larger than I had expected. We got an audio tour with our admission price and it was extremely useful in showing us around the entire interior.
After the tour, we walked quickly back to the tourism office, where, recognized by the worker, we were told not to stand in line “since you’ve been in the cue today already”. She helped us purchase tube tickets (underground) for the day and theatre tickets for the evening. I then had my first experience on the London Underground on the way to Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s residence.
Having worked this summer on Parliament Hill, I was in charge a few times of speaking to the crowd, before the Changing the Guard took place,
to explain the proceedings. I was very anxious to have the chance to see England’s Changing the Guard and so made sure I was as close as possible (which is difficult with so many people in attendance). It was very cool to see and brought back many memories from home. During this, we think we may have seen the Prime Minister going into the Palace!
It was now lunch time, and being the cheap students that we are, John and I had packed our lunch. We sat in Green Park – by some coincidence on a park bench dedicated to a fallen Canadian, and saw the Royal carriage go by a few times.
For our afternoon plans, we decided to head to the Piccadilly Circus (London’s equivalent of Times Square) for a bit of shopping before going to see the Tower of London. I (with great ignorance) had no idea what the Tower was – I was so surprised to find out of its use as a prison before people of great importance went to their deaths. We were quite lucky to arrive right on time to hope on a tour with a costumed man. He was really
great and funny and managed to show us most of the site in an hour whilst telling interesting stories throughout. I think John and I were as impressed by the content of his tour as by his great qualities as a guide! We saw the Crown Jewels before leaving the Tower – there are no words to express the riches kept here.
Since it was now late afternoon, our backpacks were starting to get heavy. We decided to take the tube towards our hostel, located near London Bridge. The St. Christopher’s we stayed at was nice, fairly clean and most important of all, cheap! Unfortunately we had a bit of trouble with our bed assignments, but in the end, we each had a bunk to sleep in. We got ready for supper and went back out into the big city.
Our supper was quite delicious. I ordered a mushroom and chicken pie, with a brownie for dessert. We had purchased tickets to the show “Wicked” for the evening, knowing we’d be too tired to go out to the bar after having slept about 3 hours. The show was absolutely fantastic!! The songs were stuck in our head the
entire next day. It was then back to our hostel for a great night sleep in actual beds – score!
In the morning, we had a quick free breakfast at the hostel, followed by a delicious Starbucks coffee again. Low point of the day: my purse strap broke at Starbucks. High point of the day: I could not justify buying a new purse!
We visited the Imperial War Museum as of 10h30. Our goal was to be out in two hours. Around 2h15 as we stepped out of the museum, we realised how much we had underestimated the size and content of the place. We only had times to visit about 2 floors (World War 1 and 2, and Holocaust). The museum was very impressive, well done and very informative. I feel that after working 3 months at Beaumont-Hamel, I appreciate this type of visit a lot more.
We left the museum starving and looking for somewhere to eat near Trafalgar Square. We found a pub type restaurant where we had the chance to rest our feet a bit. Next stop was to Big Ben (again, bringing back memories of my summer on Parliament Hill). We shopped
in a few tourist shops – and yes, I did find a purse!
Before we knew it, our weekend had come to an end and it was time to enjoy the luxurious train ride home to Arras and breathe easy knowing we made it back for the November 11th ceremonies.
London, much like Amsterdam, is a city that impressed me greatly by its atmosphere and sights. I will absolutely be back.
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