Going to Merry London Town

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I finally did it! I made my way to London this weekend. And boy am I glad I don't live there. It was pricey! But totally worth it. I went with four friends and we stayed in a really cheap hostel in Notting Hill (yup, like the movie). It was a really nice, middle class neighborhood, with beautiful white row houses and within walking distance to the tube. The tube is amazing. I would love to just zip around the city all day long underneath it. We did ride the double decker bus (as is required) but I wasn't all that impressed. Sheffield has double deckers and they are nicer and less crowed. They aren't red in Sheffield, and that is sad.

We did all the really touristy things on Saturday. We went to Big Ben and Parliament. We walked around Westminster Abbey. There was a war memorial in the lawn of Westminster and they were having a remembrance for all the fallen soldiers. It was lovely. I'm glad I've given to the poppy campaign. Makes me feel special. After Westminster, we went to 10 Downing street and saw the royal calvary museum. They have the guards like Buckingham Palace, except these guards were on HORSES. The horses were not nearly as stoic as the guards were. After that adventure, Signe and Justine went to the Tate Museum of Modern Art while Sam and I had an adventure finding the British museum. The map we tried to use wasn't nearly exact enough and we walked in circles before we finally found it.

It was, of course, amazing. Sam teased me constantly for how excited I got. They had the Rosetta stone and the pediment of the Parthenon. They also had an impressive display of Egyptian sculptures. The European section was sadly tiny and I lamented the lack of giant statues in British history. C'est la vie! I didn't choose to love British history so much. After that, we met back up at Buckingham Palace and then tried to use the bus to get to Trafalgar Square.

We ended up back at Big Ben and The Eye of London. We wanted to ride the Eye, but it was 15.50 Pounds, so we rode a nearby Carousel instead. We then made it Trafalgar Square, very classily ate an enormous McDonalds and decided to go to SoHo to get a drink. On the way we went through China Town (that had to do with the fact that we let Justine lead. She has absolutely no sense of direction). China Town in London is amazing. Zhao told us what all the signs meant and helped us pick out good treats from a real Chinese bakery. It was yummy. We finally made it to SoHo, were we had a drink at a cute bar. It was only 11, but we were dead tired. We went back to the hostel and sleep really well.

On Sunday, we went to Camden market. Camden market is huge and like a maze. It kept going on forever. The stores vary greatly, from very nice to really dodgy. The prices are the same. I got a scarf for one pound and purse for ten pounds. Sam got a skirt for twelve. It's nice, but the store owners are very pushy and made me uncomfortable. Signe and I kept shying away while Sam haggled prices. She's extremely talented in that regaurd.

All in all, it was an amazing trip. I can't wait to go back to see the Christmas decorations (and visit an adorable tea store I found). I'm also really psyched for my birthday in Paris! :D

Love you all. Miss you all!

-Katlin

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Photos

The ROSETTA STONE!
historical awesomeness