February 25th
Today, we wanted to wake up early and do the touristy things across the city because most of the sites close around 4:30pm. Since the churches are only open for services on Sunday, we needed to go to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday. Since Justin, Chris and I still hadn’t been to St. Paul’s we started there. St. Paul’s is close to my apartment so we actually ended up walking there. Upon stumbling on the front steps of the church, it was apparent just how magnificent this building really was. St. Paul’s is 365 feet high (one foot for every day of the year), and filled with history. Unfortunately, there are no pictures allowed inside, so the only one’s I have are of its exterior. The building reminded me of an older version of the Capitol Building in Washington DC. This cathedral is actually where Princess Diana was married and where Winston Churchill’s funeral was held. The six of us walked around the cathedral, taking in the sites and listening to our audio guides, which explained the intimate details of such a historic and beautiful building. I can’t even begin to describe how special the building seemed to be, but I’m extremely glad we got the chance to go.
Leaving St. Paul’s, we decided to cross the Thames River on the Millennium Bridge (the bridge in the 6th Harry Potter movie that is destroyed at the beginning), which brought us to the Globe Theater (Shakespeare’s theater). After stopping by the theater, we swung by the Borough Market for some lunch. I’ve been there before, but I would go back any day since the food is so good and there is so much to choose from. After Borough Market, the girls and I separated from Chris and Justin in order to go take the tour of Westminster Abbey. Chris and Justin were both waiting to do Westminster Abbey with their families.
Unfortunately, the last tour of the day ended at 1:30pm, so we couldn’t actually go inside. Instead, I brought them to Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, and Buckingham Palace. In order to maximize their weekend, when we finished, we stopped by London’s famous SoHo district to show them one of the world’s busiest shopping streets. Overall, it was a really busy but fun day. When we got back to my apartment, we napped for a little before getting ready to go out. One of my friends from home, Jenna, was visiting for the weekend and we met up with her Saturday night before going out. Our crew went to a club called Tiger Tiger in Piccadilly Circus. Prince Harry is known to frequent this club, but unfortunately his red hair was nowhere to be seen. So far, this was one of my favorite nights abroad. So many friends at a packed bar and some old school American music can’t be wrong. To give you some context, a little bit of “Girls Just Wanna Have fun”, “I Want You Back”, “Wasn’t Me”, “Hey Ya” and “Breathe” it felt like Bar Mitzvah with some Brits.
February 26th
Today was another jam-packed day. We again woke up early to try and squeeze in some last minute sites before the three UNC girls had to leave, except this time Jenna tagged along to. We started at the Tower of London, which is the home of the Crown Jewels and almost a thousand years old! The Tower of London is a castle located just off the Thames River. The Tower of London was a one of my favorite sites because it’s an ancient castle located in the middle of London’s hustle and bustle. Walking around and seeing the different medieval weapons, armor and prisons were very interesting. The Tower of London is still guarded by the Beefeaters, who are these funny dressed guys in old school London jumpsuits and hats. For those of you who are familiar, they are actually on the front of the Beefeater Gin Bottle. But my favorite part was the showcase of the Royal Family’s Crown Jewels. I was amazed at how big the stones were in various Crowns. Their crowns were much better than the various ones I’ve accumulated from Burger King over the years. Also, there were a ton of artifacts that were solid gold and simply amazing.
After the Tower of London, the 3 UNC girls had to leave for the airport, so Jenna and I continued to site see throughout the day. Since Jenna really wanted to go to Spitafields Market and I was starving, we ate at the famous Brick Lane market and then proceeded to Spitafields. Although I’ve been to both before, it was still a lot of fun. After, we stopped by Oxford Street in SoHo. I dropped her off with her friends, and went back to my apartment. Probably the most touristy weekend of my stay in London. But I surprised myself at how well I’ve come to know the city. Besides accumulating facts and stories about all of the places I’ve been too, I can also navigate the buses and tubes without too much effort. It’s hard to believe I’ve almost been here two full months
St. Paul' Cathedral
Chris, Justin and I in front of St. Paul's Cathedral
Occupy London? Apparently there are dirty hippies across the world
Inside of St. Paul's Cathedral
The top of the Dome is 365 feet tall
War Memorial
Someone needs to give this guy some head..
Millenium Bridge (this is the Bridge that gets destroyed in the 6th Harry Potter)
Chris, Justin and I on the Millennium Bridge
Shakespeare's Globe Theater
Camel Toes Anyone?
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Front Gates of Buckingham Palace
Platform 9 and 3/4
Tower of London
Tower of London
King of the Castle, King of the Castle!
Imagine kicking back and watching some late night Jesters
The Armory
Tower Bridge
I love how ancient the inside of the walls are vs. the modern outside (and the double decker buses)
This is where the Crown Jewels were stored. The outside doors were enormous vault doors
Throughout the Tower of London, there were a ton of statues of exotic animals because the real animals were given as gifts to the royalty and kept here
These cages have Ravens in them
My knight in shining armor
How do you ride a horse with that Man Bulge?
The Kings and their Swords
Today, we Joust
The Crown Jewels. These last three pictures are bad because there was no photography allowed in these rooms. I had to use the camera on my phone to sneak these with no flash. But there was no way I couldn't get at least a few shots.
These are hard to see, but those are solid gold household items. Trust the Midas Touch..
