Our adventure began late Wednesday night when we all met up at one girl's apartment to spend the night, which does not necessarily mean that sleep happened. We tried to get a couple hours of winks, but her couches were tiny, I was sprawled across the couch and part of the table onto a chair, kind of uncomfortable. So then we woke up around 5 to get taxis to the airport. We basically napped there, and then on the plane then on the bus from the airport into the city. Thursday was actually pretty uneventful, we found our hostel, bought lunch and then took naps. We thought we'd just rest for a couple of hours, but we were out until 5:30 and by then it was dark. So we headed out for dinner and to wander. Our hostel was down the block from Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, so we meandered through those, found some cool statues, and then when it got too dark and cold, looked for someplace to eat. And we found the best thai place ever! It was cheap, delicious and had huge portions. In the four days we were there, I went three times!
Then it was back to bed. Which was actually really nice seeing as I was getting over a cold. However, we were in a twenty person, mixed gender room, with triple bunk beds instead of just two. It was kind of a crazy space, it looked almost like a bunker in a ship. Each bed had individual curtains, which was really the only plus to this room. Seeing as it was Thursday night, though it really could be any night of the week, some girls were taking FOREVER to get ready to go out, and just had to be blasting loud music at the same time. I don't understand why people don't get the whole being respectful of other people when there are twenty people living in the same room!!! The next two nights, guys from France and Spain and Mexico were up late drinking and chatting loudly, in our room, not in any of the many common areas that are available for that sort of thing, no, right next to my bunk. And then, one night, when they finally did go to sleep, they had a farting contest....what!?!? Oh hostels...I guess that's what you sign up for, but let me tell you...I was sooo glad to get back to my own bed.
Kensington Gardens at sunset
Anyways...enough complaining. Friday was great. The weather was nice, if a bit chilly. We headed into Trafalgar Square to catch a tour bus that we'd bought tickets for. It was a cool system, you just get on at any stop during the day and then can get off wherever strikes your fancy. You also get a ticket for a boat tour. So we tried to do everything, which is impossible. But we hopped on the yellow line and saw Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben....basically just a ton London. We also learned a lot of interesting facts, but since I didn't take any notes I don't remember because the tour guide was just talking non stop! We ended up getting off at the Tower of London to take the boat ride to Greenwich. At this point a bunch of us really had to use the facilities...but in London you have to pay to use the public bathrooms! One negative thing about Europe, it's the case in Cork too. There are public restrooms, very easily accessible, but it's like 25 cents or pence, depending on where you are, to actually use them...boooo.
First view of the city on Friday morning.
Me standing over the Prime Meridian
The boat ride was really nice. Also pretty cold. It took us out to Greenwich and we walked up to the Royal observatory to stand on the Prime Meridian. There's this red ball on the top of the building, kind of like the Times Square one for New Years. But this one goes up and down every day. At 5 to 1 pm, the ball rises, and then exactly at 1 it drops to set Greenwich Mean Time. Kinda cool. That was basically all the happened there, oh...there were some really cook old telescopes, and a really nice view of London. Then we walked back down to catch a boat back to Westminster. However, it took forever to get back to the Tower of London, which is in the city of London proper (from what I gather, what most people think of as London, is really Westminster, and the city of London is only one square mile, I'm not 100% sure though). So we got off at the Tower of London and got back on the bus which moved a lot quicker then the boat. We hoped to be able to see the Globe from the bus, but they drove past it super quickly and we missed it :(
Telescope in the Royal Observatory
As part of the tour, you could pay £3 to get fish and chips from the Sherlock Holme's pub that were normally £7. So Dani and I ran back to the bus station to get that deal so we could grab fish and chips quickly. We needed to be quick, because that morning when we'd arrived in Trafalgar Square we saw signs for Mozart's Requiem being performed at St. Martin in the Field's church, so on a whim we'd bought tickets, we're both music minors, and no one else was interested. So we ate our fish and chips, which were quite good, had the Sherlock Holme's ale to go with, this wasn't as good...but oh well. Then we headed back to the square where we found a bunch of people gathered for World Book Day 2011. We didn't know this was happening, but it was really cool. They had a bunch of well known authors read selections from their work. We had time to stand and listen to Margaret Atwood and another good Irish author. We couldn't remember why we knew Margaret Atwood, but finally (after looking her up on Wikipedia) figured out that she's the author of The Handmaid's Tale. Pretty cool. But then we had to head into the church for the performance. The first half was not Mozart's Requiem, and we were worried that it may just be the title of the performance or something because we didn't want to pay for a program. But it turned out that the second half was the Requiem, and it was really really cool to see live. It was a really cool thing to do on a whim, very cultured if I do say so myself!! After the concert we met up again with everybody else at the Parliament Building to see Big Ben at night. It was beautiful.
Margaret Atwood reading at World Book Night.
Big Ben, glowing at night.
The next day, Saturday, we woke up relatively early to see the changing of the guard. Which was cool, they played "putting on the Ritz" and then marched. There were people marching oboes and bassoons!! Which is crazy to me!
After the changing of the guard we split up. Some people had bought tickets to the Tower of London, but Rafa and I didn't want to spend the money so we headed out to the Tate museum of modern art. Another sophisticated activity! It was really cool, I saw some pieces that I'd learned about by helping friends study for art history, like Three Standard Stoppages.
We lasted for a couple of hours, but by the end we weren't doing any of that standing and contemplating stuff you're supposed to do in museums, we were basically just walking through trying to see everything. Which we did successfully, and then headed around the corner to get a view of the outside of the Globe theater.
This is basically all we could see because you have to pay to get inside. But it was still cool to see. Then it was off to the British Museum. Which we honestly didn't last too long in either. Though there is a lot of really cool stuff, and I was able to recognize some things from my archaeology class.
After the BM, Rafa and I met up with the rest of the group to try to find Platform 9 and 3/4. Which was actually quite boring. they're doing construction at King's Cross so they'd moved it into an out of the way hallway. It was basically just a fake brick wall with a trolley sticking out of it, and a really long line to get a picture with it.
Sunday we stayed around our hostel so we wouldn't have to buy metro tickets. We headed to the Natural History Museum, which was pretty cool. Since it was a Sunday there were a lot of families with young children, yay for free, educational activities, but man, after three days of walking and seeing tons of people, a crowded museum, no matter how interesting, is just overwhelming. So we only stayed for a couple hours, then headed back to the hostel for lunch and a rest. Colleen and Rafa had bought tickets to a Dr. Who experience, so they ran off to that, and Dani, Katie and I navigated our way to Portobello Road, featured in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It didn't look like it did in the movie, but it was still a cool market. We shopped around and then walked up the street heading back to our hostel. ON the way back we ran into a car show that had cars from movies like Ghostbusters and Back to the Future, it was random but really cool.
Sunday night we stayed up all night again, watching movies in the common area and generally hanging out until checking out at 2 in the morning to walk to the bus stop. This happened to be right next to Baker Street, so Alyssa and I ran over to take pictures of 221B Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes' supposed living space. Then we boarded the bus and headed back to Cork. This leg was also full of napping on buses and planes.
Overall, it was a successful and very fun trip. I'm glad to back here until April, but it's nice to have the experience of flying around Europe so I know what to expect when I head out for April break. The plan right now for which is, head to Padova to spend a few days with Mary, then to Granada to stay with Hannah and Malachi for my birthday!!! Then Hannah and I will fly to Barcelona for a couple of days before heading over to Paris to hang out with Danny. I think that may be where I end my European travels, because I'm thinking of coming back to Cork to hang out with my roommate who will be here alone for most of the month. We actually just bought a backpacking tent and will hopefully be utilizing it in Connemara national park, which is by Galway.
Anyways...another update, finished. Hope everyone, wherever you may be, is well.
Irish proverb of the day:
Never take advice without a woman's guidance.
Ná glac pioc comhairle gan comhairle ban.
Ná glac pioc comhairle gan comhairle ban.
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