Monday, March 24, 2008

   London Calling....

Mood: exhausted... Music: Pearl Jam "Footsteps" Hey everyone! I'm back from London!! Anyways, we spent 10 days in London. When we arrived, we met our tour guide, Lucie, at the airport. We then dropped our bags off at the hotel and took a walking tour of London. For those of you unaquainted with air travel, this was a BAD idea. Many of our group hadn't gotten much sleep, and walking around a huge city for 2 or more hours (without lunch) was not the best thing. However, we weren't allowed to actually check in until 2 or 2:30 pm. We'd arrived around 8 am or so. They kept our bags in a basement-type place. After finally being able to freshen up, we went to a 3-course dinner, and then on to Her Majesty's Theatre to see Phantom of the Opera. I was excited about that show. I love the movie and own the soundtrack. We also visited St. Paul's Cathedral while we were on our walking tour. I climbed to the top, which is 434 stairs. Way too many stairs...But it was worth the climb. The view was spectacular. Our second day, we went on a bus tour of London. It was very interesting. We also got to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We only watched them march (and I filmed that!!) because the actual process involves both sets of guards staring at each other for a while. For lunch, we went on a river cruise down the River Thames (pronounced "tims"). Afterward, I went with my friends Sarah and Sara to Piccadilly Circus. A circus over there is not like our circus. Over there, it means a big place where several roads meet, and it is usually circular. They also call them roundabouts. The third day, we went to STONEHENGE!!! And we got to go INSIDE the circle and actually touch the stones!! We also visited Salisbury Cathedral, where I climbed to the top. Again. It was very high, the stair cases were very narrow, and handrails were sparse. And again, the view was wonderful. That night we went on a tour of Whitechapel, where the famous Jack-the-Ripper murders took place. It has change a lot since then, however. The fourth day we went to the Tower of London. It was awesome, and I also got some more video, this time of the Regiment of Fusiliers. It was just guys in costume, though. Afterward, Lucie took Sarah, Sara, and me to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station. For anyone who doesn't know, that's the platform they use to get to the school in the Harry Potter books and movies. To go through, the characters run at a "wall" with a shopping cart. At the site, they have a shopping cart stuck halfway in the wall and you can pose as if you are going through. Then we went to Camden Market, where you can usually get a great deal on what you want to buy. However, you also have to really watch out for pickpockets and rough characters. I got a pair of rainboots for 18 pounds, and Lucie tried to talk the guy down because of his faulty advertising, but he was being mean. I also got a gorgeous Chinese dress for 10 pounds! The lady who ran the martial arts store said we could have it that cheap if one of us could fit it. It fit me perfectly! It's black and has red flowers on it. I'm not sure, but I think it's at least partly made of silk. Well, as we were about to leave Camden, a man came up to us and asked Sara something that we couldn't understand. He was Irish, and the 16th is when they celebrate St. Patty's day in London. He had a can of beer in his hand and he was making a funny face. We ignored him and wrote him off as very clearly drunk. Later, Sara said he'd said, "Open my beer for luck." She figured he'd shaken it before hand. On the fifth day, we went to Wimbledon, the big tennis arena. It was kind of boring. Then we went to Kew Gardens. It was pretty and really neat. Grandma would love it there. That night, Sara and I went to see a show called Avenue Q. It was kind of like Sesame Street, but it was geared towards adults. It was ok, but there were a couple of scenes that should have been left out. The sixth day, we went to see the New Globe Theatre! The original Globe was Shakespeare's theatre, but it was destroyed. We went to the rehearsal area as well, and the guide made us play some warm-up games. It made me wish I was in drama again. That night, we saw a play called History Boys. I didn't like it very much. The seventh day, we went to tour the Royal National Theatre. It was huge! They have 3 stages!! 3 big stages!! After that, we went to the Royal Drury Lane Theatre. That was the best tour yet. We had 2 guides, a man and woman, who each played several characters on the tour. They interchanged about every 5 to 10 minutes. The eighth day, we went to Windsor Castle. It was GORGEOUS!!! I would personally like to take it over! Lol. Lots of gold, diamonds, and other pretty things, you know. I bought mom some strawberry jam there, but the security at Heathrow Airport took it away because it was too big to go in my carry-on. It counted as a cream/liquid, which you can only take 100ml of that in your carry-on. That upset me a lot, because I wasn't able to put it in my checked luggage for fear that it would break. Anyways, a couple of people in our group saw Prince Harry at Windsor, and one guy even got a picture before the guards herded Harry away. That night, we went back to Drury Lane to see....LORD OF THE RINGS!!!!! It was a musical, and I loved every minute of it!! The actor playing Legolas was hot!! And he could sing!! And during the second intermission, the orcs (the bad guys) came into the audience. They scared the lady sitting behind me. It was pretty funny. On the ninth day, we had a free day. Sarah and I went to ride the London Eye, which is a giant ferris wheel. It turns very slowly, though. It was really high, and I got a lot of pictures up there. After we got off, we saw a bunch of living statues, an invisible man, and a man dressed as Charlie Chaplin. Then we went to Harrod's, but didn't stay long. We went to a McDonald's, which was crowded!! We had to wait 20 minutes to get a seat!! Then we went back to the hotel. The last day, we went to Hampton Court, where Henry VIII lived. It was cool. We saw people dressed as Henry VIII and his "entourage". That night, we had our other 3-course dinner. It was Indian food....Actually, it was pretty good! Then we went on a 2-hour ghost walk. In the freezing cold. I had asked the teacher if I had to go (ghost stories aren't really my thing), and he said I had to go, but he said I could listen to my iPod if I didn't want to hear the stories. I did listen to one story at St. Paul's, though. Oh, and then came the day of departure. It was horrible. I had to get up at 3 am (London time), and as I mentioned, they took mom's jam, and then at DC, they took a tiny snowglobe I'd bought for her!! I was very angry about that. The snowglobe was way under the limit for the liquid amount!! I don't see how it was a national threat! What was I gonna do, chunk it at someone's head? Morons...Also, our flight from DC to Little Rock got delayed because of an inbound plane from Ohio or somewhere. And on both flights that day, my ears popped really bad, and on the DC to LR flight, both my ears felt as if someone was stabbing a sword through them. But when I finally got back to the college, I was happy. My boyfriend met me in the plaza between our dorms, and he carried my big suitcase upstairs for me. By the way, I did happen to get mom something. I bought her a silver spoon after they took her jam. I also sent her, dad, and Ricky a postcard, as well as a postcard to grandma and grandpa, and one to my roommate. Well, that's all for now. Stay classy, Otakuites!! Excel¤~

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