28 April – 2 May 2009
London was one of the places that I have desperately wanted to visit for years and years and years. Basically since I became aware that other countries existed, and I think I first realized that when Princess Diana died. Shortly thereafter I read Harry Potter, and it was all over. I have wanted to visit London since then. I had gotten kind of nervous since I’d been here, though, that I wouldn’t like it as well as I had been liking other places. I guess I was just thinking that if my two favorite places so far have been Pompeii and Prague, there was no way that I would enjoy London any more than the other huge cities I’d visited. I thought maybe it would be too metropolitan, too much like the US, and just not one of the places that would stand out as a favorite. In retrospect, I think that maybe I was trying to keep my expectations low in case it wasn’t what I had always hoped it would be. I was, happily, completely WRONG. London was awesome times a million.
Betsy and I took the EuroStar train from Brussels to London via the “Chunnel.” I was really stoked because I thought it would be really neat to travel under a giant body of water. It was actually not as exciting as I thought it would be. On the way there, it was dark outside anyway so it wasn’t all that different. On the way back, I passed out and slept the whole way. There was a lot of ear popping, but otherwise it was just like riding in any other train. Still pretty neat though, when I think about what that train really does. We made it to London around 9, and went off in search of Jen Payen’s (Abbott’s) apartment. She had given me really great instructions and we found her place with no trouble. Jen and Jassen are incredible and they let us stay in their spare bedroom in a real bed in a real house where we could leave our stuff without worrying that someone would steal it! Amazing! Seriously, though, it was SO nice to be able to have a friend to stay with who knows the city and everything. She was a godsend this week.
Wednesday morning we got up early to go and meet our bus tour group and have “The Total London Experience.” We jumped on one of those fancy coach busses and away we went. First off, we just tooled around the city in the coach while Margot, our tour guide, told us about different London stuff.
We stopped at Westminster Abbey just to take pictures outside and then got back on the bus again to head for the Household Cavalry Museum where we would also get to see the changing of the guard. The Cavalry was pretty neat. It’s actually the official entrance to Buckingham Palace, so the guards are supposed to be the “best.” In the museum I learned that being the “best” meant that they paid the most money for their commission. So that’s interesting. The changing of the guard was neat. The old guards lined up on their horses and yelled a bunch of commands I couldn’t understand. Then the one dude on the white horse with the trumpet rode out and announced the approach of the fresh set of guards (They’re the Life Guards or the Blues and Royals regiments. Each day it switches.) When the new set arrived, they yelled some more unintelligible commands and then it was over. Actually, it was terribly anticlimactic, but it was AMAZING to watch these ancient traditions in action. 
Apparently every day at 4pm there is an inspection at the household cavalry to make sure the soldiers aren’t drunk because Queen Victoria found them drunk at their posts once and it ticked her off. It was pretty neat. Anyway, so we jumped back on the bus and headed for Covent Garden where most of the group was eating lunch together at this pub where they had all prepaid. Betsy and I decided not to go in on the group lunch that day because we figured we could find something cheaper. We found the cutest little pub where we got hot roast beef sandwiches that were TO DIE FOR for only 5 pounds. It was a huge sandwich, a salad, and some chips too. Great deal. After we ate, we walked to the opera house where I had to have my picture taken. If you recall, Eliza Doolittle met Henry Higgins outside the opera house (“You’re a disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns!!”). Naturally I needed to take a picture. 
The columns don’t actually go all the way to the street level, though, so that was sort of a bummer. I also got to see the theatre where Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison premiered My Fair Lady. That was pretty neat too. We also walked around the market that’s in Covent Garden and I bought tickets for A Little Night Music for that night from a discount ticket booth place. My ticket was for the dress circle, row E, and was very reasonably priced. I was stoked.After lunch and wandering around Covent Garden for a bit, we hopped back on the coach to head to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. St. Paul’s Cathedral was really amazing. It’s the second biggest dome on a church (St. Peter’s in the Vatican is the only one that’s bigger). Queen Victoria had the place decked out with mosaics when she was queen and it’s just breathtaking in there. Really. Plus, tons of really famous people are buried in the crypts. It’s an amazing place.
I was super excited about seeing the Tower because so much of the action in my silly Phillipa Gregory books about the Tudors happens in the Tower. It’s really not just a tower, but a whole castle. And even though all those people were imprisoned in there, there’s actually no prison within the wall. There are just houses in there. The people who were imprisoned just weren’t allowed to leave, they had all the comforts of home with them including families and furniture. We saw the crown jewels which, honestly, were almost impossible to believe. I mean, I’m talking about a 530 carat diamond in a scepter. That’s a big diamond! It’s really hard to believe that it’s real and that it’s right in front of you. The jewels were so impressive. I wish we could have taken pictures in there. After the jewel house, we went over to the Tower Green where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were granted their private executions. It’s a much smaller area than I expected it to be. 
They just erected a lovely memorial to the people who were executed there. It’s small and understated and just perfect for the area. It’s sort of a glass pillow with some nice words around it in the memory of those who’d been killed there. 
There was also an exhibition going on called “Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill” where they displayed his armor from the beginning to the end. He really was a big old dude by the end. Ick. Finally, we got to go on this exclusive tour with a Yeoman, or Beefeater, guard. The Yeoman traditionally were the king’s guards who were in the Tower. Now they’re highly decorated soldiers from the British service units who’ve served at least 20 some years. Our guide was really funny and he took us on a walk around the tower through what used to be the moat. He told us about the tower, how it was built, and different facts about it. He also told us all about life inside the tower (Yeoman live in the tower until they’re 65 when they have to leave) and answered any questions that anyone had. It was really, really neat.
When we left the tower, we went on a boat tour down the Thames. (incidentally, there was an old lady from Georgia on our tour who wasn’t all there who kept loudly asking about the Thames river, but pronouncing the “TH” sound at the beginning. She was almost comically ignorant of all things London and constantly made me blush from embarrassment with the questions she would ask. It was actually kind of funny in a sad way.) The boat tour guide was really funny and terribly adorable, so that was a ton of fun for me. The boat tour took us back to our coach, which then took us to the London Eye. The Eye was supposed to end our tour, but I realized that if I went on the big wheel, I would miss my play. So I begged the people at the ticket counter to switch my ticket to Friday and they did, thank goodness. I would have hated to have wasted the money that I paid in my tour ticket that was supposed to be for the Eye. Anyway, I switched my ticket and set off for the Garrick Theatre where A Little Night Music would be held. I had a fantastic seat, I made friends with the ushers, and it was Sondheim. It was the recipe for a perfect evening! The girl playing Anne, the young lead, was actually the runner up in a TV show in Britain called “I would do Anything.” It’s like American Idol, but for Broadway. If they bring it to the States, I will audition. Can you imagine??? My friends, the ushers, told me that they thought it was in production for the US. Awesome.
Thursday morning we also had to get up early in order to catch our coach for our second tour. We had a new tour guide today named Tony who was very typically British, very funny, and didn’t take crap from anyone. We started our day by heading out to Windsor Castle. I think Tony told us that every single monarch of England has lived there. Isn’t that incredible? We went through the state rooms where the queen entertains guests and then we saw Queen Mary’s elaborate dollhouse. It’s a replica of Buckingham Palace, and it’s really amazing. There are so many little accessory pieces on the inside and the outside. It must have been so fun for her to play with as a little girl. I popped into St George’s chapel briefly before the changing of the guard took place. Almost all the monarchs are buried in this chapel. That is so cool. I think Tony said that only 2 were buried outside of it. The changing of the guard was pretty neat. The soldier band marched in, played a bunch of songs, and then the old guards and the band marched out.
Again, the traditions are just really neat to see. After Windsor Castle, we headed to Stonehenge! Tony told us that the Beaker People built it 5000 years ago and that it was probably used to tell what time of the year it was as well as a site for the burial of important people in the tribe. Honestly, I didn’t know we knew that much about it. I was under the impression that it was all a big mystery. Shows how much I know, I guess. Haha…It was really neat to see Stonehenge though. It’s terribly big, set in the middle of this field where there are sheep grazing and stuff, and it’s awfully impressive. It’s also a pretty low key tourist thing. There isn’t anything else around it besides the ticket office and the tiny gift shop. Yet still, there’s a Druid priest who protests outside of the entrance. He thinks that Stonehenge should be returned to the free countryside and that no one should have to pay to see it. He looked a little crazy, but apparently he’s very nice. 
After Stonehenge, we jumped back on the bus to have our lunch at a pub near the rocks. The food was a delicious roast beef thing with Yorkshire pudding and veggies. YUM. When we got back on the bus we headed for Bath, the ancient Roman spa city centered on the hot spring there. The Roman ruins there are quite incredible. Most of the actual main bath is still intact, and the museum there is really informative and interesting. 
The audio guide was one of the best I’ve ever used. The commentaries were really interesting and the museum itself was fairly interactive. They even had a lady dressed up Connor Prairie style walking around talking to people. Her name was Flavia and she talked to me all about her hairpiece and my hairpiece and how she’d met her husband who worked for the government and all this stuff. It was really fun. When we finished in the museum we had about 45 minutes to wander around Bath before our coach was leaving, but unfortunately most of the shops were closed by then. We did manage to make it into the abbey in Bath before it closed, though. It was quite lovely. They call it the lantern because it’s so light inside thanks to the large number of plain glass windows. I really prefer a church with a lot of light. It seems more cheery and worshipful to me. There was an almost three hour bus ride back to London from Bath. Obviously, I slept most of the way. Betsy and I had dinner in a Patisserie when we got back (it was 8:30 by this time) and then headed back to Jen’s house to get some rest.Friday Betsy and I decided to do our own things since we each had things that we wanted to see. When we split up, I first headed for the big bookstore, Waterstone’s on Piccadilly Circus. Since I’m going to Scotland in a couple of weeks, I wanted to buy a guidebook that would help me plan my trip before I got there. I bought the book and then wandered down toward where I thought Abbey Road Studios was. I was I the complete wrong corner of the city, so I jumped on the tube and headed for the right place after asking directions from a friendly Apple Store employee. (By the way, the tube is awesome. It’s totally easy to navigate and it makes it so fast to get around the HUGE city.) When I finally got off the Jubilee line at St John’s Wood, I could feel the electricity flying around.
Okay, I’m being dramatic, but I was SO excited to see Abbey Road. When I got to the studio and the famous crossing, I just kind of stared for a while. It was awfully surreal. 
Then I snapped a bunch of pictures of the building, had some other Beatles fanatic snap my pictures walking across the crossing, and headed out. I was reluctant to leave, but there wasn’t anything else to do. Hahaha… From Abbey Road, I headed to the Globe Theatre. It’s a replica of historians’ best guess of what the Globe looked like in Shakespeare’s day. It’s actually about 150 yards from where the real Globe was when it burned down. There is a large exhibition on the inside that talks about the plays, Shakespeare’s life, how the plays are produced, etc. They have a bunch of interactive exhibits in there too where you can read a scene with a Globe actor and stuff with this recording booth they have. It was pretty neat. 
After I went through the exhibition, I went on the tour of the theatre itself. It’s open to the sky, with bench seating, and the stage in the front and middle. The theatre holds 1500, but something like 400 of those people have to stand for the duration of the show in the middle area under the hole in the roof. It feels very authentic in there. There were actually actors on stage rehearsing a new show when we were on our tour. It was neat because we got to watch the rehearsal for probably 20 minutes or so. It was SO cool. When I left the Globe, I went next door to the Tate Modern. The Tate Modern is a contemporary art museum with 7 floors of exhibits. It’s amazing and it’s free to get in! Awesome. They had some really amazing works: one huge Monet springs to mind. There were also some really strange works that were more disturbing that interesting. Haha…That’s why modern art is so fun. When I left the Tate Modern, I walked in the direction of the London Eye because that was my next scheduled stop. It was a really nice walk by the Thames. Under the Waterloo Bridge there was a second hand book expo thing going on where people had laid out hundreds of old books for sale. It was really neat. As I kept walking toward the Eye, there were a bunch of street performers lining the walk. They weren’t like the street performers in Amsterdam, though, who just stood around in silly costumes. They were really good, many of them. It was a nice atmosphere. I finally made it to the Eye and took my flight on the big wheel. 
The views are incredible from up there, but it’s not what I would call exciting. It moves so slowly that I couldn’t even tell we were moving most of the time. It takes a full 35 minutes to go all the way around, too. It was neat, though. The capsules are made so that they’re glass almost all the way around in order to provide the best views. It was beautiful. After the Eye, I met up with Jen for dinner and then we walked around for a bit. She is really so fantastic. I had a great time talking to her and relaxing. After dinner, I had to head over to the Hammersmith Apollo venue because Marissa Stark, her roommate Cat, and I were all meeting there for a concert of one of Marissa’s favorite bands. As it turns out, it’s also the favorite band of the British pre-teen crowd and they had all shown up. 
I felt like I was at a New Kids on the Block concert. These girls had painted shirts and wore crazy makeup and the screaming, oh the screaming. I still don’t think I’m hearing properly after spending an evening in an enclosed space with 5000 screaming 12 year olds. It was fun though. The guy who got second place in American Idol last season, David Archuleta, was the opener. That was neat to see, and the band was pretty good. I had a good time, but I was getting tired, so I left before it ended. I also didn’t want to end up on the underground with 5000 twelve year olds.Saturday I actually slept for a normal number of hours, which felt awfully good. When I woke up, I packed up my stuff and headed for King’s Cross Station, from where our train would depart. I wanted to drop off my backpack so I could explore freely for the few hours I had left in the city. While I was at the station, though, I found something magnificent. They actually built a platform 9 ¾ wall in the station!!!
I, of course, took pictures of it and with it. It was awesome. From there, I went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. Since I’d already seen two changings of the guard, I wasn’t too excited. I felt like I should see it at the palace, though. There were SO many people; it was ridiculous. It was neat to be there though. Tony the tour guide had told us that the best place to be for the ceremony was on the mall leading up to the palace because then one could see them marching. So I stood on the mall for a while and watched them march in. Then I walked up to the gate and watched from 8 people back for a while (no joke…it was that full by the gates). After that, I just walked around the big half circle in front of the palace listening to the music the band was playing. At one point, they played the theme from Indiana Jones, which I found amusing. After the changing of the guard, I walked to Westminster Abbey because I felt like I should go in before I left. Unfortunately, it was 9 pounds to get in with the student discount! I decided that it wasn’t worth that much to me, and I walked on. I walked around the Houses of Parliament where Big Ben is and took some pictures. Incidentally, Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the tower and is not the name of the clock. Isn’t that interesting? By this point, it was time for me to head back to catch our train back to Maastricht. I stopped and grabbed some food and then slept the entire train ride back. Our journey back was smooth as can be.The London trip was incredibly successful. First of all, nothing was stolen. Hooray for me. I was able to see almost everything I wanted to see in London. I didn’t make it to Fleet Street, but I’ll be back at some point I’m sure. The weather was unbelievable. It was a bit drizzly on Thursday, but it wasn’t even that bad. The rest of the days we were there it was brilliantly sunny and warm outside. It was awesome! I got a pretty good amount of sun while I was there. Finally, despite the media craze, I actually did NOT contract the Swine Flu while traveling. All in all, I absolutely think I could live in London. Other cities I think are great for vacationing and I had fabulous trips there (Pompeii, Rome, Prague, etc.) but London is the first place that I’ve felt I could actually live and be comfortable and happy for a long period of time. That’s definitely something to remember, I think. Wouldn’t it be great if I could land a job for a couple of years in London??
Next weekend we’re heading to Denmark and Sweden where I will get to stay with the lovely Mary McConnell. Looks like it’ll be crazy fun!! ☺
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