 |
| "the TUBE" |
 |
| Change of the Mounted Guard |
 |
| AWFUL Outfits |
 |
| Changing of the Guard |
 |
| Sunday Roast |
 |
| M&M Factory |
 |
| Westminster Abbey |
 |
| Relaxing in Kew Gardens |
 |
| Asian section of Kew Gardens |
 |
| Out for pints! |
 |
| British Museum |
 |
| Mexican exhibit |
 |
| London Eye |
 |
| London Bridge |
My good friend Marine (another friend of mine from France) wanted to see me one last time before I left Europe so we decided to meet up in London. She is living in Germany right now and I am in Spain, so London was a good meeting place for us. So on May 5, I went to meet her at the London Gatwick airport. Unfortunately, this airport was an hour and a half outside of town, but it was worth it for the price to fly in to it. When we got in to London, we took the metro, or "the tube" or "the underground", to our hostel that we had reserved previously. Marine hadn't told me before, but she had a friend that lived in the center of London that had couches we could sleep on but she didn't know she was going to be in town. After we arrived at the sketchy hostel very far outside from the center, we took one look at the room and decided to spend the time going back in to the center to stay with her friend Laurence. When we got to her apartment, Laurence wanted to go to her friend's party, so we did. It was all French people so I didn't understand anybody and I was exhausted, but it was ok. The next day we went to the Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the Guard (both Mounted -horses- and regular). The regular changing of the guard was really surprising because the band was playing songs like "Cry Me a River" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing". Very strange for an official royal ceremony, right? The hats and the shuffling of feet were funny and so I'm really glad we went to that. After that, we went to a pub and I had something very typical which was a "Sunday Roast". It had potatoes, roast beef, broccoli, carrots, and a bread type something called "pudding". It was delicious! After lunch we went to the M&M Factory which was childlike fun and very similar to the one in NYC. We then went to the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, which I loved! All the flowers and trees were relaxing and beautiful, although London hadn't quite gotten the memo yet that it was Spring. That evening Laurence wanted to go out to the bar so she had some friends over and we went to a bar where we danced a little and had some drinks. The next day Marine and I got Starbucks Chai Teas and then went to the British Museum where we saw the Rosetta Stone and a really cool Mexican exhibit with turquoise masks that I thought were really cool. There was also an exhibit on how much medication an average person takes in their lifetime which was pretty interesting. We then walked along the river and saw the London Eye, but didn't go up in it. It was on and off raining. We grabbed some lunch at a pub called "The Hole in the Wall" and I had some fish in chips. We went to the Tate Modern Museum, but a lot of the exhibits you had to pay, but the part that was free was fun. It is the largest collection of Modern Art in the world. We were running out of time so we rushed to the Tower of London. Honestly it was a bit of a disappointment because it is known as a place of torture, but that part of it was closed. However, we did wee the crown jewels which were pretty. Afterwards, we went to the area of London where all the Indian restaurants are and we ate at a place called Aladin. Marine ordered the spiciest thing on the menu... and survived! What a champion! I enjoyed my much milder food and then we went back to Laurence's apartment to hand out with her and her boyfriend and roommate for a bit. The next day we went to Notting Hill area to have brunch with another one of Marine's friends. We had a typical English breakfast of toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and baked beans. It was AWESOME! That was the end of my London adventure!!! Honestly it wasn't as expensive as I thought it was going to be and I really enjoyed it!
