Ello Gov’nor,
Greeting from dreary Londontown. Monday and Tuesday were rainy days spent with school, homework, and cafes all in preparation for our Wednesday London departure. Carrie and I left at noon for the one hour bus ride to the airport, we were flying easyjet to London, a cheap airline company that sold us flights for 80€ round trip, taxes and fees included. The flight itself wasn’t very long, only an hour and a half but the plane was not very high quality. Easyjet allows one free carry on that can be stowed in the overhead compartments so everyone has a roll suitcase and then struggle and fight to push it into the space. My ears popped probably close to one hundred times, not well pressurized and Carries popped then never unpopped. So eventually we make our way into London and approach customs. We fill out our little entry sheets and pass the machine gun carrying police men to the counter. One of the questions on the sheet was where we were staying, address, and I didn’t know my friends address so I left it blank. A big black woman starting yelling at me in a British accent, thrilling and terrifying all at the same time, she asked me the address and I told her I didn’t know and she responded, “You better know.” Carrie and I pow-wowed in the back and luckily had a small tourist map with us we had just picked up for free off the plane. We picked a street and a number and hoped for the best, luckily 76 Oxford street London, seemed legit enough. The lady then began drilling us with questions like where we were going, what we were doing, how long we were staying, show me your ticket home, blah blah blah. Honestly London, you are not that special and the whole thing was not necessary.
So by the time those shenanigans were all over the time was 3:50, London is an hour behind Spain. This particular airport is located an hour outside of the city and I had bought us bus tickets for four p.m. We were literally running across the airport trying to find the bus terminals, and made it just in the nick of time. Already so much excitement, I know. So we enjoyed an hour bus ride through foggy, rainy London and we were dropped off at Liverpool Street, where Megan Furey, my friend from high school who is studying in London, was waiting for us. Carrie and I decided to only take out 50 £ which is about 85-90 dollars, in an ambitious attempt to save money. I didn’t think we were going to make it considering our first metro ride on the tube, a one way, cost us 4£. But we made it back to Megan’s around 6 p.m. and stopped in a grocery store to buy some food. We got cookies, cereal, peanut butter, milk, popcorn, and juice. Megan made us a delicious pasta dinner that night and we played some cards and relaxed watching zombieland and leap year. Megan lives in the dorms of her university, everyone has single rooms that are clustered in groups of ten and share a big kitchen. Her room was decently sized and Carrie and I slept on the floor, her floor was hard cement with a thin layer of carpet, luckily I was still exhausted from Granada so I was able to sleep better than expected.
The next morning Carrie and I woke up at nine and got ready to go to Buckingham palace to see the changing of the guards. Megan wasn’t feeling the well the whole weekend and stayed home to rest. Thursday we bought an all day metro pass for 7.30 £ that ran all day except during the peak hours of 4-7, inconvenient. So our metro ride took about thirty minutes, then we had a 20 minute walk to the palace. By this point I was in accent overload, I loved it. Children, old people, teenagers all speaking in British accents was the most glorious thing my ears had ever heard. If it wasn’t so expensive and I had the opportunity to study abroad again after Spain, London would be a great choice. So we made it to the palace and we are walking in front of the gates when we are stopped by the police and asked to step back so a car can pass through the gates. After police escort we see a man dressed in military attire, blue suit with tassels and lots of buttons and pins, pass through and everyone is like that’s Charlie, that’s princes Charles, Charlie. So yes…I feasted my eyes on the prince Charles, clarification, not the young cute ones, but the father of the young cute ones. So we were feeling pretty excited and we went to take our spots and wait the changing of the guard. The changing of the guard ceremony is a huge tradition with a big parade and music and the fury hat guards march all around the palace and the streets. The place was packed but we managed to find a spot and stand and wait. We got there an hour early, and after an hour of waiting, the guards put up a sign that said, no changing of the guards today. We were livid. So we took some pictures of Buckingham and decided we would return tomorrow even earlier and see this spectacular sight. We left Buckingham and walked through a park full of people and swans towards the city center where all the great tourist attractions are. This is the area of Big Ben, Parliament, the eye of London, and Westminster Abbey. Everything costs about 16£ to get into and see so we settled for taking pictures of the outside and imagining. The summer 2012 Olympics are being held in London, so unfortunately a lot of things were being renovated in preparation and everything was covered in scaffolding. We walked on the outside of Westminster and walked all the way around parliament. We crossed the river to get a better view and took lots of pictures and avoided the many joggers of London. After our downtown adventure, it was about 2 o’clock and hunger was setting in. We hoped back on the metro and went to kings cross station, hoping to get a picture with platform 9 ¾ but it was closed off and being renovated. Boo. Kings Cross is located really close to the British Library, and Carrie is a nerdy English major so we decided to go. Great decision, the thing was free, plus number one, also this houses the king’s library and the oldest collection of books I had ever seen. We saw the oldest written works of Shakespeare and the original Alice in Wonderland books. Also they had original Beatles lyrics that they had handwritten on napkins and envelopes. There was a whole biblical section and had parts of pages from third century bibles. They also had original illustrations from Leonardo Da vinci and other famous scientists, oh and the original music of Bach and Beethoven.
After our cultural lesson, we hoped back on the subway and shipped out to Camden town, a shopping market area Megan told us to explore. In Camden town I found the typical London I was looking for, everyone dressed in Gothic clothes and people protesting in British accents on megaphones about the evil of coca cola. We found a little outdoor stand area with a million types of food and settled on chicken sandwiches and French fries for only 4£, the bargain hunters strike again. We sat by the river and ate with the other million Londoners there then explored the shops laughing at everything American there. They have an obsession with Mario, and if I had had the money/suitcase space my brothers would have been completely outfitted. After wandering we decided to hop back on the metro while our passes were still valid and go back to Megan’s. At Megan’s we played more cards and rested debating whether or not we wanted to go back out that night. Our decision became easy once we discovered Megan had the Lord of the Ring extended versions and we spent our evening watching the first one and eating a popcorn and peanut butter dinner.
The next morning, Friday, Carrie and I were up and out the door by 9:30 heading back to Buckingham to see these damn guards change. I had youtubed it the night before so I knew the best spot to stand, pretty resourceful eh? We got there around the same time and took our spots right against the railing outside the main gates. People didn’t realize they make you move behind the metal barriers so they would be S.O.L and out of my line of vision. The ceremony began with a huge parade of horses, men with guns, a band, other guards all walking into Buckingham palace. A lot of pacing and weird marching took place, then the band set up to play music. You will never guess what the royal band played outside of Buckingham palace. First came Indiana Jones theme, followed by the Star Wars theme, then the Olympic theme, and the performance ended with some old British songs, I was laughing hysterically. Then they open the main gates of Buckingham, where I was standing, and march back out into the street, front row baby, great pictures. After Buckingham and the hour long ceremony, we hopped back on the tube and set off on our hour long metro ride to Wimbledon. Wimbledon is located on the outskirts of town but Carrie is a huge tennis fanatic so I wanted to make sure we didn’t miss it. After our hour metro ride we then had a half hour walk to the museum. Of course it is under renovation, but we could still see a lot. We paid our 9.5 £ and toured the museum, where they had original trophies, uniforms, and rackets, then went to the 360° glass view of center court. It is a lot smaller than I imagine, Carrie was spouting out a million and one tennis facts and we left about an hour after arriving. We were both, again starving, it’s around 2 p.m. now and the half a cup of cereal from the morning just wasn’t holding us over. We bought some cheap food at a little convenient store and started our hour and a half metro ride back to Megan’s. Megan was finally feeling better so we decided we would hit up an English pub that night. We relaxed and watched more Lord of the Rings and ate a popcorn dinner before heading out. We went to a place about ten minutes from her door and enjoyed strange English beers and talking. She had a field trip the next day really early and we had to leave early so we headed back around eleven to finish our Lord of the Rings marathon. The next morning Carrie and I left around 8:30 and hit up the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We then moseyed our way back to Liverpool Street and we were picked up by our bus back to the airport at 11.
Our flight back was easy, a little bumpy, and scary when we landed into a very foggy Spain. We couldn’t see the ground until the tires touched! After our hour bus ride home I spent the early evening relaxing and watching TV till ten. Around ten thirty, I met up with the rest of the Iowa group and we hung out dancing etc. till late. The next morning I went to church then spent the day talking to my madre and finishing up some homework.
All in all it was a pretty incredible weekend full of new sights and the blessing of English, we could read everything. This week’s list of things I learned is England inspired.
1. English Children are spoiled and throw tantrums everywhere.
2. The crowd outside of Buckingham palace was the most diverse I have ever been a part of, from several languages to many different styles of clothes and ethnicities of people.
3. People still do wear chains on their clothes and dress strictly in black.
4. Pigeons beg to be kicked.
5. You can’t actually get close to the guards to try to make them laugh.
6. Driving on the other side of the road isn’t as thrilling as expected.
7. Old British couples are cutest, especially when you over hear them gossiping.
8. There are Ben and Jerry’s vending machines everywhere.
9. Always mind the gap.
10. Lord of the Rings is better in England.
I miss you and I hope you have a great week, I can’t believe it’s already March. Click here for pictures, http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=338916&id=563560128&l=713635f1cd
Elizabeth
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