The bus ride: The bus ride was actually really fun! The bus was kind of full, so Jessica and I had to split up, but I sat next to an English girl who's studying abroad in Paris for the year, and was going home for winter break. She was super nice and really fun to talk to. She also used the following words: "dodgy", "rubish", "holiday", "crisps" (instead of chips), and more that I'm not thinking of, but it made me kind of happy hahahhaa. Her accent was adorable. The Chunnel part of the journey actually wasn't very exciting. Basically the bus drove into a train, so it was like sitting in a box for 40 minutes. But then when you finally get out, everyone is driving on the other side of the road.
The bus let us off at Victoria station, where Jess and I promptly found an ATM, got some pounds, and took the Tube to Kensel Green, where our hostel was. We were in a 4 person, all-female room, and the hostel included breakfast, so for only 9 pounds a night it was really nice! I was really pleased with it, at least.
Our first full day included a lot of walking. We started out in Hyde Park because it was just such a gorgeous day. We also went to Buckingham palace to see the Changing of the Guards, by the river to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Eye of London, we saw Covent Garden (theater district), London Bridge (hey, it's still up!!), the Globe Theater, St. Paul's Cathedral, and then we went back to Covent Garden and shared a pizza before going to see Lord of the Rings, the Musical. YES we totally did see it.
I actually really liked it. Things that impressed me were: the fact that they even decided to turn LOTR into a 3-hour musical, Shelob (the giant spider) which was a really cool giant puppet, the orcs (omg they were so cool), Galadriel, and Frodo singing the Cat and the Moon song (from the book) in the Prancing Pony with awesome choreography. Also, both Legolas and Gimli got to sing. And the stage was really cool. Disappointments were that they cut out all of Rohan and they cut out Faramir. They obviously had to cut a lot, but I was sad about the lack of Rohan.
The next day, we started the day in Green Park (beautiful day= must walk in parks!), then we went to Sunday morning mass in Westminster Abbey. Which was absolutely gorgeous (both the Abbey and the singing- it was a British boy choir that sang everything. So pretty!). After church we spent some time in the National Gallery to see some art, and then to the Tower of London! My favorite thing in the Tower of London gift shop was a kit to make your own chopping block model, complete with an executioner and victim. They had one all set up, and if you pushed a button you could watch the executioner chop of the head of some poor man over and over again. It was for kids. I was tempted to buy it.
That night we didn't have an awesome musical to see, so we walked around and ended up sitting up on Nelson's Column and talking for a long time, which was really nice.
For our last full day in London, it was once again gorgeous, so once again we started out in a park- Regent's park. Then we went to the British museum. Man those Brits really did steal things from all over hahaha. We saw the Rosetta Stone of course, and also the Room of Enlightenment (one of my favorites because of all the books), the stuff from the Parthenon, some of the egyptian exhibit and some of the roman-britain exhibit. So we barely even made a dent, but we spent so much time there! We ended the day by going to see Harrod's! Ahhh so much fun designer clothing. RACHEL- I saw a black and gold sequened dress that was actually pretty similar to the one I wore to Band Banquet- but for only about a few thousand pounds. HAHA. I am so fashionable.
We also went up to the kids floor (where the rich kids of London get their toys?). One of the guys working there was wearing these light-up wheels on his shoes. I thought they were super neat, so I looked to see how much they were (only 20 pounds!), and he came over to talk to us. And he liked our accents!! Haha. And he likes that we say "cool" instead of "wicked". :-D
The next day we flew to Barcelona. But before we left, I used my remaining pounds to buy tea and Cadbury eggs. I'm convinced that nobody does easter candy better than England.
Off with her head! (Tower of London):
Handy- a reminder that the Brits drive on the opposite side of the road. In case you forgot and look the wrong way.. :
Barcelona!
We didn't have as much time in Barcelona, so we didn't actually do as much as in London. We did walk around quite a bit. And Jessica doesn't speak a word of Spanish, so I got to try to speak a lot.
Our first night we checked into the hostel and then went to find Tapas, and to walk down by the water. The hostel=not as nice as in London. No breakfast, and the blankets were extra. And there were a lot more people in the room. Actually it was exactly what I expected a hostel to be like before I went to London. Haha.
Our only full day in Barcelona was spent at the History of Barcelona museum (which was really interesting. You got to see all the roman ruins which were cool.) Then we went to find the beach, and took a nap there. :-D We mostly spent the day walking around and exploring though. And we had more tapas for dinner. (squid, spanish tortilla, eggplant, olives, and tomato bread.) Oh, and we checked out the Sangrada Familia huge cathedral. Oh, and for breakfast the last morning, we went to a bakery, and Jess accidentally said "oui", so the lady at the counter totally thought we were French, and asked if we wanted something to drink in french. Haha.
Palm trees=joy:
Chocolate display of joy (similar displays found in several Barcelona display windows):
2 comments:
Wow - great trip! You knew I'd be jealous of the LOR musical. Have fun - and yes the Brits stole from everyone, but so did the French when they had the chance :-)
Dad
Hmmm this is very true. With the British it's just so evident when you go through that massive museum.
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