London Calling

I know, I know, it's been weeks since I went to London and I haven't written a blog post since I went. Terrible. I'm glad I did a post right before I left so I don't have to remember much that happened before the trip. Since I've left it for so long I might as well get right to it.

I will say a few things about planning this trip though. We started out as a decent sized group. Over time, we kept inviting another person here, and another two people there, and before we knew it, our little London group had expanded to include 25 people! Not that I would have ever wanted anyone not to go, but I was getting worried. It's not easy for 25 people to quickly and efficiently travel from one place to another. But, at the same time I was excited to be travelling with so many wonderful people I already knew very well and a few people I wanted to get to know a little better.

Our train was scheduled to leave around 9 or so. So, Sophie's flatmate (British speak for "roommate": if you call someone your roommate here it means you share a room with them), Ashleigh, proposed that anyone who wanted to kick off our trip with a bang should meet up at YogYums for some pre-train waffles. Even though I hardly knew Ash, I was so down for this. So, I got there at the scheduled time, expecting a largish group (who could say no to waffles), and it turned out just to be me and Ash. Which turned out to be a serendipitous beginning of a beautiful friendship, the friendiversary of which will now be celebrated on the 27th of every month at YogYums.

We then headed to the train station and boarded. Half the group was scheduled to arrive the following evening because some people had class. The train ride was only scheduled to be about 3 hours long. But, there were delays, and we arrived about a half hour late. None of us really minded, and we got a free cab ride out of it, so who can complain? Finally, we all made it to the Smart Hyde Park View Hostel. Sophie, Clara, Ash and I checked into our room, which consisted of two triple-decker bunk beds. The hostel was cheap, clean, comfortable and we didn't have to share with any strangers. Plus, we got a free breakfast (of bland cereal and toast, but I would just have 4 pieces of toast and a full bowl of cereal, and I would be good to go. Did I mention my appetite has garnered me a reputation over here?). But overall, we were very happy with the hostel.

It's worth mentioning that at this point that I was not feeling so great before we left. I could tell I had a sore throat coming on. Also, I had been sure I had packed my oil of oregano (the best cold remedy ever) but I couldn't find it in my backpack. (I found it in an inconspicuous pocket last week.) Luckily, my favourite German hippie (Clara) had some sort of miracle remedy of her own which I took a few times over the weekend. I wasn't feeling 100% healthy at any point in the weekend, but without that stuff I know I would have gotten a mean cold, considering I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Thank goodness for Clara.

Anyway. Soon after we arrived we all met up to decide what to do the next day. The Spanish girls had been to London before and they had a plan. In theory, I don't like to just go with the flow and do what everyone else does. I generally prefer to figure out what I want to do and make it happen. But I thought about it, and realized that I was in an unfamiliar city of 6 million people and I was a little overwhelmed. Plus, in a large group, if everyone tries to plan the day, chaos ensues. Therefore, I decided to follow them for the weekend. This turned out to be a wise decision on my part.

I think we played some cards in the breakfast room downstairs before bed. We did that a few nights over the course of the weekend, and I can't say for sure which nights we did for sure. Regardless, our game of choice was ERS, a game I was fortunate enough to be familiar with. Every summer that my cousins from Kentucky came north of the border, we played ERS. They were the ones who taught my Regina cousins and I that game. My older cousin, Ramey, in particular did not like to lose, and he was ruthless. ERS is one of those games where you have to be the first one to slap the cards, and if your hand was under Ramey's, he would show no mercy. So to play against him, you had to get good at slapping quickly and getting out of the way. Which apparently I did, because I ended up winning. But, the game lasted pretty long and it was late by the time we called it a night.

The next morning came a little too early for my liking. But I perked right up when I remembered I was in London. I downed my breakfast as quickly as possible along with a cup of awful instant coffee. And off we went.

We started off in Hyde Park, considering it was right down the street from out hostel. It looked lovely and typically English in the cold, misty morning.

Hyde Park

Next, we moved onto Buckingham Palace to catch the changing of the guard. I was surprised by Buckingham Palace. It felt similar to how the owner of the Beatles' Shop described being visited by Ringo Starr:

Me: "Wow, that must have been incredible."

Him: "Well, not really. I mean, he is a person, just like anyone else."

I think celebrities and royals and famous buildings are hyped up to the point of being legendary. You end up with an idealized version of what to expect, and your imagination runs away on you. Once you see Buckingham Palace, and get over the initial awe, it is just a building.

Buckingham Palace

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it though. The changing of the guard was really cool. The atmosphere was grand and official. The guards did a lot of seemingly random walking back and forth from the fence to the building. And the marching band played flawlessly. Nothing less than the best for the royal family I guess.

Royal Marching Band

After that, we went to Trafalgar Square. It wasn't too busy when we were there. We saw quite a few sights there: The National Gallery (we didn't actually go it), the Canadian embassy (YAY), a giant blue rooster, and an skilled mime among many other things. More photos to come on Facebook.

Trafalgar Square

Canadian Embassy

Then, after a typical English lunch (I had fish and chips) we decided to move on to Covent Garden, which is not a garden but a market. We stopped inside this pretty little church on the way there.

Random London Church

Covent Garden

There were so many cool pieces of art and other little knick-knacks and things that I was so tempted to buy. But, I did not buy ONE SINGLE ITEM. I'm so proud.

We visited a couple of really great old bookshops. Again, I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look around.

Our next stop was Piccadilly Circus. Which is not actually a circus (are the English trying to trick us or something?) but a huge intersection complete with a wall of TV screens and some type of monument thingy (Look for them in my Facebook photos when I actually get around to posting them)

My crooked photo of Piccadilly Circus

 Then on to Big Ben. It started to rain so I only had time for a quick shot.

Big Ben

Right beside Big Ben is Westminster Abbey. We headed there for evensong, which is the evening service except it's sung instead of spoken. We weren't allowed to take photos. And we didn't have the  greatest seats because we arrived kind of late. But the music was so beautiful, especially combined with the architecture. I would definitely go back to do that again.

At that point, we were getting hungry (me especially, as always). So, we headed back to the hostel, where we were joined by the rest of our travel group. We explored the street on which our hostel was located and came across a little takeaway restaurant (takeaway = British speak for takeout) which was, for London standards, not too expensive. But all the food options looked greasy and unappetizing to me. So, Megan and I walked a little further and found a nice little Greek restaurant. It was pricier but definitely not over the top. We decided to go for the quality food, and we did not regret it. I had a lovely moussaka and my belly was happy.

That night we had another round of cards in the basement. Which meant another late night.

Which meant another early morning. Luckily that cold of mine remained at bay. The Spanish girls wanted to hit up a few spots in the city that were a little further away, so we bought day passes for the London underground. The London underground is kind of dirty, but it's such an efficient way to get around a city that's as big as London. We started off at King's Cross St. Pancras, which I recognized from the second Harry Potter movie. You know, the part where they fly the car away from the station. I  had a little HP fan moment. And took tons of photos.

St. Pancras: Do you recognize it?

 Then we stopped at the British Library. They had a giant wall of old books. Brittany Kolody-Dyke, you would have been in heaven there.

British Library

Next, we went to an area the Spanish girls had visited last time there were in London. It's full of street art, and it's constantly changing as new pieces are created overtop of the old ones. Here's just one example of many. More photos of street art coming soon to a Facebook page near you.

London Street Art

 Next stop: The Thames. It was way bigger than I expected it to be, and it offered some pretty impressive views.

London Bridge over the Thames

Tower Bridge

 We walked across the Tower Bridge and as we reached the other side of the Thames we were treated to a beautiful sunset. As usual, my photos don't do it justice. Note the birds off in the distance.

London sunset

At this point it was suppertime so we headed to London's Chinatown. We tried to find a place that was relatively inexpensive, but we soon realized we had to adjust our idea of what "inexpensive" meant. This was London. There's no such thing as "inexpensive." So, a few of us chose an all-you-can-eat buffet. That way, we would be able to stuff our faces and get our money's worth. Of course, by the time we had settled on that restaurant there was a lineup. We didn't have to wait for long though, and it ended up being worth it. And I did stuff my face, I'm not ashamed to admit it. It was delicious

Then, we visited Harrods, which is a huuuuuuge department store that contains the "best" (depending on your tastes) and the most expensive of EVERYTHING. We headed straight for the candy section. I was so tempted to buy something, but yet again, I somehow resisted. Anyway, I would describe Harrods as magical. It's like something from a fairytale.

Approaching Harrods

Inside Harrods: CHOCOLATE

And that was that for Saturday. I think we were pretty tired that night and most of us went straight to bed. But I can't really remember for sure. I guess that's my own fault for not writing this sooner.

On Sunday morning, our first plan was to make our way to Portobello Road, another street market. We saw lots of posh London flats on the way there. We also passed by a pretty little church. The doors were wide open, and it sounded like there was some kind of joyful celebration going on. We went inside, and we found that it was a stereotypical gospel chapel. The whole congregation was celebrating. We stayed for a bit and clapped along. It was such a welcoming atmosphere, and it was definitely a nice way to start the day.

Finally, we made it to Portobello Road.

Portobello Road

There were lots of interesting antiques and things to look at. I ate a waffle drizzled in nutella. And after that I had lunch at La Cave à Fromage. It was the first time I ever had real French food (in London of all places, I guess that's globalization for you). I ate cheese that was partially solid, partially liquid, and covered in a variety of different moulds. And I loved it. The whole meal was so tasty.

YUM

As we left Portobello Road, there was a huge group of Ukrainians protesting. It's one thing to read about it online, but to even just to see something like this was striking. I certainly won't forget it.

Protest

It was time to head back to the hostel so everyone could pick up their belongings and head to the bus station. I carried all my stuff with me and my back, legs and feet were starting to get angry with me. We walked down a street called Kensington Palace Gardens, where many national embassies are located. Then we stopped in Kensington Palace. At that point, I was so exhausted that it was hard for me to enjoy anything. We got back to the hostel and made our way to the bus station. We had decided to take the bus because we found a really good deal for train tickets to London on Thursday night, but the return tickets for Sunday night were very pricey. Bus tickets, on the other hand, were only 6 pounds, so we decided to give it a shot. Bad. Idea. 7 hours of topsy-turvy nausea for me. I've taken several grey-hound type buses in Canada, and it's never made me sick. But the "megabus," as it turns out, is just a double decker bus without the bottom level (that's where all the luggage is stowed). And if I learned anything from my first trip to Liverpool, top levels of double decker buses are not my friend. When we arrived in Manchester I stepped outside for a bit of fresh air and I noticed a few seats on the bottom level behind the driver. I begged him to let me sit there but he refused because he "didn't want me there." Not cool. Fortunately, I (just barely) managed to keep the contents of my stomach down for the rest of the trip. I can not describe my relief upon returning to Preston. It was after midnight and I was so tired. We took a taxi home and I went right to bed. 

And so ended our trip to London. I had a blast. There were many sights that I did not get to experience (the London Eye, London Tower, the British Museum), but I will be returning to London in May with Eli, and that leaves lots of things for both of us to do. I won't be seeing all of the same things again. But considering how much there is to see in London, I don't think I have to worry about losing interest.

Despite the length of this post (sorry) I still have lots to say. Since London I have been to Blackpool and Liverpool again. As well, there are things I could talk about regarding school and my international friends. But I think this is enough for one night. I will write more when I can. Tomorrow I am off to Lancaster for the day, so that will give me something else to write about. Should I just stop doing exciting things so that I don't have to worry about keeping up with this blog? No? Alright, if you insist.

xx from Room 2,

Anna