This weekend was definitely one for the books: I went to London. I planned this ahead of time with the family, so they were prepared for it. My boyfriend, Nathan, is studying in Oxford for the month of July, and since we both happened to be in Europe at the same time, we wanted to take advantage of that and go somewhere together. Paris was an idea, but London was less expensive, but still just as exciting with just as many things to do.
I took a quick plane ride from Alicante to London on Thursday night, and we had reservations at the Hilton connected to the Gatwick airport. I enjoyed this plane ride because everyone spoke English and it was easier to find my way. On Friday, we took a half hour train ride into the city and started at Buckingham Palace - just in time for the Changing of the Guard. After we witnessed that, we checked out Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and the Portrait Museum. I liked the modern rooms in that museum, because they had portraits of Paul McCartney and M from James Bond. Next we made our way over to Westminster Abbey, and were just in time for the free 4pm Evensong service. The 45 minute long church service was similar to how a normal church service goes, except it's inside the Westminster Abbey with a talented choir leading the hymns. Since we were right in front of Big Ben and the London Eye, we took a river cruise down to the Tower Bridge. It was too late to go into the Tower of London, so we waited until the next day for that.
On Saturday, our first stop off the tube was Kings Cross station, where the famous Platform 9 & 3/4 is (Harry Potter reference). The line was too long to stand in front of the luggage carriage that was sticking halfway out of the wall, so I just admired from afar. Next stop was Abbey Road, and that was an interesting stop. The road is still a road, and cars use it frequently - it's not blocked off and has quite a lot of traffic. It was hilarious watching people trying to time their "walk" when there were no cars and no one else walking. Next, we went back to the Tower of London and got the last tour of the day. Afterwards, we checked out St. Paul's Cathedral, which was close by. We didn't stay for the Evensong there, but were able to take a look around inside for a little bit. To end our night, we went back over to Piccadilly and got a pie from a pub and got tickets to see a show at one of the theaters. The show we saw was called 39 Steps, and it was a cast of 4. We were in the front row; I could see the sweat falling off the main character in his tweed suit. It was a thriller-comedy, and a parody of an Alfred Hitchcock film. I loved it.
On Sunday we didn't have as much time because I needed to be back by 5pm for my flight. We took a train in and got off at Hyde Park, and took a picture next to the famous Peter Pan statue. Then we took the underground over to the British Museum, and it was just as impressive as everyone said it was. I walked in and was dumbfounded as to which way to go (everything is placed in rooms with numbers and usually categorized by country). You could spend a whole day in there, but we only had an hour or two, so we saw the highlighted pieces: the Rosetta Stone, mummies from ancient Egypt, the Lewis chessmen, and pieces from the Parthenon.
Everyone was telling me how amazing London was before I left, and now that I've been, I can see that it is true. I hope to go back in the future!