Our Weekend in
London.
Alia, Laura,
Lauren and I arrived in London on Friday night. We parted at Euston
Station because Alia and I were staying on a hostel and Laura and
Lauren were bunking in with a friend who's studying abroad. We
stayed at a place called the Millennium Lodge that was a little
outside London City Centre. It was cheap and so of course, sketchy.
On Saturday Alia
and I headed into the city where we were later going to meet up with
Laura and Lauren. While waiting for them to call we stopped at
Oxford Circus and did some shopping. Alia bought a coat and
pashmina at H&M and I bought some q-tips! We then met up
with Laura and Lauren at the British Museum, which to our delight,
was free! It was
a cultural museum with exhibits from different parts of the world.
We saw artifacts from ancient England and Ireland as well as real
mummies from Egypt. We were on a tight schedule because Laura was
flying out on Sunday and we wanted to pack in as many sites for her
as we could. So after the museum we ate some lunch and headed to
Westminster where we took pictures of Big Ben, the Houses of
Parliament and of course Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately the Abbey
was closed when we got there so we couldn't go inside. We went over
to the London Eye which is a giant ferris wheel. It was kind of
expensive and I'm not sure it was worth it ($24) but we did get some
good pictures and you do get to see a lot of the city from up
there. Here's a photo I took showing Big Ben, the Houses of
Parliament and the River Thames.
After the Eye we
split up because Alia and I were going to do the Jack the Ripper
Tour and Laura, Lauren and Lauren's friend Kayla were going to see a
Broadway show. The Jack the Ripper Tour started from Tower Hill and
since we were there early, we got to walk around the Tower of
London, see Tower Bridge and London Bridge. The tour started at
6:45 and ended at 9pm. It was a lot of walking in the cold, but the
guide was really good and the tour very creepy. It only cost 4
pounds for students so I think it was worth it.
On Sunday morning
we ran into Paige--a fellow UMainer--at our hostel. Alia and I were
both stunned to see someone wearing a Maine sweatshirt in London,
England of all places! Unfortunately she was checking out of the
hostel, so we only got to chat for a few minutes, but I found out
she had recognized me from the Lancaster Diaries!
Alia and I headed
out on our own to do some leisurely sight-seeing,. We went over to
Buckingham Palace (pictured, not very "palace-like"), walked through
St. James' Park and took lots of pictures. Including one of a
gigantic pelican that was
very people friendly. Alia was supposed to take a picture of me
next to it but the pelican started coming at her and she ran away!
Our original plan for Sunday had been to go see a show in the
West-end. Alia really wanted to see Les Miserables but it wasn't
playing. Our second choice was the Lion King but it would've been
$80, so we decided to go to the movies instead! The movie didn't
start until 6 o'clock so we toured London a bit more.
While wandering
through Trafalgar square looking for a bathroom we ended up in the
National Gallery, which was also free! We looked at some Van
Gogh's, Vermeer's, a Da Vinci and some Rafael's--we recognized many
of the paintings from our Honors class and various Michael Grillo
lectures.
We then went to
St. Paul's Cathedral and since it was Sunday we didn't have to pay
to get in! Next we hit Piccadilly Circus because its like the Times
Square of London. They had a big Burger King where you have to pay
20 pence to use the bathroom! Not wanting to spend anymore money,
we hung out in the Virgin Megastore listening to CD's before heading
back to Leicester square for the movie. We saw In Good Company
which we both liked, but the movie cost 8.50 pounds which is about
$16!! Still, it was cheaper than a show and got us out of the
cold. After the movie we were tired from walking and sight-seeing
so we turned in early and headed back to the hostel. We hadn't had
any dinner so we stopped at a nearby gas station, bought soda,
cookies and chips and had a carpet picnic--a very healthy meal.
Before we left on Monday we went back to Westminster because we
really wanted to see Isaac Newton's tomb. My guidebook said it was
2.50 to get in but it turned out to be 6.00, so we waved to Isaac
and headed for the train.
Alia's only got a
few days left now. On Wednesday we're going to Liverpool to see the
Beatles Museum and then Friday morning Alia flies back. Check back
for Alia's Visit: Part 3.
--Erica
