Lancaster Diary
So,
last weekend was LONDON! I had so much fun. Donnah and I took a bus
form Liverpool to London for one pound each way! (Much cheaper than
the £24 train ticket it would cost, at least, for us to get there on
a Virgin Train!) We left at 6:15 in the morning and got to London a
little before 11. We walked straight over to Buckingham Palace,
where we were just in time to see the Changing of the Guards. (We
couldn’t have timed it any better). We then walked through St.
James’s park where we ate our lunch of bread cheese and tomatoes
which we bought at one of the local supermarkets to save money on
food. We then walked all over Hyde Park in search of Kensington
Palace (but never made it because Donnah can’t read maps! :-P.)
Anyway, we gave up on the search when we reached the opposite corner
of Hyde Park and went in search of our Hotel. After borrowing a Map
from Waterstones (a bookshop) we found it quite easily. The hotel
was small but nice, and well worth the money.
After getting ourselves settled in the room, we then went back out
to Leicester Square where it snowed!!!. We bought tickets to go see
Kim Cattrall’s play Who’s Life is it Anyway then bought the most
expensive two scooped Ben and Jerry’s ice cream I have ever
consumed. (Yes, I know, ice cream and snow, not the best
combination…) After
that
we went and visited Harrods. Now, I knew that Harrods was famous,
but didn’t quite realize how spectacular it really was. The Egypt
room had a huge mummy in it and everything was so huge and decadent!
I was afraid to buy something so I ended up coming away with just a
packet of brown sugar with Harrods written on the plastic!
Then to dinner. We ate at what happened to be, the best Italian
restaurant that I have ever eaten in. It was scrumptious and I ate
my meal in about 10 minutes flat. The waitress was impressed! Then
off the get munchies for Donnah who can barely go an hour without a
bag of crisps, and then to the show. (Not before however, we
stumbled across a Rainforest Cafe! …Have any of you been to one in
the states? They are so cool!) Anyway. We got to the show and were
disappointed. Donnah couldn’t see very much from where she was
sitting, Kim Cattrall was actually not a good stage actress, and the
play, in my opinion was quite dull. It was a nice experience to go
see a show in London, but we ended up leaving at intermission
because we were bored.
After a good night’s sleep, we woke up in the morning, and had
breakfast of which was provided by the hotel. We then embarked on
the tourist-esq sightseeing day. First it was to Big Ben and the
Houses of Parliament, right across from the London Eye (where we
also bought a delicious English Pancake), then on to Westminster
Abbey, and to Downing Street. Tourists are actually not let down
Downing Street at the moment however and I asked the guard why. He
informed me that because of the political situation they have not
been letting anyone down, however not in a time of war, it is
usually open to the public. We then walked down the way to see where
they have the changing of the horse guards. We didn’t actually see
it but we talked to one of the guards. I asked him if they were
there for tradition and for the tourists, or whether they were
actually guarding something. He, not being very enthralled with his
job, explained that it was pretty much just for tradition and the
job was ____. (Not a very nice word). Rest assured though, they were
not part of the Royal Army. We then headed up to Trafalgar square,
and then on the Tube to Camden Town.
Camden
Town was quite the experience. For most of the afternoon I had to
keep reminding myself I was in England, not Amsterdam! We walked
through the rows of street vendors and TONS of people selling food
from their home countries (Japan, Thailand, Greece, China, Spain,
and France, just to name a few.) After a nice lunch from one of
these vendors we headed back to Victoria Station to catch our bus
home. We arrived back in Liverpool about 5 hours later, with our
wallets about 50 pounds lighter. I fell asleep almost as soon as my
head hit the pillow. It was a wonderful weekend though and I look
forward to going back to London soon!
Jen
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