London was absolutely lovely. Maybe it was my excitement at being able to converse with the person across the counter or the sheer delight of being in England, but I had a brilliant time in London.
The weather wasn't too horrid while we were there; it only rained the first day. The rest of the time, it was fairly overcast and chilly, but never wet again.
We left Wednesday afternoon and arrived at our hostel around 10:00pm. It had been a long day for us, so we settled in and crashed soon after we arrived. The three of us became very spoiled from staying in hotels instead of hostels the past few trips. It was kind of a shock to have to share an itty bitty room with 10 other people and only two electric outlets.
Our first morning in London, we went straight to 221b Baker Street, home of Sherlock. Lizette is a big fan, so this was on her list of things to do. I browsed through the store briefly, then walked down the street to the Beatles store. They had all kinds of Beatles themed everything, so I had a good time. (If my family is not listening to Queen in the car, chances are we've got Yellow Submarine or Hey Jude playing.)
When Lizette and Joe were finished down the street, they came to get me and we took the Underground to King's Cross station (where Harry Potter was filmed). The other two wanted to get their picture at Platform 9 3/4. While they stood in line for that, I went into a book store, then found a seat and got in some quality people-watching.
Next, we carried on to the British Museum. This place is really pretty cool. There's quite a bit to see. I spent a good amount of time in the clocks exhibit. There were only two rooms, but I easily spent 45min to an hour reading about them and waiting for them to ring their bells.
Many of the clocks were many years old, but were still working. I love when the gears are visible on their faces. I like to watch them tick. There was a clock that was run by a marble that rolled from one side to the other. It took 30 seconds to travel to the other side. It wasn't entirely accurate every time, but it was fun to watch. (I wouldn't mind having one in my house someday.)
After the clocks, I visited Africa, Egypt, Korea, Mexico, the Americas, and Greece in the form of their exhibits. The place was packed with kids because they were all on a school break. (Also, with Night at the Museum 3 recently out, people want to see where the movie was.)
We spent a few hours there, then decided to move on. We stopped by Leadenhall Market (Diagon Alley) and spent some time in the stores, then made our way back to the hostel to get ready for the evening. We had tickets to Phantom of the Opera so we got dressed up, then went to Picadilly Circus to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Phantom was fabulous. It opens very quiet and soberly with an auctioneer and bidders. The auctioneer announces the opening bid on the chandelier in pieces, then the place goes dark, the chandelier flickers, and begins to rise to the ceiling and that beautiful Overture begins to play. It's such a powerful piece of music. The organ begins and the other instruments follow. Someone bangs the drums and the full orchestra joins in... You can feel every note deep in your soul. It reverberates through the whole theatre. It's exciting and breathtaking. I sat with tears in my eyes at the passion that is conveyed in the music.
Every cast member had beautiful voices. Phantom's was magical and Christine's was piercing as it should be. The whole experience was incredible.
The next day, we began at Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We walked around the Houses of Parliament and Westminster. We didn't go inside the Abbey but admired the outside. Then we walked a few streets over to Churchill's War Rooms.
The War Bunker Museum was very interesting. It's much bigger than we anticipated. We saw the room where Churchill ran the war. We saw the telephone rooms and map rooms and this whole complex that was dedicated to strategy and communications during WWII. There was an exhibit about Churchill's life in the middle of it and it was so incredibly interesting to be in such a historic place. Many of the things on the tables and desks in the rooms were original because the place had been left untouched for so many years. It was a lot to take in, but I'm glad we did it. I think it's always good to see another side of history.
From the Bunker, we walked towards Buckingham Palace and got a few pictures then headed to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I really wanted to take of tour of the place since we couldn't see a show while we were there. (Since it's an open air theatre, the season doesn't start until April.) On the way there, we stumbled into a market place completely on accident. We were getting lost somewhere near London Bridge and took a path that led us to a market under an overpass. It was a decent size market with meat and cheese vendors, fruit and vegetable vendors, and all kinds of other offerings.
We spent some time walking around down there. I bought a glass of Rosé Prosecco and enjoyed the atmosphere. America could use more markets like these in Europe.
After we'd seen it all, we continued on to Globe Theatre. We made it just in time for the last tour of the day. It was really cool to go inside the theatre and hear the history of it all. One day, I'll make it back to see an actual play in the Globe.
Our third day in London began at the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. We walked around the Tower, then stopped at Starbucks before we attempted to walk across the bridge. It was particularly cold that day so with venti Hot Chocolate in hand, we braved the wind and walked out onto the bridge. It's not hard to see why it's such a famous bridge. It really is a beautifully structure. I love the vibrant blues that cover it.
Next on our agenda was the London Dungeons. It was right next to the London Eye, so we walked along the river and watched the Eye slowly turn. We came across some performers who were dancing and contorting their bodies for the audience. We watched the entire show; they did a good job of capturing the audience.
When retrieved our tickets at the London Dungeon then got a quick lunch before we went in. The London Dungeons is a thriller/amusement establishment. There are actors inside and it's dark and creepy and they tell the darker (real and fictional) stories of London's past. We visited the alley where Jack the Ripper killed Mary Jane Kelly and sat in Sweeney Todd's barber shop. We helped Guy Fawkes with his assassination attempt. It was fun and the right amount of scary.
We were in a group of maybe 20 people and we traveled through history together. The actors at each stop were incredibly talented and did a wonderful job of interacting with the audience every chance they had. You never knew when you might be singled out to be picked on by a cast member. At the beginning, an actor told me that I best not flash anyone anymore because it's a punishable offense and later, I was locked in a cage while the actor explained the many means of torture he could use on me and two other audience members.
There was one lady in our group, LeAnn, who was picked on at almost every turn. The actors at each station would pick at random and she was chosen nearly every time. The last time she was picked, our entire group just burst with laughter and the actors were a bit confused at what was going on. (They played it off well and said, "Yes, LeAnn, what a funny name, laugh at her, Boo her!!")
The whole time we were called "Traitors" and were being led to our death. At the end, we were all strapped into a ride and the room went dark and an announcer said that we were to be hanged for our crimes. In front of us, there were nooses and silhouettes of bodies being hanged, then the floor fell out from under us and we dropped! (A quick drop and a sudden stop, it was!) They "hanged" us a few more times for the fun of it, then we got off and exited to the gift shop.
It was really fun for everyone. I was a bit on edge the whole time, but it was all exciting. It was also surprisingly informative while being funny and scary. They did a swell job of entertaining us for an hour and a half.
We walked a bit more around the London Eye, then found another Starbucks and sat for a while. One thing about London is that there's a Starbucks on nearly every corner-- even more reason to love the city!
We hadn't done any souvenir shopping, so we went back to Piccadilly Circus and shopped at the big souvenir shop there. (I remembered this place from the last time I was there.) That night we decided to find a restaurant for our last dinner in England.
We found a little pub not far from our hostel and went inside. They were having live music that night, so we got a table a few rows back from the performer and enjoyed our dinner while listening to this guy play the oldies. I'm a sucker for stuff like that, so I quite enjoyed myself during this. We sat for a while after we had finished eating and ordered a slice of cake to share. We were there for a bit more than 2 hours, which is good for us. It was a lovely end to a great trip.
We caught our bus on time and made it to the airport and back to France without any problems. we made it back to Poitiers around 5:00pm then went our separate ways.
I spent that evening with my laptop and HIMYM on Netflix. I rained all night and little on Monday.
I went to volleyball again and since then I've just been doing some writing and taking care of things that need to be done.
I don't want to brag or anything, but in a strange turn of events, I came across Blue's Clues on YouTube and nearly watched an entire episode. (I still know the words to the songs.) Such a cute show. And probably the most exciting thing that's happened today.
Anyway, I hope your day is going well!
Talk to you next week.
Je t'embrasse,
Sarah
Also, here's the rest of the pictures!
The weather wasn't too horrid while we were there; it only rained the first day. The rest of the time, it was fairly overcast and chilly, but never wet again.
We left Wednesday afternoon and arrived at our hostel around 10:00pm. It had been a long day for us, so we settled in and crashed soon after we arrived. The three of us became very spoiled from staying in hotels instead of hostels the past few trips. It was kind of a shock to have to share an itty bitty room with 10 other people and only two electric outlets.
Our first morning in London, we went straight to 221b Baker Street, home of Sherlock. Lizette is a big fan, so this was on her list of things to do. I browsed through the store briefly, then walked down the street to the Beatles store. They had all kinds of Beatles themed everything, so I had a good time. (If my family is not listening to Queen in the car, chances are we've got Yellow Submarine or Hey Jude playing.)
When Lizette and Joe were finished down the street, they came to get me and we took the Underground to King's Cross station (where Harry Potter was filmed). The other two wanted to get their picture at Platform 9 3/4. While they stood in line for that, I went into a book store, then found a seat and got in some quality people-watching.
Next, we carried on to the British Museum. This place is really pretty cool. There's quite a bit to see. I spent a good amount of time in the clocks exhibit. There were only two rooms, but I easily spent 45min to an hour reading about them and waiting for them to ring their bells.
Many of the clocks were many years old, but were still working. I love when the gears are visible on their faces. I like to watch them tick. There was a clock that was run by a marble that rolled from one side to the other. It took 30 seconds to travel to the other side. It wasn't entirely accurate every time, but it was fun to watch. (I wouldn't mind having one in my house someday.)
After the clocks, I visited Africa, Egypt, Korea, Mexico, the Americas, and Greece in the form of their exhibits. The place was packed with kids because they were all on a school break. (Also, with Night at the Museum 3 recently out, people want to see where the movie was.)
We spent a few hours there, then decided to move on. We stopped by Leadenhall Market (Diagon Alley) and spent some time in the stores, then made our way back to the hostel to get ready for the evening. We had tickets to Phantom of the Opera so we got dressed up, then went to Picadilly Circus to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Phantom was fabulous. It opens very quiet and soberly with an auctioneer and bidders. The auctioneer announces the opening bid on the chandelier in pieces, then the place goes dark, the chandelier flickers, and begins to rise to the ceiling and that beautiful Overture begins to play. It's such a powerful piece of music. The organ begins and the other instruments follow. Someone bangs the drums and the full orchestra joins in... You can feel every note deep in your soul. It reverberates through the whole theatre. It's exciting and breathtaking. I sat with tears in my eyes at the passion that is conveyed in the music.
Every cast member had beautiful voices. Phantom's was magical and Christine's was piercing as it should be. The whole experience was incredible.
The next day, we began at Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We walked around the Houses of Parliament and Westminster. We didn't go inside the Abbey but admired the outside. Then we walked a few streets over to Churchill's War Rooms.
The War Bunker Museum was very interesting. It's much bigger than we anticipated. We saw the room where Churchill ran the war. We saw the telephone rooms and map rooms and this whole complex that was dedicated to strategy and communications during WWII. There was an exhibit about Churchill's life in the middle of it and it was so incredibly interesting to be in such a historic place. Many of the things on the tables and desks in the rooms were original because the place had been left untouched for so many years. It was a lot to take in, but I'm glad we did it. I think it's always good to see another side of history.
From the Bunker, we walked towards Buckingham Palace and got a few pictures then headed to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I really wanted to take of tour of the place since we couldn't see a show while we were there. (Since it's an open air theatre, the season doesn't start until April.) On the way there, we stumbled into a market place completely on accident. We were getting lost somewhere near London Bridge and took a path that led us to a market under an overpass. It was a decent size market with meat and cheese vendors, fruit and vegetable vendors, and all kinds of other offerings.
We spent some time walking around down there. I bought a glass of Rosé Prosecco and enjoyed the atmosphere. America could use more markets like these in Europe.
After we'd seen it all, we continued on to Globe Theatre. We made it just in time for the last tour of the day. It was really cool to go inside the theatre and hear the history of it all. One day, I'll make it back to see an actual play in the Globe.
Our third day in London began at the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. We walked around the Tower, then stopped at Starbucks before we attempted to walk across the bridge. It was particularly cold that day so with venti Hot Chocolate in hand, we braved the wind and walked out onto the bridge. It's not hard to see why it's such a famous bridge. It really is a beautifully structure. I love the vibrant blues that cover it.
Next on our agenda was the London Dungeons. It was right next to the London Eye, so we walked along the river and watched the Eye slowly turn. We came across some performers who were dancing and contorting their bodies for the audience. We watched the entire show; they did a good job of capturing the audience.
When retrieved our tickets at the London Dungeon then got a quick lunch before we went in. The London Dungeons is a thriller/amusement establishment. There are actors inside and it's dark and creepy and they tell the darker (real and fictional) stories of London's past. We visited the alley where Jack the Ripper killed Mary Jane Kelly and sat in Sweeney Todd's barber shop. We helped Guy Fawkes with his assassination attempt. It was fun and the right amount of scary.
We were in a group of maybe 20 people and we traveled through history together. The actors at each stop were incredibly talented and did a wonderful job of interacting with the audience every chance they had. You never knew when you might be singled out to be picked on by a cast member. At the beginning, an actor told me that I best not flash anyone anymore because it's a punishable offense and later, I was locked in a cage while the actor explained the many means of torture he could use on me and two other audience members.
There was one lady in our group, LeAnn, who was picked on at almost every turn. The actors at each station would pick at random and she was chosen nearly every time. The last time she was picked, our entire group just burst with laughter and the actors were a bit confused at what was going on. (They played it off well and said, "Yes, LeAnn, what a funny name, laugh at her, Boo her!!")
The whole time we were called "Traitors" and were being led to our death. At the end, we were all strapped into a ride and the room went dark and an announcer said that we were to be hanged for our crimes. In front of us, there were nooses and silhouettes of bodies being hanged, then the floor fell out from under us and we dropped! (A quick drop and a sudden stop, it was!) They "hanged" us a few more times for the fun of it, then we got off and exited to the gift shop.
It was really fun for everyone. I was a bit on edge the whole time, but it was all exciting. It was also surprisingly informative while being funny and scary. They did a swell job of entertaining us for an hour and a half.
We walked a bit more around the London Eye, then found another Starbucks and sat for a while. One thing about London is that there's a Starbucks on nearly every corner-- even more reason to love the city!
We hadn't done any souvenir shopping, so we went back to Piccadilly Circus and shopped at the big souvenir shop there. (I remembered this place from the last time I was there.) That night we decided to find a restaurant for our last dinner in England.
We found a little pub not far from our hostel and went inside. They were having live music that night, so we got a table a few rows back from the performer and enjoyed our dinner while listening to this guy play the oldies. I'm a sucker for stuff like that, so I quite enjoyed myself during this. We sat for a while after we had finished eating and ordered a slice of cake to share. We were there for a bit more than 2 hours, which is good for us. It was a lovely end to a great trip.
We caught our bus on time and made it to the airport and back to France without any problems. we made it back to Poitiers around 5:00pm then went our separate ways.
I spent that evening with my laptop and HIMYM on Netflix. I rained all night and little on Monday.
I went to volleyball again and since then I've just been doing some writing and taking care of things that need to be done.
I don't want to brag or anything, but in a strange turn of events, I came across Blue's Clues on YouTube and nearly watched an entire episode. (I still know the words to the songs.) Such a cute show. And probably the most exciting thing that's happened today.
Anyway, I hope your day is going well!
Talk to you next week.
Je t'embrasse,
Sarah
Also, here's the rest of the pictures!
