London, England

Sitting here writing this blog post, I am killing two birds with one stone - knocking out this daunting task for the second time this week, as well as keeping a watchful eye over a pot of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese on Mamá's scary, gas stove.  She has left for the weekend to go to her country house in Zaragoza, Spain, so we have decided to risk it and use the kitchen or the first time this semester.  Nancy B. sent me some Velveeta Mac and Cheese in her care package, which I am saving that for a later date!!

Last weekend was a long one in Spain, we had Thursday off of class due to All Saints Day, which made for a full 4 day weekend.  Bearing that in mind, we booked that weekend for London, which we expected would be well-deserving of the extra time - and were we correct!!  The city was amazing.  Every part of it was captivating and exciting.  The people were friendly, the food and beer was fantastic, the sights were breathtaking and the English language was such a welcomed change (something I did not expect to say as Spanish major, but boy was it nice!).  I could have done without the misty, cold, London weather, but that was to be expected.  

Dan and I arrived early on Thursday morning, after taking a 4 AM cab with Ross to the airport.  Ross was going to Rome, after visiting London this summer with his family.  We got to London and took a 1.5 hour bus ride into the city center from the crappy airport that the discount airlines fly into - so basically, we save a little on the fare and spend 20+ euros on transportation to and from the airport... Since the rest of our group would be arriving later, Dan and I had virtually the whole day to ourselves to explore the city and get our bearings.  Although, we didn't do anything that we would not repeat, since Lauren would have killed us.  London is her favorite city of all time.  When we arrived, we ended up convincing the hotel, which we would stay in on Saturday and Sunday nights, to store our two measly backpacks for the day, since we did not want to be weighed down by them.  They were reluctant to do it, but the nice concierge stepped in and helped us out.  Freed from the bags, we started waking towards the river from the Victoria Station area and after stopping at McDonalds for some delicious chicken nuggets and stumbling upon a mass for the religious holiday in Westmister Cathedral, we walked smack-dad into Westminster Abbey and Big Ben!! We were shocked and easily spent an hour or more walking around and taking pictures.  We crossed Westminster Bridge for beautiful views of the  House of Parliament and the entire city down the River Thames.  The London eye was just to our left, so there was plenty to see.  Once we had taken shots from every angle, we decided to go find a little English pub to weather the inclement weather which had moved in (our only rain of the entire trip, very atypical for London).  We found a nice place called The Clarence.  The bartender was friendly and chatted with us, while offering us samples of several English ales.  I learned that a real ale, pulled from the tap, is not really fizzy nor really cold, very different from a lager.  We had a few beers there... then had to leave to meet Lauren at the underground metro - called "The Tube" in London.  We returned to The Clarence for some more ales and a traditional English meal.  Dan ordered the Fish and Chips and Lauren and I got a really good Chicken Pie!!  We even saw a little mouse run across the floor of the restaurant.  At home, disgusting; but in London, quaint and traditional feeling.  Haha!!  To explain the lodging situation would be a very long story, so in a nutshell, our friend Amanda and five of our girl fiends from SLU had arranged to stay in a hotel in London using Amanda's mom's reward points.  Their hotel was upgraded at the last minute, to a presidential suite with 3 king beds, 3 bathrooms and countless other amenities.  Amanda messaged and said to cancel the hostel and stay with them for free - so we did!!  Upon arriving there, it turned out there was mistake and the presidential suite was not offered, but due to the confusion, they still offered her a very large Balmoral suite, with several free cots and some wine.  Dan and I ended up on the just-too-short couches, but hey, it was free and filled with friends, so we made due.  

The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben!

Jordan, Brenna, Emily, Callie and Lauren in the Balmoral Suite!

On Friday, the three of us went first to the Tower of London.  A very old fortress that dates back centuries and has played a major role in battles, English monarchs and historical events.  We discovered that you could pre-arrange tickets online, so we did and ended up jumping a line of hundreds of people and saved money!!  Quite lucky!   The inside was very cool, but swarming with tourists.  It was midterm in England, so all of the schools were on a week long break and evidentially flocked to the city for "holiday" ugh... We ate lunch in the tower, which we stole from the breakfast buffet at Amanda's hotel.  First, we took a tour with a traditional Beefeater, one of the Royal Guards of the tower, and learned a lot about its history and significance.  Then, we waited in another long line to enter the stronghold of the Crown Jewels - all of the monarchy's riches.  There they are kept in a massive safe-room, which can be entered for viewing the jewels, though photography is strictly prohibited.  We meandered though, looking at the massive diamonds, some over 500 carats and the size of my fist!!  Crowns, rings, plates, flatware, scepters, and orbs - many of which are still used in coronations and official ceremonies today.  Dan, along with Annie, could not bare to miss this great photo-op and snapped pics "discretely" left and right inside the room.  As we were leaving, a guard chased us down yelling "Camera Check" and demanded to see Dan's camera, watching as he was forced to delete each and every photo and video of the jewels from his memory card!  HAHAH!  He was shaking in his British boots and Lauren and I could barely hold back our laughter.  What a shame, but a good lesson - do not mess with Her Majesty's riches.  We toured the tower complex a bit more, then crossed the famous Tower Bridge to the south bank of the River Thames.  The bridge was incredible to see in person, this was the one displaying the Olympic Rings last summer.  The south bank boasts impressive new construction and architecture and was named the "Queen's Walk".  We made our way back into the city and to Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus at night, which were very cool all lit up. We finally got a seat at a great bar and the bartender would not serve Lauren, since she did not have proof of age, aside from a photocopy of her passport - isn't this Europe??  So, we left and ended up just going back to the hotel to sleep, since we had trouble getting ahold of the other girls.  We were ready for bed without a doubt!

The White Tower - The Tower of London

Tower Bridge

Closest I got to the Queen... 

On Saturday, our friends were leaving London and going to a smaller town in the country, so we had to change hotels.  Luckily for us, to another one, which Dan's dad booked with more hotel points.  We were two for two in terms of hotels this trip!  This same hotel recognized us this second time around and were more than willing to store our bags for the day.  We headed straight for Buckingham Palace to catch the 11:30 changing of the guards.  Well... we were not the only one's with that on our agenda and since in the winter, they only do the full ceremony every other day, I think the crowd was almost doubled.  We managed to weasel our way up to a gate, right as the police were separating the crowd and making a pathway for the procession.  We found ourselves next to a couple very nice American ladies, who were happy to speak to us about the U.S. and even happier for our American-style respect of personal space!  We talked the whole time - well I did... haha!  They were very interesting and one had been a high-end watch buyer for Tiffany and Co. and had been to London, I think she said 50+ times, and had seen the changing of the guards over a dozen. They gave us their email address and wanted us to send them some photos (which they took with my camera from a better vantage point) and also to remind them to talk to their friend who owns an Irish pub in Boston and is the largest distributer of Guinness in the city, with the hope of her getting us a private tour of the Guiness factory in a couple weeks.  How cool!  After the ceremony, we got some photos of the palace, spoke to a guard who said that the Queen was out at a private residence (go figure) and then moved on back to Trafalgar square for photos in a Traditional London phone booth and with the famous, giant, bronze Lions of the plaza.  We stopped into a cafe for hot chocolate and a breather, then continued to St. Paul's cathedral.  We had intended to go up the cathedral for incredible views of the city, but it was closed for a confirmation, so we headed back across the Thames, using the very modern pedestrian bridge, which is seen in one of the Harry Potter movies.  We walked past Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on our way to the Borough Market.  This is a famous market in London on Saturdays with every imaginable food item.  I had a burger type thing with onions and English mustard (which is unbelievably strong/spicy) and Lauren had a thanksgiving plate on a bun, which was also great!  There, we met up with our friends Jordan and Sara, whom we had been with the nights before and were now going to squeeze into the hotel with us.  We left the market and stopped into a cool little pub on the river.  They left later for a Michael Jackson show (wish I had gone), while Dan and Lauren and I stayed to continue with the ales and to argue about languages and anything else imaginable before returning to the hotel, back along the Queen's Walk, with more beautiful night views of the city and the Tower Bridge... 

Changing of the Guards

Buckingham Palace babayyy

On the tele

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

St. Paul's Cathedral in the Distance

St. Paul's and London Bridge (not falling down) from the Queen's Walk

Tower Bridge

Sunday, was another busy day.  The five of us woke up and went straight to the train station (across the street) to arrange travel to the town of Windsor, the home of Windsor Castle.  Two train rides and a couple hours later, we were walking down the quaint streets of the town and staring at the impressive castle, which the royal family still frequents.  The castle is the largest one still in use today and was actually expecting Her Majesty's arrival (as they said) while we were there, but she never showed up.  We guessed her private helicopter or military escort must have been delayed... The castle was awesome!  So much more interesting when you can imagine people living there, state dinners being served there and foreign officials being entertained there.  We had lunch at a cool little restaurant and I finally broke down and ordered the famous Fish and Chips of London.  It was wonderful!!!  Seriously the best beer-battered fish of my life.  The rumors are all true!  From Winsor, we went back to London city to check out Harrod's the world-famous shopping center, but since it was Sunday, it was closed by the time we arrived.  Regardless, it offered impressive window displays and beautiful lights.  Next, we took the metro all the way to to King's Cross Station, from Harry Potter, to get a photo with the Platform 9 3/4 from the movies.  There is a goofy little set prepared there for tourists to take photos and pretend to be where Harry Potter entered the magical world.  Before going back to go to bed, we stopped into Shakespeare's Pub near the hotel to burn our remaining British pounds on snacks and drinks, when unbelievably the entire rest of our group walked into the same bar for the same reason!  We all sat and laughed and shared our stories, until it was time to hit the hay for yet another, miserable, early-morning departure for Madrid.  

Windsor Castle

Harrod's

I was super sad to have to wake up and go to the airport on Monday morning (gets worse each week), but I was even sadder to leave the wonderful city of London.  I highly recommend it and cannot wait to go back.  The time is flying here.  Only 3 trips and 6 more weeks left before I will be home for Christmas.  I hope all is well over there.  Cherio!