Here is one of the few shots I managed to save from the London Eye. It truly was spectacular, one of my favorite things that I have done while in London. The view of the city was so pretty, especially at night. I wish it wasn't so expensive, or I would do it again!
London!
A couple days later I finally went to Harrod's! I'm not really even sure why they say that is a store - it's really more of a tourist attraction. You can tell that most people there don't plan on buying anything (especially three college students). The window displays were some of the weirdest things I have ever seen. There were blonde guys with mullets and mustaches, mermaids, and a whole slew of Peter Pan themed ones. Here is my best impression of one of the lovely ladies in the window...
twins
Our main focus was to find the Christmas floor - which was fun but ridiculously overpriced. Needless to say I did not purchase anything while I was in there, but I got a few photos in!
Me + teddy bears = adorable
Finally onto some legit London sightseeing! Next stop was the Tower of London with my friends Gaia and Thomas. This was one of the most interesting things I have seen in London. There is so much history there! So many kings and queens lived there, so many traitors were executed there, just generally a lot of stuff has happened there! Also, this is where the crown jewels are and they are SO SPARKLY. My friends and I were amazed that the crown jewels are actually just jewels. I know that sounds stupid - but I always assumed the crown has some value too, but it really doesn't. It is just a placeholder for the jewels. They have used crowns in the back because they are pretty much useless now. We took a tour of White Tower, which is the biggest tower in the center, and then wandered around for hours. We spent almost four hours there! Everything was so interesting that I didn't even notice how the time was flying.
She never made an appearance...
Traitor's gate...not too much fun
Jewel House!! Home of the CROWN JEWELS
little chapel at the top of white tower
toilet where the king used to sit (I sort of fell in)
super sneaky picture of the crown jewels (you're not allowed to take pictures of them)
One tower was where they used to lock the prisoners (including William Penn), and inside there are all sorts of drawings that these prisoners made. You would not believe how intricate they are. It's pretty clear that they had a LOT of time on their hands.
I'm not even sure what they had to used to make these...fingernails?
In our explorations we found the coolest part - the part where we got to pretend to be guards of the fortress. The helmets fit so perfectly, I think I've found my calling in life.
Gaia and I working the helmets
A few days later (don't worry, I didn't do this all in one day), Katie and I did a little tour of Westminster. We started with the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. The War Rooms are where Winston Churchill and his task force stayed during WWII as London was being bombed. Again, a lot of place with a ton of history, which was even more relevant to me this time. The best part of the whole place was the Churchill Museum. You would not believe how much of an overachiever that guy was! Not only did he have a huge part in ending WWII, he won a Noble Prize in Literature and has a collection of paintings on display! When did he have time!? This museum was super high tech and really cool to see. They had so many exhibits that were touch screen. One had blocks that represented countries, and if you moved them together information would appear on a screen telling you about how those countries interacted during WWII. There was also a HUGE touch screen calendar of every month from when Winston Churchill was born until he died (I actually think it even went a little past he died). It was probably the most high-tech museum I have ever been in.
Winston! major overachiever
me + one of Churchill's old pals
stylish Winston Churchill jumpsuit! (I think I saw one at Harrod's!!!!)
We then moved onto Westminster Abbey (where William and Kate are getting married on April 29, 2011, not that I am obsessed with their wedding or anything), but you can't take any pictures in there so unfortunately I have none to show! Not going to lie though, I definitely would not want to get married there. St. Paul's was gorgeous (that's where Charles and Diana got married), but Westminster Abbey is full of mostly dead people. I mean, don't get me wrong, they are very important dead people, but dead nonetheless. Pretty much every king or queen (or any royalty for that matter) is buried here from the time of William the Conqueror (who took over in 1066!). I'd say the best part was the Poet's Corner, though. Geoffrey Chaucer, Dickens, the Brontes, all of them are buried there! Some also have memorials (like Shakespeare) but are buried in other places. Also, Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton are buried there! There are definitely a huge amount of important people there, it's hard to remember them all. As we were about to leave, I turned to Katie and said "I wonder why Winston Churchill isn't buried here)." Naturally, as we were about to exit the door, there was a huge sign on the floor that said "WINSTON CHURCHILL." Go figure.
One more thing we had to do that day - the lion picture. This is the super touristy picture of me sitting on top of one of the lions in Trafalgar Square. Even though everyone does it, it is REALLY HARD. I think most of the time little kids have their parents put them up there. There was literally nothing to hold onto. It was also about 32 degrees and the lion was freezing. I thought my hand was going to fall off while I was trying to get on it. Nonetheless, I persevered and got my picture!
I did it!
Next, it was onto the Natural History Museum with Gaia. She is an earth sciences major so this is right up her alley. The museum is mostly targeted towards a younger crowd, but hey, it's free, why not? The coolest thing was the model of a blue whale which was GIANT. The building itself was also stunning, I think that it used to be a castle.
Me and the blue whale!
Natural History Museum!
A couple nights later I went off to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park with some friends from GW. It was so cute! It was filled with rides and vendors and lots of food. I really wanted to go on a ride but they were way too expensive (money is definitely running a little low). We also wanted to go ice skating but you have to book something like two weeks in advance to get it. It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit though! (I mean, I've been in that for about a month now because these people start so early, but now even more so)
Winter Wonderland!
Me chillin with Santa
Only a couple more stops on this crazy London sightseeing tour! For me, being a huge tennis fan, one of the most important things to see was Wimbledon. I finally decided that I just needed to go see it by myself because no one really wanted to pay 30 bucks to see the tour (which I totally understand). I definitely think it was worth it though. I have been watching Wimbledon on tv for years and finally was there on Centre Court! The tour was really interesting (thought I felt like I could have given parts of it myself). I even got to sit in the chair that the players sit in when they are in the press room! The grounds themselves were a lot smaller than they appear on tv. Centre Court and Court One aren't that big either. That is what is so much nicer about Wimbledon though, it is much more intimate than the US Open. I definitely think that the grounds for the US Open are too big for tennis, but it is still fun to go to. There was also a museum at Wimbledon which I could've stayed at for hours. They had old highlights, old equipment, old trophies, they had everything I have read about from Wimbledon from the past 120 years. I even got to see the actual trophies! They give the champions miniature copies of the ones you see them holding on tv. I was so close to Centre Court too. If only they had actually been playing!
Almost there!
Me on Court One (it looks weird with snow on it)
Wimbledon sign made of grass!
<3
Me at my post-match interview
Me on Centre Court!
ACTUAL WIMBLEDON TROPHIES
After a long week of crazy sightseeing, I needed a much slower, relaxing weekend. Where better to relax than Cambridge?! I finally got to see Donnie! We both had a lot of work, but I made my way up to Cambridge to check it out for myself. Donnie is busy with work but still enjoying herself! We worked on our respective work for a while, and then I went for a look around Cambridge myself. I can't even describe how gorgeous it is. I would put up all my pictures, but I think just a few shots gives the general idea. I started at one end of the River Cam and walked until I was stuck in the mud and had to turn around (even though I really didn't want to). There are so many green spaces where the respective colleges have their own "backyards." There are also so many important people who have gone there, I won't even attempt to name them all. I think Cambridge was the most beautiful place I have seen in all my time in the UK!
the River Cam
Jesus Green I believe
so so so so pretty
If only I could've gone punting along the River Cam! It probably wouldn't have been that enjoyable considering how cold it was though. This week I have been finishing up my essays (I'm about to submit the last one tonight) and am greatly looking forward to coming home in four days! I can't believe it's finally here! Hope everything is going well at home and that everyone has a nice holiday break if you don't hear from me! (I'll probably post one more time when I get home though)
No comments:
Post a Comment