♫ London Calling♫

Wow.
The past few days have been quite a whirlwind!
My last post was from Boston, so I'll update what has happened since then. I had a ridiculously long lay-over in Boston, but finally it was time to board my flight to London. Unfortunately, when I got on the plane, I realized they had downsized the plane. Instead of a 757? that had a 2 -3-2 seat format, we flew a 737 which was just the normal 3-3 seat format. This was a disappointment for me because I had a window seat and dislike being closed in by two other seats, but oh well. I was able to cat nap a bit so that was good.

After my plane landed I had about an hour through customs and then it was time to get to my hostel. I took the Heathrow Express train to Paddington station (very nice btw) and then took the tube from there to my hostel here in Pimlico. I felt a little funny with my suitcases on the tube but no one seemed to have a problem with it. (I'll have to post a picture of my suitcases next post- I'm so proud of how little I brought with me!)

After checking into my hostel I went exploring. I took a bus to the Victoria area, and from there walked all over the city of Westminster and took in the sites:

Buckingham Palace!
I also went to the Queen Victoria Memorial, walked through Green Park and St. James Park, and stopped by Big Ben and Parliament! (Those photos will have to wait to be posted when I can get them off my camera)
By the end of the day Wednesday I was absolutely exhausted and went to bed fairly early.

On Thursday the 7th, I woke up to rain. Lots and lots of rain. Apparently it rains a lot in London. Also apparently 65 degrees F is a NORMAL July temp. WTF. I seriously did not bring correct clothing! So me in my flowy skirt and sandals braved the downpour to head to Leichster Square (aka West End) to buy half price tickets for a show. I wanted to see Le Mis, but it was sold out (maybe I can see it in August) and so I bought tickets for the evening showing of Billy Elliot. I then met up with my friend Beth who I went to high school with (she married a Brit and lives in Canterbury now) at the British Museum. It was so nice of her to come up to London and see me, and we had a wonderful time exploring the museum where I saw the following:

Roman Shoes from 200AD (can't believe they are still intact!)

and the ever famous Rosetta Stone!

Seeing history like that was really awe inspiring.
We then headed to Covent Gardens where we window shopped a bit and sat for a few hours catching up at a local coffee shop. I am so glad I got to see her!

After Beth headed back home, I grabbed a quick dinner and then headed to Victoria to see Billy Elliot. The show is an adaptation of the movie. The original writer of the movie helped with the adaptation and wrote all the lyrics to the songs and Elton John did the music. The play was absolutely amazing. The boy who played Billy was extremely talented- the dancing and singing was absolutely fantastic. He couldn't have been more than 12 or 13 years old.  Wow. Here is a picture of the outside of the theater:

Today, I slept in a bit- which I needed because I haven't been able to sleep very well on the hostel beds-and then had to change rooms at the hostel. After that I headed to the Tower of London. It is HUGE! I don't know what I was expecting, but not the sprawling fort that I ended up touring! I spent almost 4 hours walking around immersing myself in royal history dating back to 1066. I love visiting places like this where you just look around and think I am standing in the same room that a King slept in during the 11 hundreds. WOW. It's a very humbling feeling. I love that Europe has this history, and I love thinking/ learning about what life was like then. The Tower was pretty full of visitors, and I had quite a wait to see the crown jewels, but it was worth it. They have the crowns dating back to Charles the 1st used for coronations as well as the scepter that has the world's largest perfectly cut/ clarity diamond in it. Something like 503 carats? It was ridiculous.
The Tower Bridge is right next to the Tower of London and so I took a few pictures of it/ with it. I thought about walking across it, but was too tired. Maybe in August.

Tonight, I'm taking the night off from touring, and just catching up on stuff/ planning. Of course, I am drinking a pint of beer from the hostel bar as I write this. :) I'm hoping to see one of my sorority sisters who is doing a summer internship here  tomorrow morning and then I'm off to Paris in the afternoon!!!

Until next time,
Em