Dublin Take 2

That's a wrap, folks!  Gillian and I are on board the British Airways flight back to the States from London to Baltimore.  Our connecting flight from Dublin arrived late, so we had to rush around Heathrow before we made it to our plane just in time for final boarding.  This will be the last posting from this round of European adventures.  Although it was my shortest venture to Europe yet, I throughly enjoyed my time in the UK and Ireland.  People here are so warm and welcome to visitors, and I made connections with so many different people this go round.  I can't wait to plan another adventure abroad soon, but that will have to wait for another day!  For now, let's talk about Dublin. 

After our adventure in Belfast in Northern Ireland, we took the Enterprise train south on the Irish Sea coast on the eastern side of Ireland down to Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland.  This is my second time in Dublin, and I was happy to return after I had such a great time when I was here in the summer of 2010.  Upon our arrival at Connelly Central station, we took the Luas ("speed" in Gaelic) light rail to our hostel on the south side of the River Liffey.  We had a traditional Irish pub meal for dinner at The Brazen Head, of course accompanied by Guinness.  I had my favorite dish in Ireland, bangers and mash or sausage and mashed potatoes.  To our dismay, we learned that on Friday, which is the feast of Good Friday in the Catholic tradition, all pubs and stores would not be allowed to serve alcohol per an old Irish state law.  This is one of those footnotes in a guidebook that you always ignore, but our spring break ran right in the middle of this traditional Easter weekend.  To prepare for the dry spell, we went out our first night in Dublin at The Temple Bar.  It was jam packed because of the upcoming holiday, which I dubbed Black Friday with the lack of alcohol in Ireland of all places, and the live music.  They were very serious about the rules and closed at midnight!  Regardless, we had a great time listening to music and talking to other travelers in the bar. 

On Friday, we expected everything to be closed and dead for Good Friday; however, all the streets were more crowded than I'd ever seen in Dublin!  Apparently all the locals leave for Easter because so many tourists arrive in Dublin for their own Easter break.  We took a walking tour of the city, led by the same company as the one in Edinburgh.  Our tour lasted nearly 4 hours winding through historic Dublin, and our tour guide James gave us plenty of history and stories along the way.  Some of the sights we saw were Christchurch Cathedral, Temple Bar, the River Liffey, the Ha'Penny Bridge, Irish Parliament, and St. Stephen's Green.  Ireland has such a rich yet tragic history, and it did not gain its true independence until 1949 from rulers like the Vikings, Anglo-Normans, and British Empire.  Despite these troubles and events like the famous Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s that expanded the Irish diaspora across the globe to places like the United States, the Irish are such a happy and friendly people always willing to share their traditions with others.  

After the tour, we decided to purchase tickets for a day trip and pub crawl on Saturday to make up for the Good Friday alcohol ban.  We headed over the Kilmainham Goal prison, which I visited last time, because of its rich history as a prison and center of unrest against the British Empire.  Because of the Easter crowds, we were taken on an alternate tour to keep up with the demand, so I got to see a different part of the prison that I had previously.  We grabbed dinner later at a small noodle place where even the old Irish man at the counter was so friendly to us.  He even gave me the special price on the meal despite mine being different that the perscribed choice.  We ate at hostel and got to know a few other travelers like a girl from University of Michigan who just left Prague before arriving in Dublin.  Although I was very much craving a Guinness with dinner, we were sadly out of luck on Friday.  Or so we thought!  Our hostel, which we will leave unnamed for their protection, sold us songs for €3 that included a free Guinness with it!  Must have been a leprechaun watching over us. 

On Saturday, we rejoined our tour guide James and some friends from the walking tour including other Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Swiss Germans.  We took the DART train about 30 minutes north of Dublin to Howth, a sleepy sea village in the far suburbs of the city.  On my last visit, we went all the way across the country to the west coast with Galway and the Cliffs of Moher.  This time I'm glad we decided to stay closer to Dublin for a day trip, although I am always amazed at how many different places there are to see in a small country like Ireland.  Our tour of Howth led us around the peninsula past castles and up to the top of a hill with spectacular views of the surrounding area with green land for days that makes the name of the Emerald Isle fitting.  Along the way, James filled us in on stories about Howth and other Irish myths including leprechauns folklore.  For lunch, we stopped at a pub on the cliffs for yet another round of bangers and mash and the return of Guinness taps!   After a long lunch, we finished the day trip with a hike along the Howth cliffs overlooking the Irish Sea.  The views were stunning and so often taken for granted by Irish according to our guide.  

After our trip to Howth, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before starting our pub crawl through Dublin on our last night in Europe.  We started at 7:30, and I certainly lost count of how many Guinness pints I had before we finally got home at the wee hours of the morning.  We had a blast socializing with the friends we made on our day tours, and it was sad to leave our new friends from around the world.  Bright and early on Easter morning before our flights out, we went to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour and a pint as any good Irishman would celebrate the holiday.  Since I was there last, they added a new part where you learn how to properly pour a pint before snapping a photo and taking your freshly poured Guinness up to the top floor for a view of the whole city.  

This has been yet another amazing trip through Europe, but I already feel like there are so many more places to see!  Just to think of all the cities and parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland that I have yet to see makes me want to come back soon.  Alas, it wouldn't be a vacation if it happened all the time.  I love this part of the world, and I could easily see myself spending more time here.  The people are great, the sights are amazing, the language is manageable (expect maybe in Scotland!), and the possibilities are endless.  Cheers to another trip in the future, and I hope you enjoyed this round of Beegs in Europe!!

Northern Ireland: Belfast

Gillian and I are currently on the train from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland for the final leg of our journey, hoping for a passport stamp as we cross the border out of the United Kingdom for the first time this trip.  As you may know, Northern Ireland is separate from the rest of Ireland as it has retained its ties to England by remaining a part of the United Kingdom.  Although I certainly had a basic knowledge of the conflict between Protestant and Catholic Ireland before my trip to Belfast, it was much more powerful to be in the center of the historical action to really understand more of the struggle.  Since I was only 8 years old when the latest and longest peace accord (The Good Friday Accord) was signed between the UK and Republic of Ireland, I do not have the first-hand knowledge of the struggle for rights and independence between the Unionist Protestants and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that plagued Ireland from the 1960s-1990s in what was dubbed the most recent set of "The Troubles."

Our day-long journey to Belfast began at 4 in the morning with a 25-minute flight from Glasgow to Belfast. Luckily, this time our travel luck at the airport was present.  We scored a free ride on the bus to the airport because the ticket machine wasn't working, and there were no lines or snafus at security.  Guess the luck of the Irish was shining upon this leg of our trip!  Once we landed and made our way to the city center, we dropped our bags off at the train station and headed for the tourist information center. Ireland's friendly people were immediately apparent, and everyone was willing to help us.  Plus, we could definitely understand their accents better than those of the Scots.  After doing some research before our flight, we decided to take one of the famous Black Taxi Tours to get a better sense of Belfast.  Gillian and I were taken on a private tour of Belfast's West Side, where the majority of the violence between Catholics and Protestants was concentrated during The Troubles.  Our driver, Bobby, was born and raised in the Protestant section of Belfast; however, his description of events was incredibly honest and unbiased.  He has been a taxi driver in Belfast for 41 years, since before the beginning of The Troubles.  Taxis are the only method of transportation that was consistently open for the entire period of violence when buses and city transit shut down.  There's even a dedicated mural to those taxi drivers like Bobby who risked their lives to keep the citizens of Belfast moving. 

Having a guide like Bobby gave us a whirlwind history lesson on the immense struggle between Irish and English sentiments that have torn apart Northern Ireland, which is only recently recovering to have tourists like us coming to visit the city.  We began our tour on the Protestant side of West Belfast where the sides of many homes are painted with murals honoring the heroes, dead, and historical figures of the Protestant and English traditions of Northern Ireland.  This part of town was fairly run down and gloomy, but there are improvements and new construction finally coming to this section.  Next, we saw the wall that separates the Catholic and Protestant sections of town, which is three stories high to prevent bombs and violence.  It reminds me of the Berlin Wall with its murals and peace memorials.  What makes it different is the fact that it is still very much intact, and the 17 gates in and out of the wall still close on large holidays like St. Patrick's Day and Remembrance Day.  On the Catholic side, there were more updated dwellings and memorials to the 10 men who died on hunger strikes in the 1980s and those killed in the first bombings of the Catholic side in 1968.  Although there is clearly peace and progress in Belfast, it's hard to shake the feeling that there is still a great divide between the people in the city.  According to Bobby, it will be up to the younger generations to maintain peace and bridge communication between both parties to grow as a people. 

After the riveting and enlightening tour, we explorered the Queens University area of town where students of both religions attend in the main academic institution of the country.  We had lunch at a small breakfast place popular with students called Maggie Mays (à la Rod Stewart), where I had a traditional English/Irish breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, potato bread, and soda bread.  When we finished lunch, we headed to tour the Botanical Gardens of the university and the Ulster Museum, which contains artifacts of the history of the 9 counties of Ireland that make up the northern region constantly divided between Irish and English.  On the most typical weather day so far (cold, rainy, and gray), we headed for refuge at the train station before our cross country journey south to the capital of the Irish Republic in Dublin.  We were sure to spend all our British Pounds as we head to the Eurozone next. 

Although Belfast is a mix of Irish, English, and even Scottish (Gaelic brethren) traditions, it very much reminded me of former communists cities that I have visited in the past like Prague and Budapest.  Although the streets were busy and there were beautiful historic buildings, something felt distinctly non-Western in Belfast.  First, there is a lack of long-term culture from medieval and Renaissance times that exists in other European cities and countries.  Belfast seems to have been the most likely place for the English in Northern Ireland to establish an economic center and cultural hub; however, there are a disproportionate number of 20th century buildings in such an ancient country like Ireland.  To me, there is a clear affect on Belfast like I've seen in Berlin where conflict stunts the development of a city culture, leaving it unable to match the prowess of other European destinations.  Like Prague or Berlin, I very much enjoyed my time learning about the city's rich history, but I wouldn't want to spend a long time there if given other European options.  Nevertheless, I am happy to experience a new place with such a distinct history and uncertain future full of both hope and tenuousness.  That's all for our short jaunt to Northern Ireland!  Next up: a return excursion to Dublin!

Scotland 2: Glasgow

Today, we're flying across the Irish Sea from Scotland to Northern Ireland for the final two stops of our trip in Belfast and Dublin!  We spent the last two days in the cosmopolitan and industrial city of Glasgow, which is probably most know for being in the Abba song "Super Trooper."  Although our guide books for Scotland seriously downplayed Glasgow in comparison to Edinburgh, we very much enjoyed our time in the Scottish arts capital. The residents were always friendly and willing to give us tips on places to see and things to experience. 

We arrived on Tuesday afternoon on a short hour-long train ride across the country from Edinburgh in the east to Glasgow in the west. Upon our arrival into central Glasgow, we made our way to the River Clyde where our hotel was located to drop off our bags and begin planning our visit of the city.  We decided to take the subway, which only has one line that runs in a loop around the city, to the posh, student-oriented West End. Home to the University of Glasgow, the fourth oldest university in the UK, the West End is full of bars, shops, and restaurants catered to a generally young and hip crowd. We began with dinner at Oran Mor, a bar inside of a former church.  We had our taste of traditional Scottish fare: fish and chips and bangers and mash. Although I do enjoy the meat and potato diet of Scotland and Ireland, there is a reason British cuisine has not left its mark on the international food scene.  After dinner, we wandered past the university grounds and down the main bar drag, Byres Street, stopping at 3-4 pubs along the way. Per chance, we ended our night at the Lismore Pub where there was a group of 10 musicians playing traditional Scottish music with fiddles, drums, guitars, and bagpipes. It was awesome to see Scots young and old playing music on a random Tuesday night in Glasgow. 

After a night of rest, we began our first and only full day in Glasgow with a walking tour of the city.  Glasgow is very walkable, and the city center is a compact area with all the main sights and streets together. Glasgow has a distinctly more "new world" feeling versus Edinburgh with its medieval walls and castle hills. The streets are lined with modern buildings (i.e. 1800s and later) and Glaswiegans going about their days. There are many different periods of Glasgow's architecture, stemming from the industrial period from the richer merchant class homes and working class tenements. There are signs across the city that read "People Make Glasgow," which reminds people not to take themselves and their city too seriously. For example, the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art has a bright colored glass mosaic on top of a Romanesque building with a traffic cone on the head of the bronze statue out front. 

Near the end of our walking tour, we stopped at the world famous Glasgow School of Art for a tour. This school has educated and trained many of the UK's best artists, with specialties like painting, ceramics, printmaking, and jewelry design. The most famous part of the school, where our tour explored, is the Charles Rennie Mackintosh building. Designed by a former student at the beginning of the Art Deco period, the Mackintosh building is a tribute to this architect's unique style and the modern era of architecture followed suit by buildings like the Chrystler Building in New York City. Mackintosh created a building that was designed for art students to create their works in and for standing as art itself. Mackintosh's designed his own furniture for the building, which can also be seen at his famous Willow Tea Rooms in the city.  Our tour guide was a ceramics student herself, who provided insights into life of students and professors at the School of Art. 

After walking across the city, we made a final stop at the Glasgow Catherdal of St. Mungo. It is a stark example of a high gothic cathedral in a country that dismantled many gothic churches during the Reformation in favor of simpler Presbyterian churches. Next door, the Necropolis is a large cemetery on a hill in the style of Pere Lechaise in Paris. We wandered back to the city center after a long day of sightseeing before grabbing dinner in the oldest pub in Glasgow. Sloan's has been operating since the 1790s, and there is even traditional Scottish dancing (ceilidh) on Friday nights. 

We had an early morning Thursday on our 7am flight for Glasgow to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland and our final stop in the UK.  Glasgow was an energetic and highly underrated city with the modern heartbeat of Scotland. English is certainly the language of Scotland, but we did have some trouble understanding many of the residents with their heavy Scottish accents and colloquial words like "aye" for "yes" and "cheers" for any greeting or thanks.  Although the winding streets and medieval history of Edinburgh are not to be missed, Glasgow has a hip and funky flare that are the total opposite of its Scottish rival city.  Of particular note, Glasgow will be host to the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and it's clearly excited to show itself off during the event.  Next update will be from Ireland after our journey in Great Britain comes to a close!  Cheers!  

Scotland 1: Edinburgh

This afternoon Gillian and I are taking the train across Scotland from the capital, Edinburgh, to the  largest city, Glasgow. As in the rest of Europe, the train service is clean, fast, affordable, and far more manageable than flying. We spent the last two days here in the Jewel of Scotland, Edinburgh, which is home to the historical and political heart of this country. Although it is certainly a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of London, Edinburgh holds its own as an important city of the United Kingdom. 

Of particular excitement at this time, Scotland is preparing to hold a referendum vote on its independence from the United Kingdom. This underscores much of the rich history of rivalry between England and Scotland that we learned about on our tour of Edinburgh, which is steeped in tales of wars and kingdoms from the medieval period to today. In 1998, the UK passed the Scotland Act, which devolved power to allow Scotland to have its own parliament and lawmaking institutions.  Scottish Nationalists today are campaigning for full independce of the Scottish country with the upcoming election; however, there seem to be mixed opinions on what the future of Scotland will be. We even saw a car driving around the city shouting Scottish music from the windows and towing a giant "VOTE YES!" sign behind it!

We began our journey in Scotland yesterday by flying from London to Edinburgh. On our early morning flight, we seemed to use up all our bad airport luck. Every train we took, we just missed the previous one. At security, we picked the longest lines of course. I even had to go through extra baggage security, with every single article of clothing in my bag having to be combed through. Luckily, we made it to the gate just in time for our flight and a pleasant journey.  After landing and taking a bus into central Edinburgh, we checked into our hostel in the center of Old Town. Edinburgh is divided into two sides, Old and New Town, which are aptly named for their apparent ages. Old Town is the historic and medieval section of town lined with stone buildings and castles. New Town was constructed in the late 1700s by the wealthy and noble to escape the filfth and crowds of the city. They drained the loch (lake) down the hill and constructed a picturesque Georgian city with planned streets and open green parks. Edinburgh is home to the world's first skyscrapers, with many 11+ story medieval buildings pouring down the volcanic mountainside. Scots built Edinburgh down instead of out because many people were too poor to pay the city's entry/exit tariff at the toll gate and spent their whole lives in the protection of the city walls. 

After checking in, we hiked the Royal Mile up to Edinburgh Castle. This menacing medieval fortress is the most visited site in all of Scotland and the most recognizable element of Edinburgh. It served as a place of security and wealth a top the extinct volcanic mountain it was constructed upon over the last 1000 years. Many famous figures like Robert the Bruce, who established the Scottish Kingdom, William Wallace of Mel Gibson in Braveheart fame, and Mary Queen of Scots are associated with the castle. After an hour-long line, we finally made it into the castle just in time to see the famous one o'clock gun, which is shot once at 1p every day to mark the hour. Other famous parts of the castle ground include the palace where Mary lived, the National War Memorial, and the Crown Jewels of Scotland, which were returned recently from Westminister Abbey by Queen Elizabeth II on the condition they return to England for future coronations. 

From the castle, we headed to the center of the Royal Mile, which connects the Castle to the official royal residence of the Queen in Scotland known as Holyroodhouse Palace, for a free walking tour of Edinburgh. Prior to the tour, I stopped at a Starbucks for a coffee, and, to my surprise, the cashier knew of Metairie when I showed him my Louisiana ID with my credit card. By chance, he attended the University of Alabama for college and had a fraternity brother there from my hometown. What a small world!  Our tour looped us through many of the main sights of Edinburgh including the Royal Mile and St. Giles' Cathedral, which isn't a cathedral at all because there are no bishops in the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian).  Our guide was a local law student at the University of Edinburgh, and he gave our tour a local flavour. One of the highlights of modern Edinburgh is its inspiration for J. K. Rowling in her writing of the Harry Potter series. She composed the first two books in The Elephant House cafe facing the Greyfriars Cemetary. Some of the graveyards residents inspired characters in her book like Thomas Riddle, Mr. Moody, and the Scottish poet William MacGonagall. 

After the tour, we became true tourists by purchasing tickets to the Scotish Whisky Experience, which takes visitors through the history and production of Scotland's largest export. You ride an animatronic whisky barrel through the whisky production process before sampling the different smells and tastes of the Scottish whisky producing regions. Like the Jameson factory in Dublin, this is a great way to learn about the national beverage of Scotland and it's rich tradition. Note: whiskey is Irish and (Scotch) whisky is from Scotland.  For dinner, we stopped at The World's End cafe for traditional pub fare before ending the night at the Royal Oak Pub, which has live traditional Scottish music each night of the week. It was the perfect ending to a long day in Edinburgh. 

The second day was a little lighter on the intinerary. First, we headed over to the National Museum of Scotland for the history and artifacts of the Scots from 900 AD to today. The top of the museum had a great lookout point of the entire city of Edinburgh. Next, we toured the new Scottish Parliament building, designed by a Spanish architect in a modern concrete style, to celibate the devolution of power from England.  After peeking at the Holyrood Palace, we decided not to take the extreme hike up Arthur's Seat to the top of another of the city's volcanic rocks. Instead, we made our way across the tracks to the New Town for the first time. The streets are spacious and full of beautiful parks like St. Andrew Square, Prince Street Gardens, and the Georgian House. Before heading to our train, we stopped by the National Gallery of Scotland to see some of the country's most famous artists. 

Overall, Scotland has been a great place to relax and soak up culture, reminding me of my previous trip to Ireland. To me, Scotland and Ireland are similar both in their Gaelic traditions, friendly people, and mutual distrust of the English. I am excited to continue our journey at the modern and cultural hub of Glasgow. Stay tuned!

London Round 2

Have no fear, the blog is here! We've already been in Europe for a weekend, and we're currently on a flight from London to Scotland. My roommate Gillian and I are on a whirlwind 9-day adventure through Great Britain and Ireland, hitting 5 cities along the way on a well-deserved spring break. Although this is the shortest of my European adventures, I've planned a full trip through the British and Irish cities of London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, and Dublin. Thanks for tuning in again to the blog!  First up: London.

Although I've been before, London does not disappoint on a second go-round in the largest city in Europe.  Gillian and I arrived after a direct flight from Baltimore to London Heathrow overnight. The flight was fairly short, but the all-night flights are always a struggle to sleep on for more than an hour or two. On Saturday morning, we arrived in London, passing through the UK border security and onwards to central London via train. After arriving at the wrong division of our hostel, just backpacks in hand, we took a leisurely stroll across Hyde Park to reach our actual hostel on the south side in Kensington. Definitely one of the nicer hostels I've stayed in, it was centrally located to public transit but in the quiter part of Westminster, the posh section of London. After dropping off our bags, we pushed through the jet lag to take advantage of the rest of our full day in London. 

Our first stop was Harrod's, the large and swanky department store in Kensington. We grabbed lunch take-away and rode the Egyptian escalator before picnicking in Hyde Park. Refreshed from a meal, we took the tube (subway) to Buckingham Palace, the royal monarchy's residence in the city. Once again, I missed the changing of the guards ceremony, but, alas, there were others sights to see in the city! From the park area, we made our way to see the British Museum (home of the archeological treasures of the Empire from places like the Parthenon and the Egyptian pyramids) and the National Gallery (full of famous works of art like two of Van Gogh's Sunflowers). The weather was fairly overcast and windy, but not as cold or rainy as it could have been in foggy London. The sun appeared for our walk between Trafalger Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Leiscester Square. 

Since Gillian is a theatre buff and soon to be returning to school in New York City for her MFA in theater management, we figured we had to enjoy a play in London's West End, the Broadway of Britain. After visiting the TKTS booth for half-price tickets, we decided to see Once, a musical telling the love story of an Irish man and Czech woman in Dublin. Before the show on Saturday night, we ate dinner in Chinatown on Gerrard Street at simple Chinese restaurant. Although I always try to travel frugally to see as many places as possible, it is difficult to stay on a tight budget in London with the British Pound (~$1.60) and the NYC-like prices. After dinner, we enjoyed Once from the middle balcony, and we were even able to go on the stage during intermission to get drinks from the "bar" where the play was set.  After a long, long day, we finally made it home to the hostel to clean up and collapse before our next and final day in London. 

On day two, we got off to an early start on the East End of London at the Tower of London.  This medieval fortress on the River Thames is home to the long-time seat of the monarchy, the Crown Jewels, and the site of several famous executions (such as St. Thomas More and several of Henry VIII's wives).  After living in Baltimore, where the main street of Fells Point is called Thames Street and pronounced "Thaymes," I had to readjust to pronouncing the river in the proper English way of "Tems." The tour around the fortress grounds includes time with a Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater, the palace guards and boisterous tour guides of the Tower. Our Beefeater tour guide, Colin, gave us many stats and stories of the Tower, including the fact that there are actually 20 "towers" within the Tower. After walking the grounds and viewing several buildings of historical artifacts, we began our walking tour down the Thames across the city from Tower Bridge to Westminister.  

Along the way, we walked the riverbanks past sights like St. Paul's Cathedral, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and the Millennium Bridge. One of the interesting parts of this Sunday in particular was the running of the Virgin Money London Marathon, which spanned through the whole city. More on this later!  After stopping for lunch at an Italian restaurant on the south bank of the river,  we walked back to the north side to see Covent Garden, an outdoor market with upscale shopping and the scene of parts of the play My Fair Lady. To our surprise, the Oliviers - the British equivalent of the Tony theater awards- were taking place on Sunday, and we were able to walk right up the the red carpet before the actors arrived later in the evening. Note to self: see if Once won any of the 6 awards it was nominated for this year.

From the Garden, we walked down Whitehall street on our way to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  Along the route, we passed sights such as Charing Cross train station, Churchill's War Room, and the entrance to 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence.  Right as we reached the main street to the Abbey, we ran into the marathon once again. However, this time we were unable to cross the course to reach the Abbey just a few meters away. After fighting through thousands of people, we walked around the city for nearly an hour (around St. James's Park and Buckingham Palace) to avoid the race before finally reaching the other side of the track. Although it was a Sunday when religious sights are closed, we were able to make it into the major ones. St. Paul's let us into the lobby for a viewing without being able to walk around most of the church. Westminister Abbey, however, is closed to all tourists on Sunday despite its many important sights like the Coronation Altar and the graves of Britian's most famous royals and residents. Luckily, we were able to "sneak" into a Palm Sunday evening Stations of the Cross meditation and organ event. First, we had to convince the usher that we were there for the ceremony and not just for tourism, then we had to sit through the concert despite the stupor of a long day taking over. 

Of course, we made it through our Abbey experience and crossed over the Thames to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from a sunset view. After taking the tube up to King's Cross for a picture with Harry Potter's famous Platform 9 3/4 (which is now sectioned off by a tourist photograph company!), we wandered through the posh shopping neighborhood of Soho for dinner and drinks before calling it a wrap on London. Soho reminds me of the Marais in Paris with its narrow streets, colorful buildings, and plethora of shopping options. We took the tube home to Kensington to rest and pack up for our early flight to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and the seat of Scottish culture. Although I've been to the UK previously, I am very excited to journey to see some new places in Scotland and Northern Ireland to tour more of the American motherland! 

London is such an easy and fun city to navigate. First of all, the fact that it is English-speaking makes the travel a littler easier. There are so many neighborhoods to explore, sights to visit, museums to explore, and places to experience. Other the getting used to cars and street crossings on the opposite side of the road, London is an easy city to get used to, and I always have a great time visiting. I hope to spend more time than a weekend in the future when I have more time and resources. For now, Scotland-bound!