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!