The first 5 days of Autumn and my spring break vacation were spent in London and thereabouts.
Day 1
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| Down at the (rebuilt) Globe. |
We started at Notting Hill, as per Autumn's request, since she loves a movie of the same name. It is a posh neighborhood, and therefore nice to look around. Then we went to Portobello Road Market...couldn't stop singing the song about it from "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." For lunch, we found a little international food market. I had empanadas, mostly spicy chicken flavored. Mmmm! Then we saw some typical London tourist attractions: St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge (not to be confused with the dinky London Bridge), and the Globe Theater. We took an informative tour inside. Apparently in Shakespeare's time, they really packed them in on a regular basis. Since there wasn't internet, tv, cinema, etc, people went multiple times each week. At only 1 penny for the standing section, it was quite a bargain I'd say! Also we found out this summer they will have all of Shakespeare's works, each in a different language. Neato! That's one cool thing about London: the variety of cultures and langagues. It was nice to still overhear castellano. :)
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| Argentine empanada mmmmmmmmmm! |
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| Tower Bridge |
Day 2
Included a daytrip to Oxford, where Autumn's friend works in Christchurch Cathedral. It was great because he is a local, and super knowledgeable so we learned a ton about Christchurch. Oxford was the old, prestigious campus that I had hoped for, and we only saw 2 of the 30- or 40-something colleges. We had a yummy, proper English meal of fish and chips, mashed peas, and ale at a nearby pub, where Bill Clinton "did not inhale." Woohoo, famous landmark!
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| Stairs apparently used in a Harry Potter film, Oxford. |
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| Dining all of Christchurch College, with portraits of noted grads |
Day 3
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| Just casually walking into Platform 9 3/4, on my way to Hogwarts |
Autumn's American friend joined us these days, which was a nice way to spice things up. We headed to Camden Town Market fairly early in the day to get to work. I didn't buy much, but enjoyed browsing. Might be my favorite place we saw in London. The shops and stalls seemed limitless: mostly jewelery and clothes, along with some souvenirs. Another sweet part of Camden Town is the shall we say "food court." So many international food stalls, if I lived in London I would eat a different cuisine for lunch everyday! Yummmm!! The first food stand I saw was appropriate: Peruvian. So for 6 pounds I got to try a bowlful of Peruvian cuisine in honor of my friend the cocinero peruano--yellow rice, flavored chicken, and flavored vegetables. Although usually I dislike veggies, these were very tasty. For dessert I bought a piña colada in the pineapple, just for the photo op jeje. Other nationalities represented include: Venezuelan, Jamaican, Spanish (!), American (served by a man with a British accent, pah!), Italian, Thai, and on and on. After dining and shopping, and a bit of haggling on Autumn's part, we went to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station from Harry Potter. We rode up top a double-decker bus to take photos near Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Parliament House, and Westminister Abbey. At night we went to M&M's world, which really is its own little world of chocolate and color.
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| Piña Colada in Camden Town |
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| ñam ñam lunchtime |
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| "posing" by the London Eye |
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| British M&Ms World |
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| BENNY. BENNY, BENNY, BENNY, & The jets |
Day 4
Last full day in London, so we did anything else we missed out on. We saw Buckingham Palace where some youngster yelled in his little British accent, "WHERE'S THE QUEEN?!" We also made a return to Camden TOwn where I knew I could get some specific shirts for 2 pounds cheaper than in the city. Hey, every pound counts when they are worth nearly $2 each!
Then in order to catch our 7:30am flight (who booked that?! oops, me), we woke up at 3. Urrrg. From there we all walked a bit to a bus stop, took the bus to the main bus station, and an hour-long bus to the airport. There was quite a bit of drama on that ride. First, our ticket that we had printed from online didn't have a time or date. How does that happen!? Luckily they did let us on. Whew. Luego, the bus filled up after a few stops, even though people had tickets to get on. It's a flawed system, bc they sell a certain number online, yet ppl can buy tickets right there. Very nerve-wracking, and the busdriver had to decide who received the last 3 seats. :S
Also, randomly while in London I saw THREE people wearing Indians hats. Mindblown. The first encounter, I freaked out and asked the guy "But, how do you like them!? I'm from Cleveland!" He is a Londoner and visited the USA once, and ended up with an Indians hat. Took a picture with him as proof haha. Another girl was Dutch and said she bought it the day before because she loved the movie "Major League". How fun is that.
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| Fellow Tribe fan in London! |
En suma, we saw a lot of stuff in London, but that's because there is so much to be seen! It is a ncie place, but not my favorite. Too big for little old me.Next stop was Prague. To be continued....
