Please Mind the Gap!

Left: Heather and I our first night in London!
Below: Me in a telephone booth!

Over the past weekend, I have spent my time touring London, England on the first school trip of the semester.  Previously, I had spent around half a day there during a very long lay over, and I was very excited about actually getting to see more of London.  I was surprised by how little of London I had actually covered on my last adventure.  If I had to describe London in three words it would be HUGE, diverse, and beautiful.  We arrived at around 9 pm Thursday night, and we immediately all rushed to put away our bags and go exploring by foot.  A group of us went to a pub called the swan, but were not out long, so shortly after I joined my friend Heather to take some fun nighttime photos and see what all was around our hotel which was located on Russell Square right next to the British Museum.

Friday morning, we began very early with breakfast at 8, which was literally just toast and rolls, then we were off.  My group (Alex Battiato, Cody Coomes, Heather Vozzola, and I) took the tube (for those of you unfamiliar, that is what we call the subway here) and were off to see the city!  During our first tube experience, we got a laugh out of the recording telling us to "mind the gap" every time we exited!  We spent most of the morning venturing through the Tower of London.  We had an excellent guided tour and enjoyed learning all about it, especially since we had just begun discussing many of the topics in British Studies.  We enjoyed subway for lunch, and spent the afternoon roaming EVERYWHERE.  To name a few, we visited the tower bridge (often confused with the London bridge), the London bridge, millennium bridge, globe theatre, Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square, big ben, and parliament.  Our feet were very sore after to say the least.  For dinner we stumbled across a pub called The Court.  Dinner was relatively inexpensive in comparison to many of the other pub and restaurant prices we had seen, and it was DELICIOUS.  Granted, not being a seafood eater, while everyone else got fish and chips, I got a cheeseburger!  But, I can tell you, the English know well how to make their chips.  English chips win over American fries in my book ANYDAY. Later that night, a large group of us got together and went out to a night club called ONE together, which for my non-drinking group was fairly inexpensive, and we had a whole lot of fun just dancing and being silly.

Heather and I 

The Friday Group

Big Ben

Night View Near Hotel

Tower of London

Globe Theatre

Heather and I along the Thames

Westminster Abbey

Saturday morning, was again another early 8 am start, which was a little rough after being up so late and from so much walking the previous day! On this day, I toured the city with a different group which included some new friends from WKU as well as my cross country buddies that are here.  We visited some of the same attractions so that we could get some better pictures because a lot of the places we had all been to the previous day when it was dark, watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, saw the Wellington arch, toured various parks including Hyde Park, saw the Princess Diana and Albert memorials, and toured the British Museum.  We were really adventurous and ate Pizza Hut for lunch, and then I took everyone back to The Court for a late dinner because we enjoyed it so much the night before (yes, I did get ANOTHER cheeseburger).  By around ten, we were all ready for bed.

Jenn and I waiting for Changing of the Guard

Saturday Group at Buckingham Palace

Changing of the Guard

Princess Diana Fountain

Sunday morning, we had to rise early to depart from the hotel, and we headed to Hampton Court Palace.  For those of you who don’t know, Hampton Court Palace was the residence of King Henry VIII, who is often remembered because he had six wives, two of which he ordered to be executed.  The residence was quite large and extravagant, and the gardens are still maintained. It brought back many memories from my high school history class with Mrs. Helbing and all of the stories she told us.  I actually got adventurous and ate a soup called a "lamb goush" and it was pretty good!  The palace was amazing, and I wish I had been a little less tired to enjoy it a  bit more!

Cross Country Girls at Hampton Court Palace  

Overall, I had a great London experience.  Dr. Kingsley shared a quote that said something to the extent of those who are tired of London are bored with life.  After my visit there, I must agree.  There is something to do for everyone and has pieces of a big city, but also suburban parts as well.  It is unique in that its history is so intertwined with the rest of the city that has since sprung around it.  This weekend spiked my interest in my studies because I wanted to know everything about what I was seeing.  The connections I am going to make between my trip to London and my studies is something I am actually looking forward to this week. 

Nicole and I slept the whole way home...