Wednesday & Thursday were spent in class and in anticipation of our trip to London!
Friday:
Friday morning I woke at 3:00 a.m. to shower and get ready for my 4:15 a.m. cab ride to the airport. At 4:15, I hopped in the cab with Tara and Morgan (two girls from my program) and headed to the airport. Little did we know (at the time) that we had not gotten into the cab we reserved (which I later learned after our scheduled cab company emailed me informing me that we had missed our cab with them) that but instead had gotten into another cab who just happened to be sitting outside my apartment at 4:15 in the morning on Friday -- weird coincidence. After thinking about it, it seems a bit creepy that he was just randomly sitting out there at that hour of the morning. Anyways, we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. As it turns out, absolutely nothing is open at the Prague airport at 4:45 a.m. so we were forced to wait for breakfast. Similarly, the Prague airport also don't like to tell you what gate you're at until 10 minutes before your flight where everyone crowds in to pass through shotty security (the amount and thoroughness of the security is actually shocking -- in a bad way) before climbing on the bus which took us from the airport to our plane. Once at our plane, everyone began toward to the two large stairways of the plane. Apparently Wizzair has a first-come, first-serve policy for seating. Tara, Morgan, and I (of course some of the last people in line) found seats one behind each other and were satisfied to been in the same general vicinity.
I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the uncomfortable plane seats, but I had a hard time falling asleep on the flight (which never happens as I'm an super plane-sleeper). Anyways, two hours later, we landed and deplaned, quickly passed through customs, and headed toward the bus that would take us into London (we flew into Luton/London Airport which is located 30 miles outside the city of London). Luckily, our Easybus, was a pleasant surprise with very comfortable seats and free Wifi! After an hour (around 8:45 a.m.), we arrived at the Baker Street "Tube" (properly pronounced "Underground" if you're not from London) which we needed to catch to get to King's Cross and the Nido Student Center our friends were staying in. After a few transfers (which we were able to manage with ease based on our experience with the Prague public transportation system), we exited the Underground and began to search for Nido. Luckily, we found the building before 9:30 a.m. so my friend was able to let us in to drop off our stuff.
After checking into their hostel (this was my first stay in a hostel -- and I was pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness and safety in the hostel), we decided to check out a few sites in the city while our friends were in class (they weren't lucky enough to have Friday off). One of the first things we noticed (even immediately after stepping off the plane) is that London was FREEZING cold (and it rains all day, every day)! It's nothing like the weather in Prague (which hovers around 80 degrees with no humidity). Londoners, on the other hand, are lucky if the temperature reaches 60 degrees (and that's pushing it...). Our friends had not been generous enough to share this information with us before coming, however, and so we were thoroughly unprepared with our shorts, dresses, and flip flops.
Hoping for a change of weather, we headed our in our warmest attire and decided to check out "Big Ben," Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. Although most people refer to the clock tower or the clock itself as "Big Ben," "Big Ben" is actually the old bell located inside the clock tower of the British Parliament. And boy is it big!
Across the street from "Big Ben" lays Westminster Abbey, which we were dying to see. Because the royal wedding had just happened, seeing this church was even more exciting as we recognized some of the parts from pictures and tv. Similarly, tour guides were more than happy to point out where each part of the wedding had taken place (where Kate walked, where the papers were signed, etc...). We weren't able to take pictures inside the church but I enjoyed my tour of this abbey more than my tour at the Vatican (if that tells you anything!). The abbey was simply beautiful.
After visiting the abbey, we decided to walk toward Buckingham Palace (which we had heard was nearby). After a short 15-minute walk, we approached a bunch a British flags -- our cue that we were close. Walking a bit closer, we were able to see the entire palace and the fountain that lays directly in front.
Although beautiful, Buckingham Palace is really just a big mansion (and not a palace at all). To tell you the truth, it's kind of a "let-down" when you see it in real-life (as people typically expect more). This is because, as one of the guards told us, the royal family only lives here for a short time during the year. (For most of the year, the Queen lives in another royal palace in Winsor, which lies just a bit outside London.) During the rest of the year, a lot of the administrative work is done. The look made more sense after this explanation. Regardless, Buckingham Palace is huge, very well-kept, and heavily guarded (with very personable guards).
Hungry, we headed out to find some food before heading back to meet our friends. We chose a little Irish pub and sat down. And we sat and sat... for about twenty minutes without so much as a look from the waitress. We quickly learned that at pubs in London, you are supposed to order and pay directly at the bar and the only time the waiter or waitress (or many times the bartender) comes to your table is to deliver your food. After learning this trick, we had better luck at the other pubs we ate at.
Stomaches full, we headed back to see our friends (who had just gotten out of class). Later that night, we headed out to the “Angel” district which was supposed to be a fun, lively, young crowd at night! And it was! We ended up at a pub that had dancing and a lounge area as well. Because we were tired from the lack of sleep, travel, and sightseeing, we headed back fairly early to get some rest.
Saturday:
Saturday I woke up early (6:00 a.m.) to meet my friend Lauren (and roommate from college) for breakfast who was staying in London with her parents on her way to Sweden (where she was also studying abroad for her law program). She had to leave for the airport at 8, so we decided to meet at her hotel at 7. It was great to see her even though it was for such a short time. Sad, however, that we have to go all the way to London to catch up (she goes to school in Boston)!
After catching a few more hours of sleep, Morgan, Kevin, Mikey, and I (the last two are friends of mine from William Mitchell who was studying in London) decided to head out to the shopping/theatre district of London to do some shopping and walking around. After entering the Tube station, we had just gotten onto the escalator going down, when we heard “Attention. There is an imminent emergency. Please exit the station immediately.” However, because the announcement was in a soft, calm voice with an English accent, I didn’t really even notice the announcement at first. This was not the case for Mikey, however. Because we were only about 7 steps down the escalator, Mike made an executive decision (in his mind) that it would be better to turn and run back up the downward scrolling escalator than it would be to ride the escalator down and back up again. In a split second he was zooming past me back up the escalator. At the same time, Kevin (who had also heard the announcement) turned around and pushed me up (into Morgan) yelling “Run!” The way they reacted, you would have thought there was a man firing a machine gun at the bottom of the escalator. In a frantic dash up the stairs, Morgan lost her sunglasses but we all made up to the top again (although I’m sure we looked hilarious trying to run up the down escalator). Feeling as if Mikey had just saved our lives, we decided to head to a pub to wait out the “imminent emergency.” We later learned that these “threats” happen about once a week. (Mikey felt pretty silly after learning this.) After about a half hour, we headed back to the Tube and this time, were able to successfully get to the Oxford Circus. It was nice to relax, window-shop, and stroll. We had a great afternoon. That night we decided to check out the bar/club across the street from our hostel and across from the Nido Student Living Center our friends lived in. It was a blast and filled with lots of my former William Mitchell section classmates (as a ton of them were enrolled in the London program).
Sunday:
Sunday we slept in for a bit before meeting up with Vladi and Samson to head to The Church Bar. This bar is outside the city in Clapman and only open from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. It’s basically a big dress-up party with music and entertainment acts. And it’s a crazy BLAST! About an hour after we arrived, Mikey, Ellie (Mikey’s sister), John (Ellie’s boyfriend), Paul (Mikey’s friend), Lauren, Amanda, Kelly (all three of which were in my section at William Mitchell) showed up. We were able to stand upstairs in the balcony where we had more room and were able to see the sweaty mosh-pit below. After The Church, we headed to Camden, an area that was supposed to be filled with cool restaurants and bars. After chilling out, relaxing and talking at various pubs in Camden, we headed to an Indian place for dinner. It was delicious! J Instead of going out after dinner, we decided to hang out in Nido with a few of our friends before heading back to the hostel for bed. The day was a blast and it was nice that we wre able to take it easy, relax, and actually experience some ‘London life.’
Monday:
Monday our friends had class again so we headed off to do our own thing. Wanting to see a few more sights before catching our plane (at 8:55 p.m. that night), we headed off toward the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone! Next we visited the Tower of London which houses the crown jewels. We got to walk around the complex, see the torture/Blood Tower and see the crowned jewels. I wish we would have had a little more time to explore this complex. One thing about the crown jewels – they look fake. They are so gaudy and the jewels are so ridiculously big that they look like you could break them with one little snap. Overall, the Tower of London was probably one of my favorite things we saw in London (that or Westminster Abbey). The weekend was a blast, but I was definitely tired and glad to be heading back to my apartment. I’m also glad I didn’t decide to do the London program as I would have been broke in under a week (London is SO expensive)!
