As most of you know, I fly in 9.5 hours, so I thought it was time to write one last blog. Maybe there will be a post-trip entry, but who knows?
You may have heard that my trip to Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Munich was canceled due to a forgotten passport and miscommunication, but all was not lost. Instead, I went on a trip to London and Dublin by myself. While we are still somewhat on the topic of bad news, I'll get this tidbit out of the way. Dublin did not go so well. I was sick the entire time and never made it past TESCO (grocery store) which was about a 2 minutes walk from the hostel I was staying in. But that was the end of the trip. Here is the good stuff: the beginning.
I fell in love with London.
Before this trip, I never understood how someone could be "in love" with a city. I now understand. For me, it was a combination of circumstances which will be explained in due course. Tuesday afternoon, I officially decided to leave for London Wednesday morning. 2 of my Spanish friends have been to London and also really, really like it so they were telling me stuff to do and see and how to work the Tube (underground rail system). I was given a little Spanish guide book with a map of the city with some tourist attractions and a map of the underground, and I was off on my own.
The 7ish hour train ride was beautiful. The sun was shining and there was blue sky the whole way. I had a window seat and my journal to write in, and I was set for the journey. Important to note, I boarded the train to King's Cross Station in Edinburgh on Platform 9! I knew within an hour of my journey that this trip was going to be amazing!!
I arrived at King's X, found some food, and then figured out how to work the Tube which isn't too complicated. I have been known to get lost once or twice before but never once during my stay in London was I lost. The Tube is very easy to figure out; you just follow the flow of people :) On my third day in London, a lady asked me a question about the Tube and I was able to answer her question. I felt like so good about myself!
After I found my way down to the Tube, I made my way to my hostel which is one of the factors that made my stay so great in London. There were quite a few people who were staying there long term. People had been at the hostel anywhere from 6 months to a couple weeks. They were very welcoming and even invited me to dinner that night! It was great spending my nights in the basement playing pool and listening to everyone talk. People were there for a variety of reasons, some for school, but many to work and improve their English.
On Thursday, I went to Bath and met my friend Nick who is from UNI and studied in Wales this semester. Even though it was raining, it was beautiful. I was so glad that I was able to go. Bath is where Jane Austen spent time and many of her novels have her characters going to Bath to socialize. It is also where the Roman Baths are located.
Friday, I started my tour of London. I started in Kensington Garden which is where the palace is that Princess Diane lived in, then Albert Memorial, Royal Albert Hall, Princess Di Memorial, Royal College of Music, and the Natural History Museum. Then I made my way to the Houses of Parliment, Big Ben, and West Minister Abbey. All of these places are gorgeous, but if I were to write about each one, this will turn into a novel instead of a blog post. By the time I was done in the abbey, it was midafternoon and I wanted to head to the Globe Theatre before it became dark, so even though I hadn't seen everything on this side of the river, I started walking towards the Globe Theatre and London Bridge. I took a tour through the Globe which is actually the third time its been built and in a slightly different location. I saw the London Bridge at night and it was gorgeous. Oh, I also walked across the Millennium Bridge and I had a very picturesque view of London and night.
Saturday, I walked through St. James Park, Traflagar and Leicester Square. All day I had been seeing people walking around wearing Santa costumes. I never really thought anything about it, though I did think it was an abnormal amount of people wearing the costume, I just thought maybe there was a Santa run going on somewhere in the city. Not quite. Around 1pm, Santas started congregating in Traflagar Square and climbing on the monument. They were there because they were ready to start celebrating Christmas and wanted to share with everyone else. They had a few chants, one of them being: "What do we want?" "Christmas!" When do we want it?" "NOW!" People may or may not have had beer in hand, too ;)
Then I headed to Apollo Vicotria Theatre where I saw Wicked. Again, the only word I have to describe it is AMAZING!! It was the cherry on top of my trip to London.
I headed back to the hostel after this to spend one last evening with the friends I had made there and had a great night, too.
I know many would like to see pictures. They will come at a later time because I have already packed my camera. I figured I had the time kill before I get picked up at 3:15am so I blogged.
I've had a wonderful time here in Scotland and while I didn't do quite as much traveling of the rest of Europe as I would have liked to, I did see a LOT of Scotland and am pleased with that. I've made some wonderful friends here and great memories, too. It is sad saying goodbye to a place that has taught me so much and brought such joy to my life, but it is good to be going home.
See you soon!!
