London Calling

So this weekend we took our "BIG" trip to London, sponsored by API. Without a doubt, this was my favorite weekend here. London is a gorgeous city, full of history and promise. They're in the process of remodeling the city for the Olympics this summer so there are crazy amounts of construction going on but it still was the most amazing weekend. I'll give you the highlights.

Day 1: Well, really it was just a night. We got there around five and immediately went on a walking tour to get acquainted with city. API got us tickets to go on the London Eye that night and it was amazing. You could see the entire city lit up and it barely felt like we were moving. It was beautiful, and when we were getting off we saw a proposal, so I guess it's a popular place for that too. By that point it was late, none of us had eaten and we all know how pleasant I am without eating all day. So we stumbled into the pub nearest our hotel. It just happened to be the Sherlock Holmes Pub! Maybe it's cause I was starving, but the beef and potato pie I had was the best food in the world.

Day 2: So very late on Friday night, Brendan randomly popped the question "Would you be interested in seeing Wicked tomorrow night?". My answer was anything but casual, and involved lots of jumping up and down. So Colleen and I looked it up, and found out that if you got to the box office the morning of a show, you could get rush tickets (front row tickets for dirt cheap). Saturday morning Brendan, Sarah, Colleen and I woke up bright and early and walked across the very quiet and still city and stood in line to get us some Wicked tickets. Sarah captured the morning perfectly in this picture. It wasn't a bad walk and the fresh air and sunshine was really nice. End of story, we got center stage front row tickets for 40$. AHHHHHHHHH!

The rest of the day was spent doing typical tourist stuff. I spent a good chunk of the day in the Tower of London, which I loved. It was really cool to see all of the history there and how well it's been preserved. I remember when I was in like fifth grade I got into this reading phase where I read a TON of books centering around people escaping from the tower, or plotting against the king. 

Then I walked across the top of the Tower Bridge with my buddy for the day Brendan. It was something he had always wanted to do and I thought it was actually really cool to see the city from that level as well.

After catching the hop-on-hop-off bus that API had given us tickets to, we rode through the city and saw the outside of Westminster Abbey...sadly it was closed on weekends to tourists so we couldn't go in. But it was a beautiful piece of architecture and I'm not exactly bummed I didn't go in. Since we didn't stop there we had more time in Hyde Park/ Kensington Gardens. It was a beautiful day and Brendan and I had a great time together.

That night we went to Wicked, and it was amazing. Literally, the best thing ever. I saw it in highschool with my family but we were far back and I didn't have my glasses. This time, I was front and center and did have my glasses (even though I didn't need them). I cried multiple times, and the woman who played Elphaba was without a doubt the best I've heard her. Possibly better than Idina Menzel, which is hard to beat. But the funniest thing I found was that I had forgotten about the fact that they would have British accents. So some of the lines were off, but it was nothing less than phenomenal.

Day 3: We were leaving at 11 on Sunday so once again we made it an early morning, this time to venture into Harry Potter. I told myself I would refuse to leave if I didn't get to go to Platform 9 3/4 so I made it happen.  That was the highlight of Sunday. Because we spent the rest of the day in the airport watching our flight get more and more delayed. We got there at 12:00 and didn't fly out til 7:40. Luckily I brought my homework so I wasn't too down about the delay, it just ended up being a long day.

Overall, I loved London. It was a city I felt like I could go back to a million times and still find something new to do. In fact, I decided that I was going to go back in a couple of weeks and do the Shakespeare side of it, as well as visiting Stonehenge. 

Joyfully Yours,

K