Buckingham Palace

England

Just so I can post before today turns into tomorrow! I will expound later. Today I had AH class again and we went to National Gallery. Then Melissa and I went to Buckingham Palace. Then we went home and I ate some grilled cheese and took a long nap. Then we went to Tesco Express to buy groceries and I splurged on some Chocolate Fudge Brownie! For dinner I ate an apple, some grapes and carrots, then some ice creammmm. Then we went out with Antoine to the Imperial Pub, where I got a Snake Bite (mmmm). Then we came back to have a glass of wine. Note: I NEED TO GO SHOPPING. THEY HAVE THE BEST CLOTHES HERE. Pictures obviously later. Camera Clinic STILL hasn’t gotten back to me on the status of my camera 😦

EDIT: Pictures from the Palace!
We weren’t allowed to take any inside, so we took some when we went out the back.

The gardens in back were beautiful. Obviously.

Panoramic tour & Tower of London

England

No pictures yet, but I took them! I just have to get Melissa to upload them and hand them over. Today, I took a bus trip on a Panoramic tour of London! We drove all over, which was really nice because I saw places in London that were wonderful and interesting to see but nothing I would go out of my way to walk to.

EDIT: Pictures added!
We stopped by St. Paul’s Cathedral which was overwhelming but magical. The bells were ringing as our tour guide led us to the front. It reminded me of Notre Dame (which, honestly, I have an unbelievable desire to see).

So we did that, went to Starbucks (yes, yes, I know, it was cold!), then walked along the Millennium Bridge.

Post-Starbucks. Very happy.

Then we went around to Buckingham Palace where we were able to see the second half of the changing of the guard, and more fuzzy hats.

THEN we went to Covent Garden where there is a sweet market that really resembled Faneuil Hall. We saw street performers and cute little cupcake shops.

We ate Paella for lunch. It was DELICIOUS.

After lunch, we took the bus to the real event of the day: The Tower of London.

Officers!

There is a picture of me as a ghost! (Who was actually acting quite silly) But kind of hard to see. Anyways, I walked forever along the tower walls and up and down spiral staircases: clogs were a bad choice. But the ravens were cool.

Alas, too short to be a guard.

But then all was well when me and the roommates had a ham tortellini and spinach ravioli dinner together. Tomorrow: art history class and then an actual INSIDE tour of Buckingham Palace. Whoo!

Natural History Museum & Portobello Road

England

I am happy to report that I have fully recovered from last night! So I went to my EUSA meeting to discuss my interview next week and get specifics. Apparently the commute is kind of lengthy, but when it comes to commuting around one of the greatest cities in the world, I really don’t have much to complain about. So between EUSA and my newsletter meeting today, Melissa and I went to the Natural History Museum! You know, that gorgeous building that can be seen right outside my window. The museum was beautiful, vast, and the best part about it: it was absolutely free. Like most of the museums in London.

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First days, boat cruise, walkabout

England

The first few days in London! Not really eloquent, but will probably re-edit tomorrow when I have more time.

Yesterday, sitting in JFK, my view out the window. Not much to see here.

Yesterday, the view from my apartment window: The Natural History Museum. Pretty beautiful looking. We even have a balcony, but are banned from using it. What a SHAME.

We had a boat cruise on the Thames today, and after walking out of the Westminster Tube station, I walked up the steps to see this.

The eye! It moves reeeaaalllyyyyyy slowly.

The bridge that collapsed in HP6! It wobbles really badly in reality.

Tower of London: Place of Beheadings.

Tower Bridge.

The weather could not have been any more perfect.

And when we got off the boat, it was still waiting for me 🙂

HAD to do it. While we were eating lunch on the steps, it drove right behind Parliament. In my future lies King’s Cross.

Me and Melissa ❤ Roommates!

Westminster Abbey. And oh yeah. Zach Ranger was here.

Saint James Park. In the distance, Buckingham Palace. We had a group shot here, but it wasn’t on my camera.

The other side. A palace and the London Eye.

Us again in the park!

The flag flew above the Palace, which means the Queen was currently in residence. HOW EXCITING.

Afterwards, we headed to Notting Hill to see the Carnival 2009, apparently something REALLY HUGE that takes place in London every year. Too much of a story to tell, but let’s just say there were more people at that parade than the population of the United States.