Originally, I had wanted to go to London to see the sites most people only see in pictures or experience in movies. And since I am unable to make it to the Royal Wedding, I figured this would be a good of chance as any to see/steal Prince William and/or the Royal Family. Unfortunately, the only thing stolen in this city was not a heart, but rather, a wallet. My wallet. Now I am starting this way because I do not intend to write a depressing entry but rather begin with one of the last things to happen to me during an otherwise incredibly, wonderful weekend. My friend Casey and I had just finished viewing the Arsenal stadium in the northern part of the city when we decided to put our day-trip-tube-passes to use and catch the tube (the subway) back to our hostel. We felt comfortable with the tube system by this time and routinely reached in our bags, grabbed our pass, let it slide the through entrance gate and headed for our train. Somewhere between me putting my card back in my wallet and leaving the tube station, when you have to show your card again, my entire wallet was lost. Most people could see me getting extremely upset about the situation and although I freaked out at first, I calmly collected myself as I asked a woman working there if there was a lost and found. In fact there was but it wasn't open during the weekend and at that point I knew my things were long gone. Thankfully Casey had her blackberry and allowed me to call my parents to let them know to cancel my credit and debit card. Before leaving the station, Casey asked if I had my passport and I frantically started rummaging through my purse again. Yes, I had it. Along with my Spanish cell phone, camera and ipod. So I viewed the entire situation as, it could have been worse. And even this did not change my love and addiction to this thriving metropolis.
London was so much more than what I had heard from previous travelers or had seen in the movies. It was a colorful mix of old and new, tradition and modernism that grabbed my attention as soon as we stepped off the plane. Since we flew into Gatwick, about 35 minutes by train south of the city, we took a bus to the city center where our hostel was. During the ride, I saw beautiful green meadows and old, cozy cottages, just like in the movie 'The Holiday," the snow replaced with beautiful, budding cherry blossom trees. Everything was so green and vibrant. We stayed at St. Christoher's Inn which is actually 3 hostels in 1 and we had two restaurants to choose from where we could receive discounts just for staying at this hostel. This was also just 1 block away from the famous London Bridge. Upon arriving to "our area" I felt like a kid at Disneyland. The traffic driving on the opposite side of the road, double decker red buses, those famous telephone booths and the funniest names for stores/restaurants I have ever seen (example: Sweaty Betty). Casey and I literally were jumping up and down clapping our hands together like your typical tourists. We arrived around 12 PM on Friday so after setting our backpacks down at the hostel, we headed out to explore the beauty of London.
Our first stop was the Borough Market which was suggested to us by our hostel and was across the street from our room. It is like an enhanced farmer's market with so many different types of food, drink and desserts AND the best part was free samples. The guy at the reception desk was not kidding when he said you could have a light lunch off of all the free tastings. There was German sausage, Spanish jamón, fresh fruit, vegetables, local brews and even Ostrich meat. It was a sight to see and we made sure to get up early on Saturday to take a second stroll by the venders. The people were incredible which is the main reason I am blaming the missing wallet on my own stupidity. For example, we had intended to get a fastpast for the London Eye, the giant ferris wheel constructed on the Thames River to celebrate the Millennium in 2000, but after talking to the lady she told us it wasn't busy and not worth it to buy (even though she could have easily made an extra 8 pounds off us). And any time we asked for directions, we were we always greeted with a kind, British accent, which is another characteristic that makes London so charming, especially when spoken by the male species. Rewinding, after our meandering through the market, we took the advice of the receptionist and did a walking tour along the Thames River Path. We crossed the London Bridge and walked to the London Tower and Tower Bridge. I can't even put it into words so here are few snapshots below.
We had many inside jokes during our trip and the one that always resonates in my mind is everyone's (locals and tourists) obsession with the Royal Family. The queen literally has everything named after her here and we especially found "The Queen's Walk" quite interesting because it was literally named after her because she walked down it one day. Also strung along the streets were tourist vendors selling everything from postcards to bags and hats with Prince William and Kate Middleton's faces on them. You also had the chance to buy an ornament with their names on it. I'll get to that later. Strolling along The Queen's Walk (just opposite to the Thames Path along the river) we discovered parks, many restaurants and pubs, old fisherman's wharfs and some of the most famous sights of London. We passed Shakespeare's globe, where all his plays were performed, The Tate Museum of Modern Art, St. Paul's Cathedral and many food vendors selling "hotdogs, ice cream and donuts." I mean honestly, what more could you want? ;)
We walked back and forth, via bridges, from Queen's Walk to Thames' Path taking in the glory of everything we were seeing. We finally curved around the bend to see many street performers, some singing, other's dancing, near the London Eye. This was the most expensive thing we paid for while here and it was worth every bloody British pound. Right outside this structure is also where Casey and I enjoyed a cold Dr. Pepper. Despite hearing horror stories about standing in line for hours, we received our tickets in about 15 minutes and were on the ride in 25. You could see all of London and beyond from the top and I'll post a picture so you can get the idea. My favorite was seeing Big Ben and Westminister Abbey from the top.
Posing on the bridge in front of the Eye
After marveling at the intensely detailed architecture of the Houses of Parliment (Big Ben) and Westminister, we decided to give our feet a rest and catch the tube back to our hostel. Up until this point, we hadn't met anyone who was staying in our room. In our room, there were 8 beds and when we returned we met one of our roommates. We still do not know her name but the first thing she said was, "Hey! Where are you guys from?" We said the States and her response was, "I LOVE America!" It get's better. She is from Kazakhstan, looked Chinese and spoke fluent English. I had never met anyone from this country and all I could think about was the movie Borat and "this shirt is NOT black." She was quite the chatty kathy and wanted to know what we had been up to during the day/our plans for the evening. We told her we were going to get some food and then head to a pub for a drink. Our hostel was actually connected to a pub with discounts for the guests. Score! She explained that she wanted to see some Sherlock Holmes exhibit and she would meet us there around 10 PM. Also, I was wearing a dress and she asked me where I got it. I continued, "Oh I bought it in the states at a store you probably don't know, Victoria's Secret?" Her response: "OH MY GOSH I LOVE Victoria's Secret! You look sexy." Why thank you creepy girl who still hasn't told us her name but continues to call us "sexy" for the next 10 minutes. After being polite, Casey and I headed out for some a traditional London meal: fish and chips. After eating and drinking for awhile we suddenly became exceptionally exhausted and I was literally falling asleep at the table so we headed back to the hostel vowing to make it out past 11 the next night. When we arrived we met two more of our roommates, 2 women in their 30's from Switzerland, oh, and a girl from Japan. Quite the mix of cultures! Everyone's common language (for the most part) was English so when Casey and I wan't to say something privately, we opted to speak in Spanish. It was great!
Just as we are about to pass out, Kazakhstan bursts through the door, stuffing her face with saltine crackers. As I was on the top bunk, I didn't see her at first but Casey told me she stuck her head in her bunk and asked, "Where were you guys?" For backup, I leaned over my railing to join the conversation. Startled Casey answered, "Oh hey, yea sorry we were really tired so we just came back here." Stunned Kaz couldn't believe we didn't meet up with her and explained that she had been waiting there since 10 (mind you it was only 10:45 by this time). I was like, "Yea sorry we are being lame tonight." These answers apparently did not suffice as she became ANGRY at us for not writing her a note letting her know we weren't going out. First off, we don't know your name! Second, where did you want us to leave u a note? Third off, we don't know you or your name and we are tired and want to go to sleep! She continues to stuff her face/talk to us for another 10 minutes about how we should have let her know our plans and why did we make her wait on us, blah blah blah. She finally "forgave" us and headed to bed. Just as we thought the craziness of the evening was over, 2 older women, probably in their 70s walk in and being to strip down to their underwear. Casey and I were dying laughing in our beds. What a random group of people. Where were the students that were supposed to stay in hostels? And why why why did these women (from Germany) opt to stay in a HOSTEL?! Oh so as we are cracking up, Kaz shoots us a look and asks, "Are you laughing at ME?!" Oh my gosh woman, no! WE DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU! So we spent another 10 minutes convincing her that we were not making fun of her. Thankfully, I put in my ear plugs 2 seconds later and passed out.
Our second day was full of adventure as we saw Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circle, Soho and of course, stopped at Starbucks. Unfortunately my camera died this day so Casey took a majority of the pics. I also found out that they only doing Buckingham Palace tours during the summer months BUT we were able to tour the Royal Mews, otherwise known as the Royal Stables. We saw one (of three) of the Rolls Royces the Queen uses to get around and also many of the Royal Carriages, including the one Princess Diana rode in on her way to wed Prince Charles. I had goosebumps looking at it! We were able to walk through the stables and learned that the Queen chooses each one of the horses names'. We saw the riding school, the oldest part of the Mews, which was constructed in 1764! All the horses are trained to pull a carriage for two years before they get to haul royalty around. After this amazing experience, we used our tube passes to travel all around the northern part of the city. My favorite place we visited was Camden Town which also houses the Camden Market, a bunch of booths selling food, clothing, Kate And William souvenirs and some hippie stuff. There is also a small river/stream running through this part of town with a lock and after finding Peruvian food (AMAZING!) and Hoegaarden beer, we sat along the side and watched a boat enter and exit the lock.
Catching the tube back to our hostel was where the events of the first paragraph took place but that didn't stop us from having a fun night. Despite the chilly weather, we made it out past midnight and even met some Italian men. No worries, they weren't cute and they were older but extremely nice and I learned how to say, "My name is.." in Italian.
London was by far my favorite city I have visited and I intend to return one day, hopefully next summer for the Olympics. Until then I will be minding my p's and q's as to not lose my wallet or any other important things I carry on me. Oh, rubbish.
