A (Very) Long Story about a Short Stay in London

Now that I've caught up on my storytelling from my time studying in Scotland last year (finally!), it's time to continue my tale with more stories of the world outside the little part I call home. This time, the story starts in London, but let me give a bit of an introduction:

When I transferred from Arcadia University to Penn State, one of the things that drew me to Penn State was a French immersion program. This program zould allow me to live and study in France, with the purpose of improving my French language skills. I applied to the program as soon as it opened up and waited anxiously for months to find out whether I had been accepted or not. Finally, in early March, I got the news--I was headed to France!! I'd be spending two months living in France and studying French (and of course, traveling as far as my pocketbook would allow).

It's like the Studio Tour knew exactly who they were
dealing with...Dobby's the best!! A++ for the ticket.

Which brings us to London. I flew from Philadelphia to London to start my trip. It was the cheapest way to get to Europe, and honestly, I didn't need an excuse to convince myself to go to London. It just seemed like the right way to start the trip. I arrived in London around noon on a Tuesday, and headed
for my hostel (The Walrus Hostel--awesome name choice!). I was too early to check in and get settled in the room, but I wasn't bothered because I'd booked myself a ticket to go see the Harry Potter studio tour for a second time! I stowed my bags in the luggage locker at the hostel, found my way down the street to Waterloo station, and finally I was on my way to the studio tour!

I was worried that I was going to be late for the studio tour, since I got off the train at Watford Junction at 2:00--which was the time I was supposed to enter the studio tour. I had to wait for the bus to get there, and then I watched the village pass by through the window until we finally got to the studios (aptly named J and K--although I may have mentioned that before). I won't go into too much detail, since I've already described how much I love the Studio Tour. I will say that it was well worth the trip to go see the studios and sets once more, and I would go back for a third time if the chance were to arise. This time, I had the added bonus of actually bringing a back-up battery for my camera, so I wasn't left without a way to take pictures at the highlight of the tour. It was a perfect trip.

The scale model of the Hogwarts Castle. I can't even explain how much I wish this was a real place to be explored!

I headed back to London, but when I got to Euston Station, I couldn't figure out how to get to the metro. You have to change stations or floors from the overground trains to the metro, and it took me a little while to figure it out. And then it took me even longer to grab the right metro to the right stop. So I was caught on the metro during the height of end-of-the-work-day madness. It could have easily turned into a situation that left me panicked or frustrated, but instead I realized, as I was crammed against people in a metro car, that this was an item I could now cross off my bucket list--in fact, it was an item I hadn't even realized was on my bucket list until it actually happened. Overall, a successful day! After so many adventures though, it was time for some much needed sleep. I was exhausted after my flight (I followed my normal travel pattern of not sleeping more than maybe an hour during the flight), and I only had one full day to spend in London, so I needed to be well rested so I could make the most of it.

The UEFA Men's Championship Cup.

I got up early the next  morning, ready to start the day, prepared with my list of things that needed to be done and that I wanted to see. I started with the things that had to be done: I needed to buy minutes for my phone; I needed blue jeans, since I couldn't find mine; and I needed a camera charger, since I'd also
kept to my usual pattern of forgetting to pack one very important thing before leaving for vacation. I headed for the T-Mobile shop first and got my Sim card. The store was close to Trafalgar Square, so hopped over to the square to at least visit it once more. When I got to the square, I found it far more crowded than I remembered it being the year before, and there was a massive stage-type construction with soccer decorations all around it. I'd managed to stumble into Trafalgar Square on the day the UEFA Championship Victor's cups were on display for the public to see and take pictures with. I'm not a soccer fan by any means, but I could certainly appreciate that this was a big deal, so I snapped some pictures before heading on my way.

The entrance to the Tower of London.

Once I'd found my blue jeans and camera charger as well, I was finally able to start my day as a proper tourist. The first stop was the Tower of London, which I hadn't even seen from afar during my last visit to London. I took the metro to the stop closest to the Tower and then headed over to see where I could find a ticket. I waited in line behind a crowd of other tourists and then bought my ticket for entry. The first thing I saw when I approached the entrance was the yeoman standing at the entrance. There's always one there, welcoming people to the Tower and answering questions that they might have. I decided not to join the yeoman-led tour that was starting in a few minutes. There was already a crowd and I figured it would be easier just to wander through the tower myself--especially since I was on a time constraint and still had so much I wanted to see. As I walked into the Tower though, I heard the beginning of the yeoman's presentation. He was explaining that the little bridge that we were standing on was were executions had been carried out. He said that the execution with the largest turnout occurred when more than 100,000 Brits turned out for a
hanging. As the yeoman said, "Everyone was out having a grand time--except for one man."

The view of the Tower Bridge, as seen from the Tower.

I ate lunch in the cafe at the Tower of London--scones and hot chocolate--and then went to go see the Crown Jewels and the Tower Bridge. I headed over to the edge of the Thames first, to get some pictures of the bridge. Then I headed back into the Tower of London to go see the crown jewels. There was a bit of a museum to see before you got to see the jewels. The history behind it was fascinating to me, but, again, I had to rush a bit since there was still so much to see. On the way through the museum to the crown jewels, there were different things from past royalty on display--from scepters to gowns to capes used during coronations throughout history. After walking past so much history, I finally got to the room which houses the crown jewels. I thought I'd just walked into a bank vault--probably because the entrance to the room where the jewels are on display is through a door that is about eight inches of what I assume to be steel. The door looks like the most intimidating bank vault door I've ever seen--except maybe some of the doors seen in Gringotts!

The crown jewels were breathtaking. It's amazing to me to think how much such a little thing is worth--and that one person could wear that on their head as a symbol of such grand power! Today, the crown doesn't mean quite so much as it used to, but it's still a very powerful symbol. And there were so many crowns to see as well. I knew that there was more than one crown in the royal family, but I wasn't expecting as many as I saw. I think that one room in London must have been worth an ungodly sum.

The Globe Theatre! Fun fact: This is the
only building in London to have a
thatched roof since the Great Fire...and
they had to get special
 permission to recreate the roof.

After viewing the crown jewels, I headed out of the Tower. I wanted to climb the Tower Bridge, but I at that point I had to accept that I just didn't have the time. So I turned my back on the Tower and the bridge and headed back into London, headed for the Globe Theatre. I decided to just walk to the theatre--it wasn't too far and I wanted to cross the Thames on the bridge featured in the beginning of the sixth Harry Potter movie (yes, I can be that nerdy sometimes!). I wound through town, checking my map and the maps on the sidewalks regularly to make sure that I didn't get lost. After walking for over half an hour, I had to accept that I was a little lost. I gave up on trying to find the bridge and just headed for the river. Thankfully, I was very near the Globe Theatre. I'd been in the right area, just unable to find the right street. I crossed the Thames on a different Bridge, but I could see the Globe Theatre and the bridge I'd been trying to find--both of which were easily less than half a mile away.

I didn't stay at the Globe Theatre for long. I would have liked to have taken a tour, but time was slipping away from me and I still wanted to see the Parliamentary buildings before the day was through.   I bought a postcard from the shop, read a bit about the history of the building, took a few pictures, and then I was on my way to Parliament! I crossed the Thames again, this time taking the bridge that was "destroyed" in Harry Potter (it seemed to me to be in pretty good shape, despite the whole Death Eaters
incident). It took me a while to walk to Parliament, but I soon saw Big Ben looming over me.

Big Ben peeking out over Parliament.

I'd hoped that there were tours of the Parliamentary buildings, or at least a stair climb of Big Ben, but I couldn't find any entrance to the building that indicated that anyone other than parliamentary workers were allowed in. In fact, every entrance I passed was guarded by at least two men with seriously powerful guns. Had I done any research prior to leaving the hostel for the day, I may have found some information about tours, but since I hadn't done that, I just crossed the street to visit Westminster Abbey.  Unfortunately, by the time I'd reached Westminster Abbey, it was already 5:00--and anyone who's lived in the UK knows that a lot of the country shuts down around 5:00. And Westminster Abbey was no exception. I wasn't able to go inside, but I did get to take some decent photos of the outside, which is immense and impressive.

The front of Westminster Abbey

After seeing Westminster Abbey, I turned away from the Thames for the first time all day. For all the other sites I'd visited that day, I'd stayed alongside the Thames. But now I was heading to Buckingham Palace, mostly in the (probably vain) hope that a tour of the palace would be available. Again, something I probably should have at least googled before leaving the hostel, but I'll just remember that for next time. It didn't take me long to get to Buckingham Palace, though by that time, I was half certain
my feet were going to resign in protest of all the walking I'd done. I don't know what was happening at the palace that night, but there was a steady stream of people--usually one couple at a time--dressed in nice clothes (the ladies were even wearing the fancy little hats!) walking up to the palace, showing some kind of paper, and going inside. I never did figure out what the special event was, but it was cool to see up-close some of the style I'd seen only in pictures in magazines before.

After visiting the palace, I finally had to admit that I just couldn't keep walking across the town. So I headed back to my hostel, eager to find a good place to get fish and chips. I've had some fish and chips at home since leaving Scotland, but nothing seems quite able to measure up to what they make in the UK.

The view from my seat at dinner.

Sitting down on my bed to google fish and chip restaurants in London was such a relief for my weary little feet that I hardly wanted to get up and go walking back across town to buy my dinner. But fish and chips is far too tempting to pass up, so I was back out the door barely an hour after returning to the hostel. I'd found a place that had pretty good reviews and was supposed to be quite cheap (always a bonus for anyone facing such an unfavorable conversion rate). Most appealing--it wasn't too far from my hostel.

I bought my fish and chips and walked back towards my hostel to eat in the park next to the London Eye. There was a moment then when I was struck by just how lucky I was (and am)--I was in London, eating fish and chips with the Thames, the London Eye, and the Parliamentary buildings serving as the setting. I didn't know how life could get better than that--except for the fact that the next day, I was headed to Paris to start my summer in France!