paper airplanes: London

LONDON, ENGLAND June 1-5, 2008

DAY 1 (7)

We took two different trains out of Paris staring at around 3:00pm to get to Callis (the French “border” with England) and take a ferry over the English Channel to Dover, then a shuttle into London. Overall, it’s been a long day of travel. The ferry looked more like a cruise ship than anything else. It was immense and had a ton of store and restaurants inside. Turned out the shuttle we planned on taking had stopped running by the time we got into Dover, so we had to take another (more expensive, money money, once again) train into London. But now we’re here, in the city of fish and chips, tea, the Queen of England and of course, Mr. Shakespeare and Mr. Potter. Helloooooo London! J

DAY 2 (8)

We made it in. We’re staying at a really neat hostel, The Clink, which used to be a courthouse (the Clash even went to trial here). The hostel now holds 700 beds, it’s enormous, and really well run. Really love it.

On our first day we decided to take it easy in the morning, and make our way down to the Millennium Mile around 11:00am. We started at the Tower of London (which took a dew hours) where we learned all about how the British tortured their prisoners and so on. It was a bit gloom, but really neat. I remember now why I liked it so much when I was a kid- there’s cool armor everywhere, horses, and people dressed up in time period garb. We then headed over the Tower Bridge to the other side of the Thames River where we made our way to the Globe Theatre (we got tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Wednesday!) and the outside of the Tate Modern.

We continued on to the London Bridge and the London Eye, then crossed the Bridge back to the opposite bank to get on the Tube and back to our Hostel at King’s Cross.

After some internet time to send an e-mail home to all our friends and family, we headed to Picadilly Square and Sotho to take a picture of the Pub that Arin’s friend Tom worked at when he studied abroad here. We tried going to the Blues Club after, but the line was too long to wait for a table and we decided to go home and get a good night of sleep instead.

DAY 3 (9)

We started the day with free breakfast at our hostel, then another “free” walking tour of London. We had an amazing tour guide (Beci) who was hilarious and knew everything there was to know about London and it’s historical culture. We saw a small (it was raining and they didn’t want to get their hats wet) changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, stopped by St. James’ Palace, a few parks (Hyde, Green, and St. James), the House of the Prime Minister, Lancaster Square and so on. The House of Parliament (where Big Ben lives), and Westminster Abbey ended our tour and were by far the most beautiful of the sites. We then had a quick bite to each before going to St. Paul’s Cathedral (in the pouring rain) to watch a 5:00pm mass. It was so beautiful and so worth bearing the weather.

After our day of site seeing, we headed back to King’s Cross to my parent’s hotel and met them there for dinner in the city. It was really good to see them, especially in the middle of such a trip. A nice taste of home in the midst of the adventure. We were planning on going back to the Blues Club that night, but it was still pouring rain so we decided to stay in and relax instead.

DAY 4 (10)

Today was our best day yet in London. The weather was absolutely beautiful for our departure and we spent a few morning hours at Regent’s Park (one of the most beautiful selection of flowers (especially roses) I have ever seen. We then headed to Westminster to see Abbey Road where the Beatles recorded their records and took the picture on the most famous street in music history. We signed the tribute wall, knowing full well that at the end of the month it would be repainted white once again.

After Abbey Road we headed back to the Millennium Mile to have dinner and a few Guinness (Dublin style) at a local pub. I tried my first meat pie, which was surprising delicious. We then headed back to the Globe for Midsummer, which was such an amazing experience. My favorite play in the place where it was staged for the very first time. Beautiful!