Mind the Gap & Welcome to England!

Paris may still be my number 1 favorite foreign city, but I am IN LOVE with London. It is a very close second on my list of favorite foreign cities, and I kept an eye out for houses for sale or "To Let" in some of my favorite areas just in case I decide I want to go back there to live after I graduate.

Day one in London was spent taking a ridiculously too-expensive taxi from MoMo's house to the train station to ensure that I would make it on time since part of one of the Metro lines I needed to take was out. Then I went through customs both to leave France and to enter the UK in the train station in Paris and got STAMPS for both my exit of France & my entrance to England. I LOVE passport stamps!

I got from there to my hostel without any problems because the hostel is really close to a Tube station that is on a really good line. I could get to almost all the places I wanted to go in just a few stops. I went from my hostel straight to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. It was pretty cool, but I couldn't see the guards actually swap places within the gates in front of the palace because there were way too many people. I did meet two girls from Australia who ended up standing next to me to watch the Changing of the Guard. They were pretty cool, so that was a fun experience.

Processing out.

Processing out.

Afterward in the yard of um...might be the military academy or station or something? I really don't know.

After that I went to the London Eye for my "Flight" and a spectacular view of London. It was pretty cool, but I wish the weather had been a little nicer.

The London Eye.

Big Ben & the houses of Parliament.

The Thames.

My flight was followed by a trek to the London Dungeons (because I got a really awesome deal on a joint ticket for it and the London Eye). It was a really keyed down version of the idea of the 13th Gate in Baton Rouge with actors dressed as scary characters to try to scare you. Most of the actors were just creepy tour guides though that brought us through a scary maze of London's darker history including prisons, the Great Fire of London, the story of Jack the Ripper, and a few other things. That experience was followed by my first "traditional pasty experience" (yum!) & a Tube trip back to my hostel to take a nap.

After my nap, I went out to Waterloo Station to get a train ticket to Salisbury (to see Stonehenge) and went to a fish & chips place recommended to me by the guy behind the desk at the train station. The fish and chips weren't bad, but Louisiana does it way better.

Fish & Chips from Fishotheque near Waterloo Station.

The next day was pretty remarkable as well. I got up and got on my train to Salisbury then bought a bus ticket for a bus with an audio guide through part of Salisbury, Old Sarum (earliest now abandoned & nearly gone settlement of Salisbury), and Stonehenge. I learned a lot about the history of the area, had a few of the myths I'd heard about the origins of Stonehenge debunked, & really enjoyed seeing something I'd always had on my list of places to go. Well worth the trip!

My first double-decker bus ride!

Salisbury.

Trail to Old Sarum.

Ruins of Old Sarum.

The King's privy in Old Sarum.

Stonehenge!

It was bright but YAY STONEHENGE!

Following the finish of the tour, I returned to London to commence my self-guided Harry Potter walking tour that I downloaded off the internet which I ended up having to continue the next morning. I saw several sites that were used in the movies (some of which I got pictures but most of which I did not because I was too worried about trying to navigate through the streets - and remember to look right first rather than left when crossing the streets so I wouldn't get hit by a car), several sites that pertain to the movies/books but aren't actually used or mentioned, and several sites of interest that are just generally famous but have nothing to do with Harry Potter. I think the tour ended up taking me 5-6 hours when it was all said & done, but it was very interesting, well worth the time, and (best of all) FREE! (Free things are great in London because EVERYTHING is expensive there. I went over my daily budget by at least 5 pounds every day that I was there.)

Home of the High Commission of Australia - interior used for Gringott's Bank.

Too bad it's closed to the public. :(

So the actual city of London is guarded by dragons like Gringott's.

Who knew?

Anyone recognize this bridge?

How about now?

It's the Millennium Bridge - the ones the Death Eaters destroyed during the beginning of the 6th film.

One of the Leaky Cauldrons used in filming.

Another Leaky Cauldron.

Street used for the exterior of Diagon Alley.

After finishing my Harry Potter tour, I had another pasty because they are really good and went back to my hostel to pack up & get ready for that night. That night I got to see Henry VIII at The Globe Theatre!!! (Theater nerd bliss!!!!) It was excellent! Great acting! Great show (duh...it's Shakespeare)! Great costumes! Great orchestra (or whatever you want to call it - it was instruments of the period of the play)! I got chills & goosebumps & was generally in awe the entire time. Plus I was a "groundling" - I stood in the Yard (the cheapest ticket but arguably the best), so the actors ran through us several times and I was literally like 2 feet from the stage. It was an incredible experience and has, of course, rekindled my desire to be involved in theater stuff (not that I ever really lost it in the first place).

The Globe Theatre's stage!

In the Yard of The Globe.

In the Yard of The Globe.

I left my hostel at 4am the next morning to catch the bus, transfer to another bus, then take a train to Heathrow Airport for my flight to Dublin. Heathrow is ridiculously far from Central London, which I didn't realize since I came in from Paris directly to St. Pancras/King's Cross Station from Paris. I was able to check in with plenty of time & got to Dublin without a hitch.

Now I'm here, having a pint of Guinness at a bar with free Wifi (leave it to Dublin, right?) and enjoying my stay. But more on that in the next post.

Cheers!