Foggy London Town

So London was a bit of a whirlwind...which I guess I should get used to for this semester. I left Tuesday afternoon, and got to London around 8:30. I left one bag at Heathrow because goodness knows there was no way I was dragging 150 pounds of my stuff through the Tube. It was hard enough with just one bag and a backpack.

I finally made it to the hostel at 11. I stayed at St. Christopher's Inn at London Bridge, along with 30ish other SASers. After I checked in and dropped off my bags, I met up with a group in Camden Market. Since I got there at lunch time, we immediately went to a pub. Very British right? There were eight of us, and it was definitely a good introduction to my future classmates. Everyone was super nice and inquisitive and SO excited to be traveling. Side note especially for Kate: I found a Laudree directly across the street from a Paul...so we should clearly go to London together.

After lunch, we headed to Green Park, where we briefly saw Buckingham Palace, and then walked around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens for a few hours. It was 80 degrees and sunny, so everything was gorgeous. But eventually our feet started to get angry at us for not giving them a break, so we went to the original Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We got to see their vault with guitars and clothes from icons like Madonna, The Who, and the Beatles. Pretty awesome for a music lover like myself. After finishing our burgers, we headed back to the hostel, where we hung out with some other SASers on the roof until my eyes refused to stay open any more.

The next day, I decided to get an early start and do some exploring on my own (don't worry mom - I didn't get kidnapped). It was a much more typical rainy British day, so I put on my duck shoes and raincoat and got a hot coffee before walking across the Thames into the business district. It was 8 am, so morning rush hour was in full swing. Seeing that side of London gave me a different perspective on the city - this is where I come to explore and see new things, but for so many people this is just daily life. Eventually, I accidentally came across the Tower Bridge as it was opening for the day. So I bought a student ticket and went inside. Because it was so early, I had the place pretty much to myself, so I could explore the Bloody Tower and Crown Jewels in peace. TWAMP moment: I saw a scepter made for King William and Queen Mary! After about an hour of that, I decided to take the Tube to Westminster. There I saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. I think that's when it finally started to hit me that I was actually in London. And I started to get SO EXCITED. I get to spend all semester exploring new cities. It really doesn't get better than that.

                 

But I couldn't dwell on my awesome for too long, because I had to meet a group back at the hostel at noon so that we could go to the Harry Potter studios!! As a nerd, I was uber pumped for this. It got even better when we got there and there were 12 other people just as pumped as I was. I had found my people. We spent over three hours exploring the Great Hall, Gryffindor Common Room, and Potions classroom and took absurd amounts of pictures. Because it was as close to Heaven as we're going to get for a while. We finished up the tour with a taste of butterbeer and a group photo in Mr. Weasley's car. Afterwards, we went back to the hostel for dinner at the pub and more roof time bonding. It was only the second night and already I was sure that I am going to have the time of my life on this trip - SASers are just so much fun.

Our third, and final ( :-( ) day in London my friends and I met up with some other people for breakfast crepes. We could barely fit in the shop, but they were worth it. Those skinny little pancakes will always hold a special place in my heart. After buying some typical London souvenirs, we headed out to the British museum for some culture. It was a really cool museum - plus it was free, so that's a bonus for traveling college students. We saw the Rosetta stone and Greek and Roman statues. And my friend Jordan helped me (forced me?) to face my fear of mummies (but really...if one haunts me I'll never forgive him). A few hours later, we found ourselves back at Buckingham Palace for a quick photo shoot before going to Westminster again. We finally got back to the hostel at 6, at which point we had to drag our bags onto the Tube to get to our new Heathrow hotels. Big shout-out to John for carrying my bag for me! My blistered feet appreciate the pity. I finally got checked into my hotel at 8:30, and headed back out to meet everyone at the Hilton bar for a "last night on land" celebration.

All in all, it was a BUSY couple of days. As we go forward, I'm sure every port will feel like this. But now that I have my taste, and I am so hungry for more. LET'S DO THIS TEAM!

We're on the boat now, but more to come about that after classes begin!