Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Marble Arch, designed orginally for Buckingham Palace completed in 1833 but was disliked by the Queen and never used for it's original purpose. It also marks the area of the original execution grounds (gallows).
The Waldorf with all the red buses out front (how English haha). Many of the scenes from Titanic were actually filmed in this hotel because of it's luxurious turn of the century decor.
The Waldorf with all the red buses out front (how English haha). Many of the scenes from Titanic were actually filmed in this hotel because of it's luxurious turn of the century decor.
DAY #2 - London
Day number two in London was absolutely crazy! It was New Year's Eve and the city was insane. I was a little over excited and shot out of bed by about 8:00 am. We walked across Westminster Bridge to Westminster Abbey, it was so so pretty on the outside but unfortunately we didn't get to do in due to the massive line (about 100 or more people long at opening time) and expense. Afterwards we headed for a little stroll up the street to Buckingham Palace! After taking about a hundred touristy photos in front of the Palace we hopped onto a bus to do our second city tour (a slightly different route then the one from the previous day). We went all around the city past the Wellington Arch, Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square, St. Martin in the fields, the Royal Horse-guards, the Waldorf, the city courts, St. Paul's Cathedral, over London Bridge, over Tower Bridge, and past the Tower of London with amazing views all around of the City of London and the City of Westminster. After our tour we hopped off the bus for a quick lunch and headed to the infamous platform nine and three quarters at King's Cross! We ended our day of sight seeing at the amazing British Museum. Unfortunately we didn't get to go through the entire museum, but everything we did get to see was pretty cool (the marble carvings from the top of the Parthenon are housed here and they were pretty awesome).
After an exhausting day of sight seeing we headed back to where we were staying, but our day did not end there! We still needed to ring in the New Year. We freshened up and headed to our local corner store to grab some drinks (yes alcohol was allowed at this event...who knew!) and head to Westminster Bridge. Although it was only about 7:45 when we arrived at Westminster Bridge but the crowds were already starting to form. The bridges had all been closed to traffic at this point, so we wandered about halfway up the bridge between the London Eye and Big Ben and took a seat in the middle of the road. We ended up meeting some other teachers on the bridge (who sat in front of us) and the night was sooo fun with a DJ playing music all night until the countdown began! I've never been in such a loud and happy crowd and the countdown was insane. I had an amazing time and the firework show was unbelievable. Christina and I could hardly talk the next morning from screaming our heads off for about 20 minutes straight. I still get excited when I see video footage of it. Getting out of the crowd and back to where we were staying (usually about a three minute walk) was also an adventure in itself. It took us a full hour to move through a sea of people to get back but it was totally worth it...such a cool, experience!
After an exhausting day of sight seeing we headed back to where we were staying, but our day did not end there! We still needed to ring in the New Year. We freshened up and headed to our local corner store to grab some drinks (yes alcohol was allowed at this event...who knew!) and head to Westminster Bridge. Although it was only about 7:45 when we arrived at Westminster Bridge but the crowds were already starting to form. The bridges had all been closed to traffic at this point, so we wandered about halfway up the bridge between the London Eye and Big Ben and took a seat in the middle of the road. We ended up meeting some other teachers on the bridge (who sat in front of us) and the night was sooo fun with a DJ playing music all night until the countdown began! I've never been in such a loud and happy crowd and the countdown was insane. I had an amazing time and the firework show was unbelievable. Christina and I could hardly talk the next morning from screaming our heads off for about 20 minutes straight. I still get excited when I see video footage of it. Getting out of the crowd and back to where we were staying (usually about a three minute walk) was also an adventure in itself. It took us a full hour to move through a sea of people to get back but it was totally worth it...such a cool, experience!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
DAY #1 - London
The morning of day #1 Christina arrived at Heathrow! Woo hoo! After braving the tubes during rush hour and dropping all of her things off where we were staying, we dragged our jet-lagged friend out for some sight seeing!
We headed to Trafalgar square (of course stopping in front of Big Ben on Westminster Bridge to take some tourist photos) to meet Jordan (a friend from LU) for lunch before wandering through Picadilly Circus and back to Trafalgar to explore the National Gallery. The gallery was amazing to say the least! It houses everything from Leonardo to Monet to Van Gogh (including works such as Van Gogh's famous Sunflowers).
After taking in what the gallery had to offer, we hopped on a tour bus for a quick ride around the city to decide where our major stops would be the next day (when we could devote the entire day to sight seeing). After the bus tour we took a stroll around the Thames and crossed the Jubilee footbridge beside the London Eye (which is all lit up at nighttime).
Christina and I on Westminster Bridge with Parliament and Big Ben in the background!
Trafalgar Square from the steps of the gallery
The Eye at the end of our first day in London
We headed to Trafalgar square (of course stopping in front of Big Ben on Westminster Bridge to take some tourist photos) to meet Jordan (a friend from LU) for lunch before wandering through Picadilly Circus and back to Trafalgar to explore the National Gallery. The gallery was amazing to say the least! It houses everything from Leonardo to Monet to Van Gogh (including works such as Van Gogh's famous Sunflowers).
After taking in what the gallery had to offer, we hopped on a tour bus for a quick ride around the city to decide where our major stops would be the next day (when we could devote the entire day to sight seeing). After the bus tour we took a stroll around the Thames and crossed the Jubilee footbridge beside the London Eye (which is all lit up at nighttime).
Christina and I on Westminster Bridge with Parliament and Big Ben in the background!
Trafalgar Square from the steps of the gallery
The Eye at the end of our first day in London
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