Toussaint: London

Wow. I'm seriously embarrassed at how long it's taken me to put up another post. Needless to say, this past month has been busy and filled with all sorts of adventures and challenges.

Now I'm going to describe some of my experiences from Toussaint, the week long break France grants its citizens each year in honor of All Saint's Day. It was a month ago (the last week of October), but fortunately I've been more diligent about keeping a journal than I have about keeping this blog so I have more than just my fragile memory to base this post off of.

I started off my trip by flying to London. Let me just say, British Airways is bomb! Since it was an "international" flight (I say that with sarcasm because my flight was only an hour and half-- not generally what comes to mind when I think of an "international" flight), they gave us free alcoholic drinks. I actually didn't accept mine (shocking I know, who turns down free alcohol?!) cause it was 12 in the afternoon and my immune system already felt compromised. I figured I better take care of it and not push my luck. I got to London on a Thursday afternoon and easily made my way to the East End, where my friends Molly and Amanda are living for the semester. They both go to Queen Mary University of London near Mile End. It's funny because neither of them knew each other before this program, but I was friends with them both. Molly is from Half Moon Bay so we went to the same middle school and high school and suffered through the college application process and Model U.N together. I've known Amanda since second semester of Freshman year when the group from her floor kindly adopted me. When I found out they would both be studying at this university in London for the semester, I told each about the other and I think they connected a bit before arriving in the UK.

Amanda and I galavanting around London

The following day, Friday, was splendid. We started off by going to Harrods which for me is a huge thrill. I love going in nice stores and Harrods is the ultimate department store. Whoever designs the displays does a fabulous job. After that Amanda and I slowly made our way to the Bloomsbury Ambassador Hotel for afternoon tea. We conveniently passed by some of London's most famous landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, and the Thames River. It was lovely meandering about and when we finally arrived at our destination we were in for another delight. Tea, scones, mini sandwiches, cupcakes, and mini tarts awaited us at the table.

Amanda, surrounded by deliciousness

After tea we headed to King's Cross Rail Station to find Platform 9 and 3/4. We spent almost 20 minutes searching for it before we decided to ask for directions. The shopkeeper we asked was quite amused by our question (he must get it all the time) and asked whether we were walking or flying there.

We eventually found it, as is evidenced by this picture, and happily spent 30 minutes in the shop next to the platform, dueling with wands and embracing our inner witches. We also took pictures pretending to enter platform 9 and 3/4. All in all it was a swell day.

The rest of my time in London I spent going to museums and visiting monuments. Thankfully, most of the museums in London are free so that was nice. My favorite (of the ones I went to, which actually wasn't too many because of my limited amount of time) was the Victoria and Albert Museum. It displayed artifacts from some of the great Eastern empires as well as "local" British historical artifacts. I spent a few hours there absorbing all the history and reveling in the concept that they were able to preserve 500+ year old clothing.

The bed of Ware, which can supposedly hold up to 15 people in it

Beautiful Middle Eastern mosaic

I also went to Kensington Palace (where Prince William and Kate Middleton reside), but didn't have a chance to go in. My favorite "monument" in London by far was Westminster Abbey. It was a hefty 15 pounds (and that's WITH a student I.D.) to get in but it was well worth it for I've dreamed of going in and seeing the tombs of some of Britain's royalty for ages now. It was interesting to look down on the tile floor and see "Charles Darwin" engraved into the stone and many other notable names. Most famous British people living until the late 1880s have some sort of tomb or memorial in there. It was especially cool for me to see the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scot's, and Margaret Beaufort, all notable women who played an important role in the UK's history and all of whom have had a Philippa Gregory historical fiction novel written about them. I'm currently reading the one about Mary Queen of Scot's detainment in a castle in Northern England and the years leading up to her eventual execution.

Moi, in front of Westminster Abbey

My biggest regret from this trip is that I did not get to visit Hampton Court Palace or Windsor Castle. Prior to arriving in the UK, I had planned to spend my last day in London at one of these castles while my friends were in class. Once in London however, the "worst storm in 20 years" hit and the rail lines were down as a result. I was pretty disappointed but hey, it just means I'll have to go back some day. Instead I spent two hours inside of Westminster Abbey (as mentioned before) and went to the Imperial War Museum. The latter was not as impressive but it entertained me with it's spy exhibition and information about the London Blitz during WWII.

I also went to Bath while I was in England but I will save that for another post. Stay tuned for more!

Traditional British telephone booth

Westminster Abbey

Turkish/Indian food at an International food market in London. YUM.