London: Part I

Well hello all my wonderful readers! Just last week, I spent a week in London for my Pentecost break! While Hannah, Rachel, Jake, and Helina headed to the sun and the beach in Cyprus, I set off towards the wonderfully rainy London. London, the place where you can say things like "rubbish" or "bob's your uncle" without getting slapped across the face.

Since my trip was a week long (Brilliant!), and because I did so much during that week, I've decided to split this post into two. This way I will not overload you all with too many wonderful pictures or stories!

Sunday

After my week of classes, I spent Saturday procrastinating on doing my packing, and I left for the airport on Sunday. I luckily got through to my flight no problem, and had to transfer at Frankfurt on my journey to Heathrow.

When I got into Heathrow, I was interrogated by the border control guy. I hate being questioned like that. They make you feel as if you've done something wrong! I swear I have an aunt and an uncle that I'm meeting in London! No, I'm not lying! Yes, I'm studying in Germany. No, I go home in July. Grr!

Once I was done being interrogated, it was off to get my bag from the baggage claim. It took a while, which delayed me a little longer than I had expected. Eventually, though, it came. With my bag, I headed down to the Underground.

With the Underground, I learned to Mind the Gap as I took the Picadilly line service to Cockfosters. On my Underground journey, which was partially above ground, I saw a bunch of boys playing cricket. If I had any doubts before, I knew then that I was in England.

I got off the Underground and walked a ways to find my hostel.

The long escalators going to and from the tube.

This probably saved me a few times.

Because practically everyone else drives on the right side of the road!

By the time I got there, I was a bit tired from carrying my bag, but I had to go and find a bank to get money out for the hostel. I went up to the desk to ask if there was anywhere to place my bag while I ran to the bank to get the money to check in. They told me that I could drop my bag off in the luggage room downstairs, but the guy didn't have the luggage key to give to me. He said to go downstairs and get the key. Get the key where?! I had no idea. I ended up leaving my bag under a bench in the kitchen of the hostel until I got back. From there I walked along Hyde Park to find the bank that I had looked up before I left Germany. I found the bank, walked back, and tried to check in. By the time I got back, the guy told me that I had to wait to check in. So I waited.... and waited... and waited... As I was waiting I met a girl from Milwaukee who was also waiting to check in. It got to the point that we said that we should just try to check in again. When we got up there, she found out that she was in the wrong hostel, so she left. I checked in, and found that my room was up on the fourth floor. I had to climb up all these small winding stairs to get up to the room. When I got up there, it was so hot in the room (as it was about 70 something degrees outside), and there was only one window that opened only a few inches. I dropped my bag off, went for a walk, and then headed back to the hostel. When I got back to the hostel, I found that Monty Python and the Holy Grail was playing in the sitting room. Welcome to London.

Oh sweet silliness.

Monday

I woke up extra early to get ready. It was just as hot in the morning as it was at night. I dropped my toothbrush on the floor while I was getting ready. Buying a new toothbrush then made its way onto my list of things to do. I walked down the street to the Regency Hotel, where the pickup bus for the tour I was taking that day was supposed to pick me up. My Aunt Enid and Uncle Ed had booked bus tours for everyone on Monday and Thursday. The pickup bus was supposed to take me to the meeting point where the actual tour bus would leave from. Note that I said "supposed".

When I got to the hotel, I walked in and showed the concierge my ticket that showed that I was there for the pickup shuttle. He told me to sit down in the lobby, and that he would come and get me when the bus was here. I waited... and waited... until finally it got to be the time when the bus should have been there. This worried me, so I went and asked the concierge if there was any way he could call the company and see if they were coming, as the number I had was a British number, and my phone would have been very expensive to use. The concierge said no, and that I should just keep waiting. Well, screw that, I thought. I went and sat down, but I used my phone and called the company. I asked if they were going to pick up where I was, and they said that they had my ticket down for a pickup at some Holiday Inn somewhere. Well, that was not where I was, so I got up and had the concierge get me a taxi. Who cares if I wasn't a guest there. I got in the taxi, and we headed off towards the meeting point. The bus was said to leave at 8:30. It was about 8:10 when I got in the taxi. I was freaking out! We pulled up to the opposite side of the street where the building was with only a few minutes to spare. I paid the taxi driver, crossed the street, ran up the stairs, and looked around frantically for where I was supposed to be. I found someone to ask, and they pointed me to the right spot, because there I found Uncle Ed, Aunt Enid, and their two friends. I was so relieved to find them, and Aunt Enid looked like she was very relieved that I had found them as well. She said that she was very worried that today was going to be a disaster. It came pretty close to being one.

We ended up waiting another thirty minutes for some other people to get to the bus, as one of their pickup buses were stuck in traffic. They never sent my pickup bus. So they would have left me if I hadn't taken action.

Anyway... enough ranting! It really is a good thing that I'm splitting this up! It's just too much for one post.

Our first stop on our bus tour was Oxford.

Oxford. Christ Church.

Now here is a set from Harry Potter! You may notice these stairs from this scene:

They stood there! So did I. Yes.

Inspiration for the Great Hall.

Students were going to eat lunch in there soon.

Henry the Eighth.

In the courtyard of Christ Church.

Cute little streets!

This building's not actually a school of Oxford. It's more of a Gentleman's club as the guide described it.

A library for students.

I believe this was a theater. It's been a while. Sorry.

Walking back to the bus.

Next we drove through the Cotswolds to get to Stratford on Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare.

On the bus ride over, through the winding road, I felt pretty car sick, and ended up falling asleep just as our tour guide was telling us something about Shakespeare. I must have missed a lot, because I only heard the very beginning, and the very end as we were pulling into where we would be stopping. We ate lunch at a restaurant there in town, where I had fish and chips. Someone from our group, who shall remain nameless, (but it wasn't me =] ) dropped a single pea down their shirt and sat there for a couple of minutes to fish it out! It was quite entertaining! I have to say that during the course of the week, the group was always fun!

I woke up just as the guide was talking about this, so I took a picture. Unfortunately, I missed exactly why it was important. I think it had to do with writers gathering here.

Where we ate lunch.

Street heading to the Birth Place of Shakespeare.

We then toured the birth place of Shakespeare, specifically the house he grew up in.

No visit to remember Shakespeare would be complete without Sir Ian McKellan.

Dickens?

And... Leo... He shouldn't be in here!!! He butchered the role of Romeo in that total crap version of Romeo and Juliet. We don't even speak of that movie! It was that bad!

AH! Would not want to look out the window every day and see this! The Teddy Bear Store.

Shakespeare's father, among many other things, was a glove maker.

They had people guiding you through sections of the house and giving you information on various aspects of his life.

A lot of signed names on the glass. Some famous ones.

This man is pretty short, so you can't tell, but I had to hunch over to get through this doorway.

The back of the house.

They had actors who would act out scenes from Shakespeare's plays upon request.

Shakespeare Duckies!

His house.

I just liked the name for this place. Worthy of a picture.

After the tour, we got back on the buses and left. We actually left a man behind. Per the Pirate Code. Any Man who falls behind, is left behind.

Now I hear what you're saying. They're more like guidelines anyway. But according to our tour guide:

The code is the law. And so he was left behind (for another shuttle to pick him up when they came through).

Finally, we went to Warwick Castle.

The castle itself was beautiful, and the weather was gorgeous!

 We first went into the wax exhibit, where they had wax figures of the people of the time as if it were a great dinner party. It was just REALLY freaky! Add wax museums to the list of things that freak me out! It was like at any minute they would move and kill you! I didn't like it.

This was Daisy. I don't remember who she is, but her name is Daisy.

This guy freaked me out the most! He was so real looking.

A bit of poker in your day?

This one is a bit harder to see, but it's of the women gossiping.

Gossiping? I forbid it.... when she's not involved in it, that is!

The Lord of the house?

View from the window in the castle.

That would make this: Mr. Bates!

After I survived the wax museum, I walked up a hill on the one side of the castle to get a better view of the grounds!

A catapult!

A pancake and waffle parlor! Too bad it was closed!

The hill I climbed up.

The courtyard inside the castle.

Armory inside one of the exhibits.

The COOKIN' Pot! (Watch out Matthew!)

Henry the Eighth and all his wives (plus one?).

One of the rooms with a beautiful chandelier.

Was very upset that I couldn't go into the Princess Tower. You had to be ages 5-8... If Jenna was with, she could have posed as an 8 year old to get me in.

Ominous.

And of course there was a gift shop. I'm not sure which is scarier? This....

...or this?

Then, unfortunately, we had to walk back to the bus. We then spent two and a half hours driving back to London. We got off the bus and made our way back to everyone's hotel by taking the tube. Once there, we met up with two more of their group and went out to dinner at a Turkish restaurant. Then we went back to their hotel before I headed out to get a new toothbrush on my way back to my hostel. I made it back with the tube, made it all the way up to the fourth floor, and decided that I hated this hostel. It was right to bed for me.

Tuesday

This was my day of walking.

I started out my morning by being way too overheated. I got out of my room as quickly as possible, and ate breakfast in the hostel kitchen. I then headed to the bank before going to the tube. I took South Kensington to Westminster and got off to see Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and the river Thames.

The River Thames. To be filled up with boats for the Diamond Jubilee!

Westminster Abbey.

Some sweaty guy and a bus ruined my picture here of Westminster Abbey.

Take two!

Oh hey there, Churchill.

I walked around for a while and actually walked past the Churchill war offices, which we went to later in the week.

Found this and just had to take a picture! A little ridiculous.

I walked down the the next tube station, and then up to the next one from there. I then took the tube to Baker Street.

With plans to see 221B Baker Street, home of Sherlock Holmes, I set out from the station to find it! Unfortunately, I went first down the wrong street, then down the right street, but the wrong way down the right street, and wasted about 30 minutes before I actually found it. I finally found 221B Baker Street, and celebrated my mini-victory by taking a few pictures! I did not go in as I had no time! But it was marvelous to see the famed house!

The walls inside the Baker Street station were decorated as such! And the figure of Sherlock is made up of smaller Sherlocks, like these:

I came out of the station to find this sign. Too perfect. I wish they had signs like this in Germany. They are a nuisance. I agree.

There's the master sleuth himself.

How did I miss this sign when I first came out of the station. I mean, it's so large, easy to spot, and obvious. I'm an idiot.

221B Baker Street!

Converted into a museum.

Hudson's restaurant next door.

Anyone who has not seen the new show Sherlock, I HIGHLY recommend it!

From Baker Street, I had to take the tube to head to my Warner Bros Studios Tour. The studio is about 20 miles outside of London. The tube was delayed, I kept falling asleep, and I had to transfer at least once before I got into the station. At this point, I was cutting it close on time. People were trying to put their tickets through the machine but couldn't, so they were holding me up even longer as they blocked all of the machines. Fools!

I waited in the "queue" for the shuttle bus. The English say "queue" instead of "line" or "to wait in line". Just another thing I learned while I was there. Speaking of things I learned: I got to learn about the lives of two dumb girls on the shuttle bus to the studio. We shall call them Fool 1 and Fool 2 for the retelling of this story, as I did not learn their names. There were two American girls about my age on the bus. I know they were American, because they announced quite loudly that they were. They then pretended to be British and spoke in a terrible accent. They said things like "mum", but every once in a while, they would mess up and not know how to add an accent to certain words. I learned all about how Fool 1 wanted to be a flight attendant, had an interview with Ryanair, but was not tall enough. You have to be 5'2", as I learned, and she was just shy of that. Fool 2 had a silver iPhone, which Fool 1 marveled over. Then Fool 1 showed her bedazzled Mickey Mouse cover for her iPhone.

The bus finally arrived and I was grateful to get away from the fools I had learned so much about! I made it into the queue for the tour with five minutes to spare. Now, while in the line I got to look around at some of the decorations, which was nice. But I also had to listen to Alice and Alice. Let me explain. There was a group of people behind me from somewhere in the UK with matching T-shirts that said "I'm Alice", "I'm Alice", "I'm Alice's Mum", "I'm Alice's Mum", and "I'm not Alice". Their shirts were neon green, and they were obnoxious. Now, I like Harry Potter enough to go and take this tour, but they took it to a whole new level. And they were just generally very annoying people. I got to tour the sets and see all the props and how they made the movies, which was pretty cool.

Dursley family photos.

The cupboard under the stairs.

Our guide leading us through the doors of the Great Hall.

Look! It's Alice and Alice. They always introduced themselves by saying, "I'm Alice, and she's Alice and there are our Mums, and that's not Alice". It got old real fast.

MOVE ALICE!

Oh Madeye!

Yule Ball costumes and props.

Ceiling to Great Hall. Just a model.

Gates to Hogwarts.

Boys dormitory.

All the individualized wands.

The Fat Lady.

Me looking into the Mirror of Erised. I see only a flash, and lots of tourists. Must not be working.

Up to Dumbledore's office.

The Horcruxes:

Snape, the Potions Master.

 Because I can.

They had two Hagrid's Huts. One that was made to make him look giant, and another that was made to make everyone else look small.

The snakes were made to move along pathways, instead of moving due to CGI.

Gringotts Vault door.

Is Madeye down there?

I love this clock. The Weasley's clock that has a hand for each family member that points to where they are.

Wouldn't they all be pointing to Mortal Peril all the time?!

Vanishing Cabinet.

Umbridge's office.

They took parts from old buses and put them together to build this!

Number 4 Privet Drive.

The Potters' House. Complete with blown through roof.

Aww... sad...

They tried to build a piece that would go on the guy's head when he would play a werewolf, but it was too clumsy so they just did it with the computer.

They built a Hagrid suit and head for the stunt guy to wear when he was doing stunts for Hagrid.

Fun fact. The spider is made with Yak hair.

Diagon Alley.

Yes please!

I will have order!

Concept art.

They had a scale model of Hogwarts for when they had to do establishing shots of the school. If they had to do close ups, they would use the computer. Otherwise they used this!

All the wands!

After the tour, I went through the gift shop (as the gift shop is always after any tour or attraction on your way to the exit) and saw a small boy looking at the wands that they had for sale. His mother asked an employee if they would break if she bought one. The employee said that they had a steel rod inside, so they wouldn't break. He then turned to the little boy and said that they weren't for hitting his sister with. To this the little British child replied, "I haven't got a sister. I've got a brother." I wonder if he thought that meant that he would be allowed to beat his sibling with this toy wand now, because his sibling was a brother instead.

After the gift shop, I waited for the shuttle and had to witness the good with the bad. There were a bunch of whiny little snot nosed brats outside complaining (quite like Dudley in Harry Potter, so I thought that it was a bit funny), and I got to hear the cute little British children in front of me talk of Harry Potter, their favorite characters, and Dr. Who. Oh, to be a small British child and to have such things on the mind.

I took the shuttle to the overground to the tube line back to the area of my aunt and uncle's hotel. I walked around a bit and found the theater district. I picked up a few souvenirs, got a little lost, found myself by the National Gallery, and eventually found my way back.

Colorful building near the theater district!

Picadilly Circus!

Outside the National Gallery.

Countdown to the Olympics!

I met everyone for a wonderful dinner, and then headed back on the tube and got ready for bed at my hostel. With my legs hurting and feet sore and a little swollen, I went to bed.

Wednesday

I started off by getting ready and headed towards the meeting point at their hotel. I had a little extra time, so I stopped in the park to write a few postcards. I met everyone at the Hotel, including the newly arrived Jeff and Anne. From there we walked through Kensington Park to get to Buckingham Palace.

They were setting up for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years as Queen.

A stage for the Jubilee!

Lots of seating as well!

Buckingham Palace.

All the school kids were petting the horse.

The Queen was in! This flag flies over wherever the Queen is. Otherwise they fly the Union Jack (the British flag).

We couldn't get a good spot by the fence, so we went to the side to watch the processions go in for the changing of the guard.

In front of us were cute little British children on a school outing. They had little uniforms on and were waving small flags! They would sing songs, and talk to the officers on horseback. It was pretty adorable.

Not everyone there, unfortunately, was as nice as the small school children. After we had been there for a while a tour group came up behind us. All the women of our group were standing up front a ways, and the men were on the curb, a bit to the back. The tour group came right between us. Now it was a sunny day, and very warm outside, especially with all those people crowded around. Many people had their umbrellas up to block out the sun, and I ended up putting up mine as well. It really helped to cool things off. Once guards started to come through, however, I put my umbrella down with everyone else, so that I wasn't blocking anyone's view. Now the guards would come in spurts. So it would be about 10 minutes between each group. In between the groups of guards, one woman from the tour group behind us put her umbrella back up. Uncle Ed asked her nicely if she wouldn't mind putting her umbrella down so that they could see. She said, "I will put it down when there is something to see". Jeff then persisted. "Ma'am, do you mind putting your umbrella down, we can't see back here". Still the same answer. So he kept going. She was being so rude. He asked who she was to decide what's worth seeing and what's not. She just ignored him. Jeff said that horses might be something nice to see, he liked horses. Still the umbrella remained up.

The infamous umbrella! You can't see the lady, as her friend is blocking her. But you can see Jeff on the right!

Finally, the next group of guards were coming out playing instruments and riding horses. Jeff asked her again to put her umbrella down. She said, "When there is something to see, I will put my umbrella down". I believe the line that cam next was, "Open your EYES!". After the guards were closer to where we were standing, she put her umbrella down. I know you're all wondering: who was this lady? Well she was a jolly representative of the French. Not helping your people there, friend.

It was later that we learned that a lady had come up to Jeff and had just said, "I can't believe I'm here" as the French lady put her umbrella up. So Jeff fought for this 70 year old lady who was from New Zealand.

If the French lady was so warm that she had to keep her umbrella up, she should have just taken off the WINTER COAT that she was wearing. Moron.

 Also, during the changing of the guard, one of the officers on horseback announced in about 5 languages that there were pickpockets there. That was an experience.

After the changing of the guard and the umbrella fiasco, we went to the Queen's Gallery, where they had a DaVinci Anatomy exhibit. It was pretty interesting.

DaVinci drawing. He also wrote mirrored, from right to left.

Afterwards, we headed to a pub for lunch.

What a grand idea. Brilliant!

Everyone was decorating for the Jubilee! So much pride in their Queen Mother!

Pub where we ate lunch.

Then we went to Big Ben and the London Eye.

When we got our tickets for the London Eye, we got free admission to the "London Eye 4D Experience". It was pretty much just: Look! We have 3D and are going to shamelessly abuse it with cheap gimmicks! Gimmicks included: Fireworks popping out at you, birds flying at you, water being sprayed on you, air being blown at you, and so on!

Then we went up in the London Eye.

Going up.

You don't have to tell me twice. Or once. I stayed far away from that door!

Going down!

Uncle Ed, Aunt Enid, and me!

It started to rain just a bit!

Afterwards, we walked back through St. Jame's Park back to their hotel.

I was going to take a picture of Big Ben with the bird in front of it, but it started to fly just as I was taking the picture!

We had a bit of a photo-op!

Trying to get into the Ministry of Magic! (Too much? I'll stop with the Harry Potter references for a while!)

You ain't seen me, Right!?

Going through St. Jame's Park.

Squirrel in action. This one's for Rachel.

I felt sick on the way back, and had to excuse myself for a bit. Not sure if it was dehydration or the food I ate for lunch, but I was pretty sick. We met for dinner at their hotel to celebrate Aunt Enid's birthday, and my honorary birthday.

Birthday Dinner.

It was a lot of fun! Had long talks about toothpaste for one reason or another, I won't go into it. After dinner, I took the tube back, but got off at a different stop to see if it was any closer to my hostel. It wasn't.

And I believe that is it for this post! Please patiently away Part II, and try to contain your excitement!