When we first arrived in the city, we decided to go to the information booth near the train station to find out which day the changing of the guards was occurring at Buckingham Palace. We spent about half an hour walking around trying to find it, and when it was nowhere to be found we decided to just head over to the palace to see whether it was happening or not. So we headed over to the tube, got on the wrong train, got off at the next stop, got back on the right train and headed over to the palace. We got there late and were disappointed, but decided to stay and take pictures anyways. But THEN...
Yes, we saw the Royal Carriages pull up, and for a moment, I thought I really was about to meet Prince Harry and fall in love. Unfortunately, none of us were able to get a picture of the people in the carriages, but I'm about 80% sure that Prince Charles was in one of them. Either way, it was super exciting to see the Royal horse drawn carriages taking SOMEONE in to see the queen.
Buckingham Palace
Someday, this will be my home...
Since this flag was flying, it meant the Queen was inside
The Royal Gates
From Buckingham Palace, we headed over to Westminster to see Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. This was pretty cool, even though I'd already seen all of this last summer. What I found coming back to London is that it's a city you can go to a lot, and every time it will still feel fresh and exciting. Especially in Westminster there's always a lot going on, and it's fun to feel the excitement of the city.
I actually got to use a red telephone booth. When our cell phones didn't work, I had to use one to call our friend Sasha. This was the first (and probably the only) time I've ever used a pay phone in my life.
Big Ben and Parliament
Westminster Abbey
Big Ben and the London Eye
After stopping for a quick lunch, we headed over to Trafalgar square, where we all decided it would be a brilliant idea to climb onto the lions and get our pictures taken there. Getting up wasn't really a problem, but after we got the pictures taken I realized how high up I was, and jumping off was simply not an option for my poor knees. So Caitlin decided to help me and Lizzy down, which ended up being quite amusing. It seemed the everyone who wanted to have pictures taken with the lions had trouble either getting up and/or down, so we spent a good amount of time helping random strangers get up and take their pictures. I love that about Europe, that most people are really friendly and always up for a good laugh even with a stranger.
For the rest of the day, we just wandered around the city, seeing sites such as tower of London, Tower Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe, and London Bridge. We were getting a little tired, and none of us could figure out why our phones weren't working. We had been planning on staying with our friend Sasha from Wheaton, and when we couldn't get our phones through to him, we were getting nervous that we weren't going to have anywhere to sleep that night. By the time it was dark, we were very lost in the side streets of London, very hungry, and very tired. So we decided to go into the nearest building (which happened to be the IMAX theater) to ask if they could tell us where we were. The guy behind the counter probably thought we were crazy for even being there because really, what Americans go to the IMAX theater while in London? He was, however, extremely helpful in informing us that we should have included zeros before we tried to call Sasha, and we were FINALLY able to get through to him. He told us where to meet him, and I honestly don't think I've ever been so excited to see another human being in my entire life. He took us to dinner and we went back to Westminster to take pictures of London at night. After that we went back to his apartment and crashed because we were absolutely exhausted.
The Tower of London
The Tower Bridge
St. Paul's Cathedral
The Globe
St. Paul's at night. I honestly felt like I was in D.C. a little bit
Okay, so Caitlin's sign says "Have you seen my friend Sasha?" We were so tired at this point we were a little crazy
London Bridge really isn't that exciting, Tower Bridge is much cooler. But it doesn't have a sign, so I took a picture near London Bridge instead.
The London Eye at night
Big Ben at night
The next morning we woke up to a blue sky and sixty degree weather, something that NEVER happens in London. We decided to take advantage of that opportunity and do the London Eye first thing. I was honestly really terrified to do it because it goes soooooo high in the air, and I usually hate heights. We ended up going at the perfect time, where we only had to wait in line for about a half hour, and then we were off. I was still really scared, but by the time we were about halfway up, I realized that it wasn't that bad at all. We were able to see pretty much the entire city, and the view was incredible. We were even able to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace from the top, which we had missed the day before, so it worked out well.
Big Ben and blue sky. A rare sight.
The Eye
From the bottom
Going up...
Buckingham Palace from the top
Big Ben and Parliament from the top
Going down....
Me and London <3
And after the Eye, we went to Madame Tussuad's and were completely ridiculous. The pictures will explain it.
Charlie's Angels. Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore
Yes, I hang out with Tom Cruise...
No, really, Leo, I'll never let go
Chillin with the Fresh Prince
Oh, Justin...
Chatting away with Robin Williams
What up, James Dean?
Why, yes, David Beckham, I will marry you.
I totally beat Lance Armstrong
Me and my husband...the Prince and Princess :)
Family portrait
Who me? Try to steal the Queen's crown? Never!
MLK, JFK, and Barack Obama. Three amazing men.
Princesses!
Johnny Depp....yes
I had dinner with George Clooney. No big.
I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
Spider man kiss <3
The Pope's making sure I'm saying my prayers!
I'm the fifth member of the Beatles. Duh.
Okay, so that was really fun, and for the rest of the day we just spent time in the city, and got to catch up with Sasha which was really nice. I'll be going back to London in April to start off my big trip, and I'll be there for Easter which will be really fun.
For now, I hope everyone's doing well, and Happy St. Patrick's Day from Ireland! It's going to be a good week :) Cheers!
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