Europe Adventure: part 1

LONDON (June 27- July 4th)

Where do I even start? What an adventure! I have never done anything like this trip before in my life and it was incredible.  I always told myself that if I was still single with a grownup job that I would take advantage of my summers off while not being tied down. My friend Lisa lives in London and I kept telling her that I was going to come over and I actually made it happen. I got my passport, booked my flight, and I was ready to go! Two days before I left I bought myself an ipad. I had wanted one forever and wanted to have something to do on my very long flights so I said what the heck and splurged. If going to Europe wasn’t splurging enough! My friend Meg, who I was going to be in Paris the following week with, was so kind and took me to the airport on monday morning. I was so excited but scared as well because I was traveling by myself to a foreign country. I had a layover in Texas and when I got on the next plane I was so excited because all the people around me had English accents. I loved it and that was when it really hit me that I wasn’t going to be in Kansas anymore. My flight to England was really long. I didn't sleep much on the plane but I stayed occupied with my ipad and with the inflight movies. I finally got to London and I was so excited and nervous. I was going through customs and I didn't have Lisa’s number or address and the guy looked at me like I was an idiot. Here I was in another country and didn’t have a clue of where I was going to go or be. Oops! Haha yeah not prepared. After getting my bag, I was relieved to find Lisa waiting for me just like I knew she would be. We took the tube back to where Lisa was staying until she could move into her new place. We grabbed a little bit to eat at the market and I went and took a nap. My first thought of England was awesomeness! Buses and cars traveling on the wrong side of the road. No houses but businesses everywhere with  apartments on top of the businesses. It was cool. After my nap, Lisa took me downtown to sightsee for the night. We walked past the Tower of London, and went to the Tower Bridge. I had seen the tower bridge in movies but it was so cool in person. We went and ate at this really good Italian place and tehn we just walked around and looked at everything that was by the tower bridge. We were walking on the sidewalk and we saw some people just waiting around for something. Across the street there was a royals car. Lisa said it was probably just Prince Charles or something, but we were both curious so we decided to wait around for a few minutes. Well little did we expect but the Queen herself comes walking out of the building with her husband Charles. Oh my gosh, seriously this just happen! She is such a cute old lady. Lisa couldn’t believe that my first night I got to see the queen. That was Lisa’s first time seeing her and she had lived there for almost a year. My trip started off right! How could I beat that.

Day 2: June 29^th

First we went to the Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which is the official residence of the Queen. It was so cool. We were pretty close to the gate but there were so many people. There were lots of men on horses, a band, and lots of guards in the red. It was a big deal. The English take their traditions seriously and it was cool to see. I wish I could have toured Buckingham palace but it was not open to the public during my trip because the queen was living it in at the time. In front of the palace is the Victoria Memorial, which is a huge sculpture of Queen Victoria. After the changing of the guard, we walked through St. James Park. One of my favorite things about London is that there are huge parks in the middle of the city. It was a beautiful park with a river through it and lots of flowers. After the park we went to Trafalga square which is one of the most famous sights of London and is known as the heart of London. In Trafalga square is the National gallery. I am usually not that into looking at art but it was cool to see paintings that I have seen and studied about in my schoolbooks. We then went to Piccadilly circus. We just got off the tube to look at this. It was awesome. It is a big shopping place but it has huge video displays and neon signs. It is what I picture New York to look like. Then we were off to shop on Oxford street. This street went on forever and was packed with shops and people. It was a lot of fun. Lisa wore me out but it was an awesome day.

Day 3: June 30^th

We went and saw some magnificent buildings today. First stop was the Palace of Westminister, also known as the house of parliament. Attached to the palace is Big Ben. Big Ben is referred to as the clock tower and is the largest four faced chiming clock in the world. Funny story, I leaned over to Lisa and told her that it reminded me of the Peter Pan clock. She looked at me and was like Allie it is the Peter pan clock. Haha I felt stupid. The palace of Westminster was incredible. It has the medieval feel to it and it is huge. After that we walked over to Westminster abbey. This is where Kate and Prince Williams got married.  We then went to the Tate Modern Museum. This is full of international modern and contemporary art. After the museum, we walked across the Millennium bridge. Lisa calls it the Harry Potter Bridge because it is in the movie and she is the biggest Harry Potter fan I know. It is a huge bridge only for pedestrians. While crossing the bridge you can see St. Pauls Cathedral.

Day 4 and 5: July 1^st  and 2^nd

These two days I helped Lisa move into her new flat. I experienced the famous Fish and Chips, which were delightful and ate at Pizza express which was one of my favorite places to eat in London.

Day 6: July 3^rd

We went to Lisa’s singles ward for church. It is always so cool for me to see that the church is the same whereever you go, just different accents. After church we went to Hyde Park and walked around with one of Lisa’s friend. It is a 350-acre park and one of the most famous parks in the world. There are a lot of things to see in the park. We saw the Albert Memorial, the Royal Albert Hall (one of the premier concert halls in the world), the Peter Pan statue, and the Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain (a memorial for princess Diana). 

Day 7: July 4^th

Lisa started her new job today so I decided to go explore. Jerome, who works at my dads shop, told me I had to go to Windsor castle, so I thought since I had the day to myself I would make a trek out to Windsor. I was a little scared but I felt like I had the tube down after riding on it all week. Little did I know that the train station would be so different and a bit more confusing. So I first found my way to Paddington Station. I was so excited because one of the only books I really remember enjoying as a child was called “A bear called Paddington.” The story takes place at Paddington Station. I made it to Windsor safely and it was such a cute little town with lots of shops. The castle was incredible. I loved going inside the queen’s dollhouse. It was huge and so elegant. I want one! I bought some souvenirs and then did some shopping and headed back to London to met up with Lisa for dinner. Windsor castle was one of my favorite things that I did in England.

Tower Bridge

London!

The Queen!

Buckingham Palace...Changing of the guards

Buckingham Palace

Victoria memorial 

Trafulga Square

Big Ben (yes the peter pan clock)

House of Parliament 

London Eye

Westminster Abbey

Fish & Chips

Albert Memorial

Peter Pan Statue

Princess Diana's Memorial

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle