October 3rd! London Tourism!

On October 3rd, my second day in England, I woke up at 6am still feeling jet-lagged but also excited to see what London had to offer. After getting dressed and ready, Brigit, Katie and I ate breakfast at our hostel around 7:30am. I just have to note that the Youth Hostel that we stayed in had the most attentive and welcoming staff on planet Earth. When you're in a new country that has it's own set of cultural standards and a currency system unlike the one you're used to with little access to information or communication, it makes a big difference to have a warm, home-cooked meal served by people truly interested in your well-being :) Breakfast at the Youth Hostel was a full meal, very satisfying but also very different from breakfast in the US. Proportions were smaller, juice cups were about 3 ounces large, the scrambled eggs were fresh (not processed and packaged!), the milk came from a glass, opened-top container indicating it was fresh and the toast was laid in a wicker basket with foil at the bottom. Not something you see in breakfast buffets back home :)

After breakfast, we made a trip back to St. Paul's Cathedral and wandered through the inner corridors (without paying for the official tour). After St. Paul's, we headed across Millenium Bridge (featured in the 6th Harry Potter film), passed the Tate Museum and visited Shakespear's Globe Theatre. After this, we boarded the Underground and made 2 transfers to visit Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament! All magnificently beautiful with it's ancient architecture and gold-plated rooftops. From this point we viewed the London Eye which is a large ferris wheel operated for the purposes of better viewing the London skyline. From this point we walked over to Westminster Abbey and then walked onto Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guards. Funny thing, we actually thought we were at Buckingham Palace at one point and stopped to view the guards preparing for duty. Turns out, we were down the road from Buckingham Palace and had completely missed the ceremony - this explains why we were less-than-impressed by the building's grandeur . . . it was NOT Buckingham Palace . . . someone should have put a sign up or something :P

As if this weren't enough to fill my day, I returned to the hostel for a quick nap and was back on the Underground on my way to King's Cross Station - the railroad station featured in each Harry Potter film (so many HP references!). We visited Platform 9 and 3/4, got back on the Underground and were off to Picadilly Circus (don't you love the word "Picadilly??" - a line on the Tube is called "Picadilly," haha) - this is a major shopping district in London comparable to Times Square. It's all lit up at night and is full of shops and pubs and theaters. I'd really like to go back before my time in England is up!

After all of this, let's just say I slept EXTREMELY well when we got back to the hostel -- I prepared for our trip to Essex the next morning and laid my head on my pillow . . . I fell instantly to sleep.

ON TO DAY 4!

KISSES,
Brittany