London Calling, Day 1

London. I never really thought I would go there. I mean, I always wanted to, I always said that I wanted to go to London before I died, but until I decided to go to England about 9 months ago I truly did not think I would ever go.

Well, I WENT!

It was nothing short of amazing. My legs are aching, my feet hate me, and I'm so tired I could collapse right here and sleep for 4 days, but it was so worth it!

Day 1

We woke up bright and early and left Harlaxton at 8:30am. The bus ride was LONG, about 3 and a half hours, but it was okay because we were just so excited! We went on a short bus tour of the city just to get us oriented with our surroundings. The bus driver dropped us off at our hotel, which left a little to be desired, but it was fine for sleeping -- which was all I needed!

Alex and I set off right away for the walking tour our school recommended. London is a great town to walk in. There is ALWAYS something to look at, and maps are fairly easy to decipher. Anyway, we headed through Russell Square to Piccadilly Circus, which is basically like the Times Square of London. It's crazy--we didn't stop there or anything, just looked around and snapped pictures. Then we headed to Leicester Square, which is a touristy place with a lot of clubs and stuff. Again, we just looked around and marveled. Trafalgar Square was next, with the National Gallery and Nelson's Column. We took a picture with someone painted to look like a statue! Alex gave him 50p :)

Then it was off toward the Big Kahunas, Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey. When I saw Big Ben from the street, I got chills! I just kept thinking of Peter Pan, when they land on the clock as they are flying by.

Parliament is insanely intimidating, but awesome! Just seeing it up close, you marvel at the intricacy. I can't even believe it's a building, let alone that people work there.

Westminster Abbey is awesome. I wish we would have gone inside, but there wouldn't have been enough time. I'm just a bit disappointed that I didn't see all the famous dead people there. You all know I'm not much a church person, but I really wanted to see Isaac Newton and kings and queens! I love celebrities, even dead ones!

We walked down Birdcage Walk past St. James Park, which is gorgeous. This took us right up to Buckingham Palace! Alex and I were trying to figure out what the queen was probably doing. We decided that she was either napping, brushing her hair or taking a dump. The guards are cool, but you can't get near them, which is really depressing. Oh, and they move. It's a total myth that they are perfectly still! Then we ate dinner at this really cool, really old pub called the Red Lion or something, it was near the War Building.

After that, we decided it was time to go in search of hookah, which lead us on the most adventurous and crazy leg of our trip. The closest hookah bar we could find to our hotel was near Liverpool Street, so we hopped on the Underground and got off at that stop. We found ourselves in the financial district of London, where everyone looked super important with their suits and briefcases and Blackberries. Using Alex's iPhone, we managed to walk through a NOT VERY GOOD area of London, in which we saw maybe 2 people and were walking down roads that had no buildings on them. We turned down a street and saw that it was just brick walls covered with graffiti, and there were people spray-painting them! We could not stop laughing at ourselves. By this point we had walked at least a mile. Then, suddenly, we emerged on a trendy, young, hip street called Brick Lane, where we found the Hookah Lounge. This place was hilarious. You can't smoke inside in London, so they had tables set up outside basically right on the street, and the guy brings out this hookah with tissue stuffed into the part where the ball usually goes. Alex laughed so hard she was crying. Then this guy sits down next to me and lights up a joint. I mean, right next to me - - I was on a bench thing. More laughter ensued. This guy did not speak one word the entire time he was sitting there. THEN, some guy asks me and Alex if we know where a specific bar is! We got mistaken for locals!

By the time our bowl was finished, we were exhausted. It was still light outside, so we walked back to Liverpool Street and hailed a taxi. When we got back to the hotel, we got ready and went to this little pub, where we drank Carlsberg sitting by a fireplace while cricket was on TV.

All in all it was a great first day in London! Days 2 and 3 will be documented shortly.