London, England

I will forever remember this trip! It was so much fun!!! Rene ( my Dutchy friend) and I hit the big town and battled the crazy weather for 4 insane days... So much to see and so much to do, we had a blast!

It started off at 6 am when we arrived at the Rotterdam airport. Rene got molested by the security because he obviously was "a giant terrorist." After a 50 min. Flight we landed in London and were on way. Of course getting to the hostel was quite tricky, but our "Smart Hyde Park" hostel was worth the effort. It was cute and had a 24 hour bar ( which is a miracle because ALL LONDON BARS CLOSE AT 11 PM!!! I'm not kidding) but our hostel had some special license ;) We stayed in a 4 person room and got to meet a cute couple for the first 2 nights and a not so straight man ( who used baby powder in the bathroom ) our last night :P

So where should I begin?! There is SO MUCH to see in this city that you just don't know where to begin. We began at Traffelger Square with the National Gallery and 2 beautiful fountains.



Then off to Buckingham palace! We actually came back to the palace the next day to see the Changing of the Guard and our luck ran out! Rene had a great view from the back and I got to the very front... Then soon as the guards came out it started POURING! All umbrellas went up and Rene's great view was gone, where as I got to go under an umbrella :P ( good to be little) It was raining soo hard! It's one of those moments where you have no place to go out in the open and surrounded ( or trapped) by tons of tourists. Rene was drenched!





We then went to Westminster Abbey, where all past kings and queens are buried. Saw the parliament and Big Ben, went to 10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister resides, and finished off at the Westminster Bridge with a yummy pancake treat.



Ok... Some funny stuff: Rene almost got run over by a bus!



I stand by my belief that ALL BRITISH are CONFUSED! There all driving on the WRONG side of the road lol. Their wheels are on the right side of the car and they drive on the left side of the road. So every time we look for cars, were looking in the wrong direction lol. Sooo annoying.

Also, the British are really good about their escalator. They all line up nicely on the right side and let the people who are in a hurry pass on the left. So cute :)



Finally, the city has NO trash cans! This was the first "Litter" box we saw and it was a relief. Still can't bring myself to litter in such a beautiful city. But I suppose because of the bombings they got rid of them.



Ok, back to tour stuff...



Big Ben is actually not the clock but a huge bell that's inside the clock tower. It's named after some guy, and it's funny, they were going to name it after this other guy named Richard, but after realizing that "BIG RICHARD a.k.a BIG DICK" wasn't the brightest idea, they stuck to Ben.

We also hit the Broadway. We got to see "Chicago" which was great, but would have been better if we weren't 30 min late. Apparently we got lucky because we got to experience what happens if there is construction in a city that fully depends on its metro system. The "Tube" as they call it had alternative routes for most trains, and after missing our stop, going the wrong direction, coming up to a closed gate and fighting a huge crowd of people, we finally made it to Lancaster Square. Then running to our Theater ( and completely forgetting where it is located) we FINALLY made it to the show. Ok, running up the escalator wasn't fun... But gotta love the British, their system of standing in that perfect line to the right WORKS!



The next day we visited a couple of churches. St. Pauls Cathedral is so beautiful. Loosing my daily travel ticket wasn't pleasant but it balanced out when some random Russian guy offered me a coupon for the Cathedral at half off. Lol... we Russians stick together!

This picture is from the very top of the Cathedral. You climb 533 steps with a breather in the beautiful Dome and see all of London from high up.



We also visited Temple Church where the Da Vinci Code was filmed. In the movie it's supposed to be Westminster Abby but they were not allowed to film inside, so they used Temple Church instead.

Tower of London was awesome! Its a huge city within a city where all the past royalty were held prisoner. Queen Elizabeth I resided there for some time and many more. They have a Bloody Tower and Torture Tower, so you can imagine all the fun stuff that happened there. They also had an exhibit of the Royal Jewels. I have decided that for my upcoming birthday I want the coronation crown, the staff and the big crown with the largest diamond in the world! Ohh and also, I felt right at home in the castle... so it's clear... I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PRINCESS!



Ok... I HAVE to show this... It's quite sad ((



STOP LAUGHING!!! lol :P

Right by the Tower of London, there's Tower Bridge. It's the most beautiful bridge I have ever seen!



On our last day we visited Kensington Palace where Princess Diana, Charles, William and Harry used to live. It was so beautiful inside. They even had the exhibit of Princess Di's old dresses. We did the royal walk up some grand staircase and walked through the bedrooms of the past King and Queen. I repeat! I FELT RIGHT AT HOME and SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PRINCESS!



We walked to Hyde Park and saw Princess Diana's memorial. It's very unimpressive and that's sad because she was loved but everyone and deserves better.

Uhh... Aren't you TIRED of reading about this yet?! lol... I'm tired of writing. SO MUCH happened and I can't even remember half of it now.

Finally, we finished off this amazing trip with a tour through Harrods, the most famous Department store in the world! ( BTW, princess dianas lover's dad owned it)



IT IS HUGE! They have EVERYTHIGN there!!! And delicious food too :)

So there it is. LONDON! So powerful, historic, charming, beautiful... and WET. I had a great time and I'm glad I had a good friend to share it with.





Oh yea, we did have a "PINT" of beer at the bar... A PINT!

More pix:

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