Castles Are Medieval Works of Art

On Saturday I went to the Tower of London with Mom and Dad, and I have never been so in awe of a building before. Even the cobblestone streets were impressive! I know a castle isn't very practical in this day and age (and in America), but I think they're so beautiful and I wish I could build one myself! All the stonework, the beautiful stairwells and grand halls, it really makes you stop and imagine how people lived hundreds of years ago.

Because we went on a Saturday, it turned out to be a main tourist day. The line to go see the crown jewels wrapped around several buildings, and had to be at least 2 hours long! I had wanted to see them, but I wasn't too disappointed. Instead, we ventured over to the armoury and I was awed once more; this time not my the arching windows or patterned stone, but by the magnificent suits of armor. I've always been interested in knights, and one of my favorite things to read is Arthurian fiction--Knights of the Round Table and all that.

Some of the suits of armor are completely unreal. To even imagine walking around in those heavy metal outfits is painful. The helmets alone weigh about 17 kg. In the heat of summer, I would be passing out left and right! Knights were strong, in more ways than one. It was a very hard life, and certainly not as glamorous as it is often painted as. I'm still fascinated by the medieval time period, and I'd like to learn more about it in the future. Walking through the White Tower and seeing all the armor and weapons just whet my appetite for more!

The grounds around the tower were beautiful as well. Some people were walking around in period costume, and it was fun to see the billowing skirts and fancy suits! I joked with Dad that someday I'd like to do that--perhaps I'll be one of the people at Virginia City who dresses up for people to take pictures with! It just looked so fun and added to the atmosphere.

The tower isn't just a tourist attraction, however. While eating an ice cream cone after looking at the armoury, we saw a bride walking across the cobblestones with her father, both in full garb, over to the chapel inside the tower so she could be married. It was a very touching sight, and made me think how the tower isn't just a stagnant medieval landmark. It's still used today--although for different things--and it's still impacting people's lives. It's a beautiful area with history and a future. I hope I'll get to visit there again soon.

Best wishes from London,
Kelly

London Has Left a Handprint on My Heart

Well it has been a busy few days indeed! The Apollo Victoria Theatre, situated across from Victoria Station and about two blocks from my hotel, has been looking me in the face everytime I walk past. Those Wicked posters are just so...green! I had to go see it. So I convinced Dad to join me, and we had a wonderful time. It was my first time seeing the play, and the last time I was at a professional production was when I saw Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. Wicked was funny, touching and beautifully done here in London. It also helped that I got to sit next to some gorgeous boys from Portugal who didn't speak any English, haha! But I really enjoyed the story, and I will definitely be purchasing the book to read on the flight home at the end of July! This was the highlight of my Thursday!

The rest of Thursday and Friday were very busy! Mom, Dad and I decided to do the tourist thing and take a bus around central London. We did one with live commentary, which was fun. Our tour guide instructed all the young ladies where to go twist their ankles to get a husband in the rich district, because a billionare's 26-year-old son lives in one of the gorgeous homes.

Overall the bus tour was a great way to get introduced to the city. We've been taking public transportation everywhere, so I'm getting very closely aquainted with my map of the underground and the bus routes. Every morning at breakfast I lay it out, and I end up getting us where we need to go. I haven't been wrong yet!

One of the biggest negatives for me so far has been the food. We did find this lovely little Italian restaurant called Bella Italia that's only a five minute walk away. We've been there twice already, and we've only been in country a week! For some reason the English don't believe in a good breakfast--or good food, even. Hopefuly I won't starve to death while I'm here!

I did have a really interesting run in with a lady in the bathroom on Friday. All the restrooms--or toilets, as they're called here--seem to be very small in England. The toilets also have a tendancy to not flush, so I don't know if it's low water pressure of it they're just faulty in general. But I was in a restaurant bathroom, washing my hands at the sink when a little French lady comes out of the stall, obviously distressed because her toilet won't flush. She's saying all this in French, and as my friends know I don't know a speck of French. Strangely though, we were able to communicate. I told her I'd tell the waitress that the toilet was broken. She then tells me she's French, asks me if I was French--how funny, I'd been talking to her in English all this time! I say no, I'm American, and she says "New York?" I laughed, and told her I was from the West. "California" seemed to ring a bell. It was just one of those nice little exchanges that made an impression on me. I've met a variety of people here in London, from all over the world. Some have been friendly, others not, but it's the little things just make my day.

So I took some pictures from inside the bus--it was raining on and off and we didn't want to sit upstairs on the open top--and most of them are mediocare. But I'll share a few below! Today--Saturday--was busy as well! I have plenty of great pictures to share in the next blog post, which will be up shortly. I hope everyone is well!

Best wishes from London,
Kelly

'Ave a Lovely Bleedin' Holiday

Walking down the street in London a man greets us with a cheery " 'ello!" Of course we say hello back, and he immediately says to my Mom and I, "You ladies 'ave a lovely bleedin' holiday in London!" I think the American accents gave us away.

Wednesday was an all-around uneventful day. We woke up at a normal time, although all three of us are still fighting jet lag. At a cute little bread shop across the street I got a waffle for breakfast. We went for a walk later in the day, passing Victoria Station--our landmark for all directions--and headed towards Buckingham palace. It was maybe a ten minute walk from our hotel, and we passed some beautiful buildings on the way. I'm still in awe of the architecture. So many buildings are brick, and everything has so much history and character. I wish we had more buildings like these in the United States, but I find myself walking on streets older than the Declaration of Independence. There's really no place like London.

Buckingham Palace reminded me of when I visited the White House in Washington DC about 5 years ago. There's this fantastically huge building, locked behind gates and you can only get so close. It's very impressive to look at, but in the end you're still fitting your camera between metal fence posts to get a good shot to show your friends back home. It's a huge tourist attraction, so of course it's filled with other people hoping to get a good picture as well. It was fun, however, to listen to everyone talking amongst themselves. You hear so many different languages and accents, it's definitely not what I'm used to coming from a town in Nevada.

What was even more impressive than Buckingham Palace was what was right next door--Green Park, one of the most fantastic, huge parks I've ever seen. It's like something out of a storybook with little lampposts and huge towering trees. It was very peaceful and not nearly as crowded as the palace. While the buildings in London are impressive, it's hard to forget the wonderful parks scattered around the city. All of the trees are certainly older than I am; I bet some are older than the town of Reno!

There's not much else to report today, other than it was pouring rain, my umbrella broke, and the food here is in fact as bad as everyone says it is. It seems impossible to get a good meal! Hopefully we'll have more luck at one of the Italian restaurants I saw around when we go back out tomorrow. I'll leave you all with a few more pictures of the city from today's activities. Bigger, better, and more versions will be uploaded to Facebook when I have time! Also note that you can click the pictures here, and they will open a bigger version. I miss you all and hope you're well!

Best wishes from London,

Kelly

Landing in London

After a bumpy ride from Reno to San Francisco with Mom and Dad, we switched from our mini bumblebee plane to this Virgin Atlantic monster! Mom kept saying she wanted to go upstairs to first class, and I don't blame her! It was about a 9 hour flight, and when we landed in Heathrow we were definitely ready to get off. It was perhaps the longest night of my life. Sitting right next to the noisy wing and with zero leg room, we slept about 12 minutes each! Needless to say we were ready to hop off the plane and brave the UK border. After an hour and a half wait in lines with people from all around the world and colorful passports that were just as exotic, we stepped up to a booth. Mom and I got our first stamp in our new passports--mine for a whole 6 months! Since I'm studying here the customs officer gave me a fancy stamp, which I'm rather proud of. After customs came the baggage claim, where I found a comfy bench to sleep on for about 5 minutes, bringing my total up sleep for the night up to a whooping 17 minutes. It was about then that I was feeling like a zombie, running on autopilot.

In Heathrow we grabbed the tube, taking Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith station, then switching to the District Line. If I was a zombie before, I was completely dead on my feet by this time. It was maybe 4 in the afternoon, but that meant very little to me and my jet lag. When we got off the train in Victoria station, smack dab in the middle of London, we were faced with the last obstacle on our journey thus far: a huge flight of cement stairs. I can still hear Mom's indignant, "But isn't there an elevator?!" The answer was, of course, "No." Up the stairs we climbed, each totting our one checked bag and two carry-ons. Our first real view of the city was in an exhausted stupor, but it was grand nonetheless.

A few blocks down the road we arrived at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel. The beautiful lobby was lost on me, but when we got upstairs I was greeting with the beautiful, beautiful fold-out couch that will be mine for the rest of the week. I stumbled into bed, and 16 hours later the phone rang in the hotel room. My Mom was greeted with, "Good afternoon," by the hotel clerk, who asked if we wanted our room cleaned. After hanging up she looked at me, still in bed, and asked, "It isn't really afternoon, is it? Maybe that's just something they say here." We had slept until 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a slow start to the morning, with breakfast--or was it lunch?--at a place called Giraffe across the street from the hotel.

After asking around, we decided to spend the rest of the day at Harrods. It was difficult at first to navigate the bus system, but after the mantra, "We need bus C1!" and craning our necks to view bus numbers, we found the bus stop on the side of Victoria Station. Public transportation is really the way to go in London, especially since they drive the "wrong" side of the street! It's not scary so much as it is startling. Turning is when it really gets you, because you realize how ironic the "no right turn on red" would be here in London.

Here is one of the many advisories for tourists here in London. One of the things I noticed is how foreigner-friendly the city is! You hear people speaking all different languages, with all different accents. The hotel maid didn't speak English--she spoke French! Watching my Mom pantomime "conditioner" was one of the highlights of the day.

To say that Harrods is magical is an understatement. I could literally live in that store and I would never need anything from the outside, ever. You walk into a different room, and it's like you've stepped into another world. All four floors have rooms for everything your heart could desire. I saw brands from all over the world; there were handbags, cosmetics, clothes, toys, foods, even a butcher to buy meat and fish! We ate dinner at a cafe on the third floor. Every meal it's fun to count out change and throw our money together to figure out how much all our coins are worth. There are no one pound notes, only five and up, so you find coins being a lot more valuable! I didn't buy anything for myself--although I did try on a rather cool orange polka dotted watch--I just bought some souvenirs for my nieces! It was a gorgeous store, and I can't wait to go back soon.

It's about 11:30 in the evening now, so I need to get on London time and go to bed! I'll update again soon. Here's some family pictures of our lunch at Giraffe! You'll hear from me again soon, I hope everyone is well in the States!

Best wishes from London,
Kelly