Alright, so here goes. I’m already pretty tired of writing, so this will probably be the abridged version of my trip… I’m sure if you ask me about it later, I will go into more detail because I loved London.
When I arrived, Elisabetta was not at Platform 9 as we had decided. This made me sort of nervous because I did not have a phone, or have any idea if she was on her way, or how I would get a hold of her. After waiting for 15 minutes, I was too cold to just sit there any more, so I went on by myself to find Platform 9 ¾. Yes Logan, I found it! I couldn’t get through, though… Dobby must’ve been trying to save me. My luggage cart did go halfway through before it got stuck, though… I have a picture, which will be making its way to facebook soon. I probably looked really silly, a lone, 22-year-old girl asking where Platform 9 ¾ was, and having a man who works at the station take my picture at it… I saw a 3 foot tall Harry Potter as I was leaving! He was awful cute. Elisabetta still wasn’t at Platform 9, so I went on to the underground and bought an oyster car (it gives you discounts on the tube), and as I was headed to the train to take me near London City Airport to find a hotel which I could put my stuff in and call Elisabetta from, she showed up! She reminded me that we were flying out of Heathrow, which was on the outskirts of the town, so we decided that the best place for me to stay was Hyde Park, near where she was staying.
Right off of the tube, we saw a Hilton. I figured I might as well ask how much it cost, and if it was too much, they could point where to go. It was too much... I ended up staying in a hostel down the street for 25 pounds. I did not get a towel because renting a towel cost 5 pounds. I left my stuff in their storage unit, and Elisabetta and I went out!
We had some struggles trying to decide how to go about the sight-seeing (communication barrier), and we really had some struggles with the underground (a whole line on the underground was closed and there were way too many people), and I feeling very frustrated and like London was a disappointment… then we emerged!! It was pretty! We came out at Piccadilly Circus and walked for awhile, saw some cute shops with gorgeous sweets (they love their sweets in England. I kinda got that idea from Harry Potter, but just figured that J. K. Rowling has a sweet tooth. Nope, all of England loves sweets. The train station had a stand where you fill a bag, and it had the craziest assortment).
At a café, I bought some English, mango tea w/ milk (tea because I was still sleepy, and with milk because I thought it seemed like the British thing to do), and it was good. We were walking towards Buckingham palace, and we walked right into a park. Gorgeous! The flowers thought it was spring! I don’t know how they get the grass so green. We got to the palace just in time for the changing of the guard—so naturally we couldn’t see a thing. There were so many people that I could barley even see the palace. For future journeys to London, I would suggest not walking about on a Saturday.
From there, we walked back through Green Park towards Trafalgar square. We ended up coming out at the Guards, and like a true tourist, I got my picture taken next to the guard who doesn’t move- what a terrible job- then again at the gate next to the guard on the horse. The horse was great. The lady after me was grabbing its head and petting its neck… if I had known I wouldn’t get chopped with the guard’s sword for touching it, I would’ve been all over that horse!
So we walked and walked. The buildings were beautiful and I got tons of pictures. I saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Parliament Building, Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives), the Thames, Charing Cross (not exciting), the London Eye, etc, etc. We stopped for lunch in Trafalgar Square. I got a chocolate twist pastry from a grocery store and a hotdog with grilled onions from a stand, and we ate on the steps in front of the National Art Gallery with millions of other tourists. There was a ton of entertainment in the square, which was really cool. After lunch, we went through the Art Gallery for a couple of hours. It was very interesting. There was a ton of Renaissance art, which is very Catholic. There were also quite a few Greek mythology pieces. I learned how the Milky Way was made… so it was a very enlightening visit.
When we came out of the gallery, we walked some more, saw some more cool buildings, sat for most of a service in St.Paul’s Cathedral (it was fantastic to sit down) and kept on walking to London Bridge and the Tower of London. Jenn told me that the best fish and chips in London were by the Tower of London, so I made sure to get some. It was so much food!! Elisabetta didn’t get any… she was actually really disgusted by it, haha. They don’t deep fry food like that in Italy.. num num. I really wanted to go on the Tower of London tour because Jenn told me it was incredible, and I’m really interested in the whole Henry VIII/ Elizabeth I era, but by the time we got there it was closed. Oh well, something to look forward to if I ever go back.
After that we were dead, so we took the tube back to Hyde Park and parted ways. I went to my hostel and got my 10’x10’ room stuffed with 4 bunk beds. When I got there, there were 3 Spaniards (2 boys, 1 girl) there, who didn’t speak any English. I spoke a little bit with them, then after deciding that if they were going to steal my things, they would have ample opportunity through the night because I was sure to sleep well, so I might as well take my chances now. So I went out to Starbucks, where I skyped a bit and checked my email. When I got back, all my stuff was there! And there were more people… 2 American girls from New Jersey. These were the first Americans that I have met in Europe so far! The only other one I’ve talked to was Jenn! I went to sleep not too long after getting back. When I woke up in the morning, all the beds were full. There was one more boy and one girl from Spain as well. I went to breakfast and sat with the American girls and told them what I had done in London (they had just gotten there), and without meaning to, convinced them to go to Leeds!
After breakfast, I had some time to kill before meeting Elisabetta, so I went across the street to Hyde Park where I read and watched all the dogs. Elisabetta and I made our way to the airport, and we separated when we got there so that she could get the tickets and I could sell my Oyster card back. When I found my way to the terminal 1 departures, I was forced to leave by a mob exiting the airport. There had been a bomb threat right as I got there! We had to wait outside of the airport for an hour and a half. For the first 45 minutes, I was separated from Elisabetta and wondering if I would have to buy a new ticket and find my own way back to Naples! I didn’t know if she had made it through before the bomb threat or not. But after awhile, I found her, and as we waited I asked her all sorts of questions about her life. It’s cool to hear her talk about her work- she is very passionate about it.
We had missed out flight because of the bomb threat, but they squeezed us onto a different one, and we returned to Naples at the same time that we would have with our other schedule (our connection was in Munich, and apparently we were on the same 2nd flight that we were supposed to have…I thought our connection was in Monaco, France, but apparently the Italians say Monaco for Munich).
The End.
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