A Land where they all sound like they’re from London!
Julie and I decided to take the infamous Chunnel underground through the English Channel to get to London. As we headed off to London, I couldn’t help but dance to songs in my head like “London Bridge” by Fergie and then bop my head to childish songs about London Bridge falling down.
Upon arriving in London, we promptly ordered a cup of delicious Earl Grey. They may not be notoriously recognized for their food, but their tea is delicious everywhere. We hopped on the Tube and then immediately noticed on the streets that the cars drive on the “wrong” side of the road, or the opposite of everything we’re used to.
We were lucky enough to get to stay with my Grand Big Bro (Michelle’s Big Bro) Kristen, who is working abroad for Apple in London. She had a great apartment not far from the center of the city and was so nice to let us stay with her! We had so much fun with Kristen too! Family line reunion!
Julie and I took off to check out the London Tower. If you’ve seen the movie, the Other Boleyn Girl, this is where the Natalie Portman character was held before her beheading. We crossed the Tower Bridge, walked past the real London Bridge, and got to see the original Globe Theatre where Shakespeare’s first plays were! I knew you would have loved it, Dad. We visited the Tate Modern Museum, and it only reminded me how little appreciation that I have for modernist artwork. Impressionism I can manage, but some of this artwork was like a thick rope artistically placed, or a sheet folded over to represent … well I’m still not quite sure. We had fun poking around at the bizarre displays, but left to get fish and chips, which was much more satisfactory!! We also passed St. Paul’s’ Cathedral at night- a beautiful sight! On a side note, every company goes out on Friday nights for cocktails. Every pub was stuffed with businessmen and women socializing… it was a pretty cool environment.
Kristen gave us a tour of Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, China town and the Broadway Show streets. The next day, we went to Borough Market, which had samples of Stilton Cheese (Chef Mom/EJ!), olives, Mulled Wine (like hot cider in Wine Form), and sweets. We stopped at Monmouth Coffee which filter drips each coffee per cup and had a long “queue” around the block.
We then headed to see the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and Big Ben. All classical tourist locations. We also got to see Westminster Abbey, but we didn’t get to walk in as the last service had already finished. We walked by Hyde Park and past the War Museums and through another smaller park full of hundreds of ducks, willow trees, and a house that I swear a hobbit lives in!
Though we didn’t watch the changing of the guard, Buckingham Palace was still quite the site to see! That evening we visited Brick Lane, the Indian street in London (the Indian population is really high in London). I had the most delicious Mango Lassai and a huge variety of Indian Food, though we realized that Brick Lane isn’t exactly the safest neighborhood to visit after sunset and quickly left after dinner.
Next morning, we went to Portobello Market, which is pretty much like a swap meet/flea market. The walk down to the market is through an antique street fair in one of the cutest neighborhoods- Notting Hill!
After that, we headed to Abbey Road, which was actually a challenge to get to due to Tube shutdowns, so we took a Double Decker bus! I swear I thought we were going to hit about a hundred trees, and we definitely hit a couple branches. Abbey Road is adjacent to Abbey Rd Studio where the Beatles recorded their album + did their album cover. We tried to recreate it, haha, though we’re obviously only two.
Before heading back to Paris, we tried obviously to go to Hogwarts from King’s Crossing. We got half our cart through Platform 9 ¾ though Dobby must have been there closing the passageway (intense HP reference… only true fans will understand it. Yes I’m a massive loser) so instead, we just hopped back on the Chunnel and came home.
Claude Monet, famous for his impressionistic paintings, lived in Giverny, which is in between Rouen and Paris. We made the quick day trip into Giverny and walked around through the gardens. It was crazy to be in the garden's wehre Monet began his masterpieces which grace museums throughout Paris and the world. Oddly enough, there are no original pieces at the gardens?
ee the Eiffel Tower at night. Above is the light show which goes off every hour and people from all around the world come to see! It was beautiful! And I was scammed into getting an eiffel tower statue that lights up (or maybe I just really wanted one... haha)!!
