Cheers, London!

Now that my class load is lighter, I finally have some time to start traveling! This last weekend I went to London with two of my friends - we had a long weekend since we had Monday off for Easter. I got there after my friends, late on Thursday evening, so I didn't have time to see any sights that day, but I did get to navigate the underground all by myself so that was an adventure on its own. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, and London's public transport system, I learned over the next few days, is really quite incredible.

My first full day there we started out visiting Buckingham Palace. We tried to see the changing of the guard, but there were so many people there we couldn't see much, but were able to stand where we could see some of the new guards walking in and the old ones walking out. This still gave us a nice overview of the range of funny looking hats there is to be seen at Buckingham Palace. Afterward we went to King's Cross station, where it is possible to take a picture at Platform 9 3/4 (put up for Harry Potter nerds such as myself). Next we went to the Natural History Museum, which was really nice. We had to rush through it a bit since we were short on time, and this museum is HUGE. But we had time to see a nice exhibit on dinosaurs, so that was fun. After that (yes, this was a busy day) we walked through Harrod's, London's famous, fancy department store. And when I say fancy, I mean FANCY. Walking through the women's clothing department, for example, there is a section for just about every major international designer, and most of the clothes don't have price tags on them (and if you have to ask, you can't afford it). There was also a floor where you could buy a toy poodle puppy for £1700 and a dog bed for £1800 (yeah, that confused us too...). But it was a lot of fun to walk through and see all of the displays - the store at times felt like a museum itself!

 At Platform 9 3/4!

Harrod's from the outside

On Saturday we started the day off in Camden, and visited a market there. This market was unreal, like no other market I'd ever been to before. We got some delicious Chinese food from a stand, and walked around to all the different stalls, most of which sold vintage, handmade, or unique clothing. It was a major case of sensory overload, and the market was so big we didn't even get to see it all! Then we went to see the play Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, which was really cool. It's London's longest running play, and has been playing for 60 years. At the end of the play the actors came out on stage and announced "This is London's longest running play, and we want to keep the mystery alive. So please keep the answer of whodunit a secret." So you're not gonna find out who the killer is no matter how much you bug me. Even if you bring me cookies. Nope. Not telling you. 

 

This was just a fraction of the market. A very small fraction. 

 

St. Martin's Theather - Where we saw the play. 

On Sunday I did some sightseeing and visited Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, etc. I didn't go on the London Eye since I had been there before with my family, so I just walked around while one of my friends who had never been to London went on it. We then got some food from a nearby market, including one of the best hamburgers I think I've ever had in my life, and a crepe with Nutella in it (also delicious). We went to see the Tower Bridge as well, and in the evening we looked for a piece by the graffiti artist Banksy, which was a fun little treasure hunt.

 

London Eye with Big Ben in the distance. 

 At Tower Bridge.

Banksy's "Falling Shopper"

On Monday we had just enough time to visit the Imperial War Museum before it was time to head back to Amsterdam. Even though I had a great time in London, I was glad to get back to Amsterdam - it feels like a second home!