London 2018

On my last day in London, I wanted to go to the Tower of London because that was one of the last things left on my list to see while in England.  Ayushi, Aditi, and I walked over and went on the tour led by a Yeoman Warder (also known as Beefeater).  Our tour guide was really funny and led us around the Tower showing us all the famous buildings and telling stories of the people who were murdered and executed there.  It was an interesting tour, although I would not want to go back at night time.

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After the tour, we only had a short amount of time before I was going to have to leave for the airport, so we went into the building to see the crown jewels.  We walked through the exhibits and saw lots of crowns, scepters, and other artifacts that have been used at coronations or worn by various royals over the years.  Everything was definitely very sparkly and expensive looking.  It was cool seeing jewelry, clothes, and crowns that have been worn by royals over hundreds of years.

After leaving the Tower of London, it was time for me to leave for the airport.  I went back to Aditi’s to get my suitcases and had to say goodbye.  I was sad to leave because I had an amazing week visiting Ayushi and Aditi in London.  Not only did I get to catch up with my friends and spend time with them doing fun things, but I also got to see a lot of a new city and have many new experiences that I could only have in London.  Overall, my trip was super memorable and I was really glad to be able to go to London before studying abroad in New Zealand.

On Wednesday we decided to get up early and go to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard.  I had read online that if you stand on the stairs of the monument across from the palace you can get a pretty good view and see over the crowd of people that stand by the gate.  It turned out to be a pretty good spot and we could see almost all of the ceremony.  The guards marched in and handed off the ceremonial key to the palace and then the band played and they marched back out.  Although it was a little cold to be standing outside for so long, it was cool to see.

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After watching the changing of the guard, we walked over to Westminster Abbey, which was nearby.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but the exterior of the building is just as pretty.  It was really cool to do the audio tour and have certain things pointed out such as all the famous people who are buried or memorialized there along with royalty.  I had no idea that so many people I know of like Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Shakespeare, and the Bronte sisters all have memorials or stones at Westminster Abbey!

After leaving Westminster Abbey, we walked by the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, which is very close by, although right now they are doing some restoration so the tower is almost completely covered in scaffolding.  The next stop was Fortnum & Mason for afternoon tea.  I didn’t really know what to expect, but I knew that having afternoon tea is an experience you have to have if you go to England.

Afternoon tea turned out to be one of my favorite things that we did all week.  The place was pretty fancy and everything was decorated in turquoise, white, and gold, which I loved.  We sat at a table and our waiter gave us two menus, one for the meal and one with all the teas.  We each could choose which meal to have (all of us chose the classic afternoon tea), and then we chose a tea.  Throughout the meal we could have as many different teas we wanted and they would refill the food as well if we ran out.  They brought us a tiered plate with finger sandwiches, scones, and little pastries.  I really enjoyed the scones and pastries and had several.  For tea, I started with the Afternoon Blend because I wanted a classic and traditional one to start.  They brought us each our own little tea kettle and poured the tea over a strainer into our tea cups to catch the tea leaves.  The Afternoon Blend was pretty tasty!  Next, I asked for the Peach Black Tea, which smelled delicious and tasted like hot bubble tea when I added some sugar.  Lastly, I tried the Chamomile and Bee Pollen Tea, which was something different and turned out to be light and sweet.  Even though I’m not a big tea drinker (except for bubble tea, of course) I really loved all the teas that I tried.  We ended up sitting and talking for around 3 hours while enjoying our tea and snacks, and it was a really fun experience.  After we were done, there were cakes that we could choose from to take a slice home.  I chose the chocolate cake.  Later that night we ate them and it was so rich and delicious.  Overall, I’m so glad I got to try a traditional British afternoon tea and it was one of my favorite memories of the trip.

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On Tuesday, February 6th, Ayushi and Aditi both had classes in the morning, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to do another Rick Steves audio tour, this time a walking tour of “The City,” the oldest central part of London.  It took me by several old churches, two of which I went inside, as well as the Royal Courts of Justice.  I ended up at St. Paul’s Cathedral, where Aditi met me.  St. Paul’s Cathedral had been on my list of things to see, but I had no idea how amazing it would be.

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The exterior of the building is impressive, but the inside was even more so.   It was designed by Christopher Wren, who designed many other churches and buildings in London after the Great Fire.  Inside the cathedral, we got the audio tour and spent a good amount of time walking around and learning about the building.  One thing that I found very interesting is that there are actually two domes, an interior and an exterior separated by a stone cone, in order to make the outside exactly 365 feet tall (one foot for every day of the year), but the inside still proportional to the size of the building.

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But, the best part was that you can go up inside the interior dome, very close to the ceiling.  This is called the Whispering Gallery because you can whisper close to the wall on one side of the dome and someone on the other side can hear it.  Aditi and I tried it out and it did work!  Next, you can go up to the Stone Gallery, which is on the exterior of the dome.  From there, we went up even further to the Golden Gallery, which is basically the very top of the exterior dome.  Here, there are beautiful panoramic views of the city and because we were there in the late afternoon, the sun was starting to set.  It made for an amazing view and great photos!

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After we came down from the dome, it was almost 5:00, when there is an Evensong service, which was recommended by Rick Steves.  So, we decided to stay for part of the service and listen to the choir.  After this, we went down through the crypt and finished up our tour.

After walking back towards Aditi’s place and stopping to get something to eat, we decided to keep walking along the River Thames to get a view of the Tower Bridge at night.  It was a beautiful walk and the Tower Bridge is pretty all lit up.

We then headed back to Aditi’s room and went to sleep early so we could get up early for the Changing of the Guard the next morning.

On Monday, February 5th, Aditi had classes for most of the day, so we had a late breakfast and then I went to meet Ayushi at the British Museum after her class was done.  I had downloaded an audio tour from Rick Steves’ app for the museum, so Ayushi and I walked around and listened to that to give us more context as to what we were seeing.  Again, the building of the museum was beautiful, but in a very different style than that of the Natural History Museum.

One of the most famous things we saw at the museum was, of course, the Rosetta Stone.  It was really cool to see something you hear about so often in real life.  There was even a replica that we were able to touch.  We also saw many artifacts and artwork from the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, and Greeks, including many things I have studied in art history.  A lot of what we looked at in my Ancient Cities and Sanctuaries class is now in the British Museum, so it was really cool to be able to recognize certain artifacts.   We also got to see the Elgin Marbles, which were once decorations along the frieze and pediment of the Pantheon.  It was interesting to see what was once on such an old, famous building up close.

The Rosetta Stone

Assyrian Human-Headed Winged Lion

Reliefs from Palace of Ashurnasirpal II

Elgin Marbles

Elgin Marbles

After spending a good amount of time in the museum, we had dinner at a nearby pizza shop and went back to Ayushi’s room, which was pretty close.  After getting a tour of her place, I took the Tube back to Southwark, where Aditi met me to walk back to her building.

On Sunday, February 4th, we decided to go to the Natural History Museum.  Aditi had been there for a bit before, and was excited to go back and show us, so we spent a good portion of the afternoon walking around the different exhibits.  The museum was very nice and interesting, but the building itself was really impressive as well.

After leaving the Natural History Museum, we walked a couple of blocks over to a shop called Maître Choux, which has really fancy éclairs.  They were all so beautifully decorated so we each had one as an afternoon snack.  Mine was chocolate and hazelnut and it was delicious!

We also happened to be near a bubble tea shop, so of course I had to stop and get a bubble tea in London before heading back to Aditi’s place.  🙂

Since two of my best friends, Ayushi and Aditi, are now studying abroad in London, I decided that would be a great excuse for me to visit London “on the way” to New Zealand.  I hadn’t seen Aditi since the summer so I was really excited to see her as well as Ayushi, and see London at the same time.  I had planned out the major things that I wanted to see, but then waited to get there and see what Ayushi and Aditi’s schedules were like to figure out when we would do what.

I got in late on Friday, February 2nd, and Ayushi and Aditi were so nice and came to meet me at the airport.  We took and Uber back to Aditi’s room, caught up a bit, and went to sleep.  Even with the time change I was tired because we had had to get up so early to get to JFK that morning.

On my first day in London, February 3rd, it was raining and cloudy out, but we decided to have a more casual day and walk around the city for a bit.  We got up and went for brunch and then Aditi showed me where some of the LSE buildings where she has classes are.  We then walked to Trafalgar square, where  there is a large fountain, monument, and the National Gallery.

Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery

Next, we walked to Covent Garden, an indoor/outdoor market area.  It was really cute and nice to walk around and see all the shops and street performers.

Covent Garden

After walking around for a bit, we decided to head back to Aditi’s building because we were all a little cold and tired of the rain.  Overall, a great first day in London and I was excited to get a personal tour around some of the city!