Visitors in London :)

I've been a little delayed in writing this post, but I have been so busy (in a good way) that I am just now getting around to it (and it is a great procrastination from my growing to-do list that I am casually putting off). 

This past weekend, two of my friends from Richmond came to visit and I think I had the most fun weekend here that I have had since my arrival in September :)

My weekend started off on Friday afternoon.  My friend Kelly, who is studying at St. Andrew's in Scotland, took a train to London and I met her at King's Cross Station (the train station that Harry and the other witches in the Harry Potter series go to to catch the Hogwart's Express).  We wandered for a bit trying to find Platform 9 3/4 (the magical platform from the Harry Potter books) and eventually had to ask a worker: "Excuse me, sir, how do we get to Platform 9 3/4?"  I had to bite my lip to keep from cracking up while I was asking him, but I suppose that he is asked that question quite frequently, because he responded in a completely serious and matter-of-fact tone. 

Kelly and I at Platform 9 3/4!

After seeing Platform 9 3/4, Kelly and I set off to my flat to put her bags down and we went into Covent Gardens to walk around and get dinner and whatnot.  We came back to my neighborhood, went to the student union bar, and then went to a pub and each had a pint of cider.  We were both pretty tired so we headed back to my flat to veg out until Sarah arrived (her flight got in late).  Once Sarah got here, the three of us crashed into bed/ the floor and rested up for a long day ahead. 

On Saturday morning, we headed into Central London bright and early to do quite a few touristy things.  We saw Buckingham Palace (the guard band was warming up by playing the Pirates of the Carribbean theme song!), Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament before deciding to go to a Pret a Manger to get lunch.  Because it was a nice day and the cafe was very crowded, we brought out soup and sandwiches outside and ate near a statue right outside of Trafalgar Square.  What we saw there was completely bizarre... there was an NFL fan rally right in the middle of Trafalgar Square.  There were people in American football jerseys covering the steps of the National Gallery and there was an enourmous inflatable 49er's player right in front of the big fountain in the Sqaure.  As bizarre as it was, it was so nice to see an enthusiasm for American football.  :)



the Guards playing the Pirates of the Carribbean song





we passed this at a crosswalk on our way to the Tower... good job London!  I know you drive on the other side of the road here, but you can at least learn left from right!

After checking the fan rally out (we had to-- we're all American and all missed out on the inaugral season at the brand new Robins Stadium) we headed east to the Tower of London.  We planned to take the tube, but as usual for the weekends, there were part closures, so we walked instead.  It was quite a walk, but we got to see a beautiful self-given tour of London along the Thames.  Also typical for London, we needed both sunglasses and umbrellas during out walk. 



with our Yeoman tour guide at the Tower



When we finally got to the Tower, we took a tour and saw the Crown Jewels.  Although I had been to the Tower before, I hadn't yet seen the Crown Jewels and (no offence British Royalty) they honestly were not as spectacular as I would have hoped.  I mean don't get me wrong, I love crowns and I would loooove to have some of those jewels (maybe the world's biggest diamond that was on one of the sabers?) but they just were not as completely amazing as I would have expected. 



Anyway, after our tour we were exhausted and really needed a place to sit, so we found a small outdoor cafe, got coffee and just hung out drinking coffee at a table overlooking the Thames and the Tower.  This is where it hit me how surreal it was to be hanging out in London with two of my girl friends from Richmond.  As cliche as this may sound, it really made me realize how lucky I am and how incredible this semester has been. 

As full as our day had been already, it was not nearly over.  We headed to Central again to do some shopping.  Unfortunately the tube was closed at the station we needed (they are ALWAYS doing engineering works on the weekends), so we took a quick walk to the next station which had a security alert, and then decided to just get the bus (a red double decker).   

When we got into Central, we browsed a few afordable stores and then went to Selfridge's to see the Shoe Gallery, possibly my favorite place in the entire city!  :)  I can't remember if I have already written a post about Selfridge's or not, but it is a high-end department store with the biggest shoe department in the entire world!  It is called the Shoe Galleries and has over 50,000 pairs of shoes in stock at any given time, ranging from moderately priced shoes from brands like River Island and Havianas, to tons and tons of designers, like Jimmy Choo and Chanel.  It is amazing!


Biggest shoe department in the world!!



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this one is made of pots and pans!  how cool!

We finally went to Covent Gardens, ate dinner at an Italian place outside and took in the atmosphere.  We were exhausted and headed back to crash into bed to repeat on Sunday.

I'm ending this post here, and I'll write about the rest of my weekend later, when I need another distraction from my lab report!

Again, I apologize for not being able to get the pictures in the right places, but for some reason I cannot format it properly again.  I'll work on that one later too!  xoxo