The tour guide Barbie joke started when my girlfriends were here because I showed them all around London and my voice sounds like Barbie's apparently. Elliot came to visit London this past weekend, so I was a tour guide again! It was really nice to have someone to show around and do touristy things with. It seems like everyone in the program has family or friends here right now since it is Spring Break time in the States. We had a blast and saw the majority of London in 3 full days.
On Friday we started off the day by going to get theatre tickets. We choose Wicked! Even though I had already seen it, I wanted to go again because it was that good. Besides with our student IDs the tickets are only 25 pounds(about 38 dollars)and that is an incredible deal for this type of show. For lunch my program was sponsoring an Indian meal, as that type of food(curry)is extremely popular here. We had to go to an area called the East End for the meal. It was a very Indian neighborhood with many restaurants. I was a little scared for this experience, as I can be quite picky about foreign food. However, it was actually quite good. The bread was delicious. The sauces were very different and I didn't really care for them or the meat. Elliot enjoyed the meal, as I was sure he would. We did decide that we were glad we tried it, but Indian is not our favorite and we probably wouldn't go out to eat for that kind of food again. After the meal we went to Tower hill and walked around the Tower of London. We walked across Tower Bridge and then along the Thames River to Borough Market. Elliot seemed as impressed by the market as I was at first. We got some very nice fresh vegetables and fruit. Then we continued our journey along the River to the Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare's plays were preformed. The weather was overcast and chilly, but it only sprinkled on us a few times. We saw London Bridge and then walked across Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral. After taking some pictures of the Cathedral's extreme dome top and wooden doors, we did a little browsing at Camden Market. By the time we did all this we had to head back to Vandon House to get ready for Wicked. The show was amazing; we had even better seats than when I went previously with my friends. For not being much into theatre Elliot seemed very impressed with Wicked too!
Saturday was a wonderful day. It was a little brisk outside, but the sun was shinning! We started our day off by watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. We got excellent spots to watch the parade of guards walk in and out of the golden gates. The entire ceremony takes about a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Elliot thought this was really cool and got some excellent pictures. Even though Buckingham Palace is so close, I do not go watch the changing of the guards ceremony that often. So I really enjoyed being touristy and getting some more pictures too. Afterwards we went to snap a few pictures of the Horse Guards on our way to Trafalgar Square. Elliot wanted to go into the National Gallery because he is currently taking an Art class where they are learning about Renaissance paintings. Some of the paintings that his class has studied are on display in the Gallery. He seemed to really enjoy looking at these paintings. I hadn't been to this museum yet, so I liked looking around. All of the museums and galleries are so huge, it would take at least a day to look through the entire place. After a while we continued on the see Parliament and Big Ben. Of course these sights are very impressive and we spent time wondering around and taking pictures. We also went on the London Eye. The London Eye is basically a giant ferris wheel, except you are enclosed in small capsules as you go around the wheel. I was really excited to go on the Eye, as I had not been on it before. It is pretty pricey at 17 pounds, so it isn't something I would just do any old day by myself. We had to wait in a little bit of a queue (what they call line here), but it was definitely worth it. The views from the Eye were amazing! I could see all over the city. It was very impressive to see all the sights from atop the wheel. It was basically a bird's eye view of London. The whole journey around the wheel took about a half hour, but it went by so fast. I got some great pictures of the London skyline! Elliot thought this was great, and later said this was one of his favorite things in London. I can't wait to go again when my Mom and Aunt Karen come to visit! Next we walked around Parliament a little more and viewed Westminster Abbey. We returned home to make a very late lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches. Then we took a little break from walking before we went to Harrods, the huge, luxury department store. Elliot was impressed with the food halls and got an excellent gourmet sausage sandwich. Sausage is a very popular meat in Great Britain. Harrods is in an area called Knightsbridge, which we walked around and shopped in for a bit. Then we headed to a restaurant that my program director recommended. It was a bit of walk from Harrods through the neighborhood of Chelsea. I hadn't spent much time in this neighborhood, but we were incredibly impressed by how nice it was. It was dark so we could see inside some of the ground levels of the flats - impeccable interior design. Elliot was very pleased as we saw quite a few impressive cars on our walk too. Finally we made it to the restaurant, Gourmet Burger Kitchen. We both were really craving a good burger and my program director told me this was the best place in town. It didn't disappoint. Elliot and I agreed that it was one of the best burgers we have ever had, including Stateside. Maybe it was just the fact that we hadn't had one in so long, but still delicious. I was able to print a coupon off the Internet for the restaurant and the whole meal cost under 15 pounds. With full bellies (one of the first times I have felt really full after a meal out in London) we took the stroll home. It was such a beautiful night in the city. On the way home we walked along King's Road, where I spotted some very cute shops. I will definitely need to make a trip back to check this place out when everything is open. It is amazing how I discover new things in the city every day. We got home around 10:30 and just watched some TV. Elliot was amazed that I had a small TV in my room as he has hardly watched any TV since he has been here. Although I only get 4 channels, at least I can watch the news. Most of the TV shows shown here are American, only a season behind. Below pictures of Elliot and I with the guards and Pictures of the London Eye and our view of Parliament from the top.
Sunday was another busy day. It was about 50 degrees and the nicest day in London so far this year. We went to Hyde Park in the morning to explore and take in the views. This park reminds me a lot of Central Park in New York. There is a large lake in the middle of the park with a ton of birds all over. There were a lot of other people enjoying the day as well. One man randomly asked Elliot if he was Australian. Ha ha, it was quite comical. Hyde Park is a great place to people watch too. All of the people running and exercising impressed Elliot. He later said that this park was another one of his favorite things in London. Then we went to Portabello Road in Notting Hill. This road has a very good antiques, especially on the weekends. We really enjoyed browsing through the different shops. Elliot got a few rare English coins to add to his collection. Next we went to Oxford Street to look around. This is the most famous street in London for shopping. We mostly just popped in a few stores like Niketown, H & M, and some souvenir shops. I got a new Spring jacket, since my pea coat will be too warm pretty soon and Elliot got some new shoes. Soon it was time to head back to Vandon House. We had an early supper and then I brought Elliot to the train station. It was a super busy weekend, but one of the best weekends in London so far! Below pictures of Elliot and I at Hyde Park.
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