London: March 27-30

Day 1:
All of us met at the White Horse at 1030 am to take a private bus into London which is about an hour and a half ride. On our way in we drove past Baker Street (The street where Sherlock Holmes "lived") and drove on Fleet Street (I believe it's the street from Sweeney Todd). When we got there we picked up our tour guide, Nigel. He was actually really cool, he was very funny and extremely helpful. He took us around for about half an hour.
 The one main site we passed on this half hour was St. Paul's Cathedral. While we kept passing it and he kept talking about it, it seemed strangely familiar to me. I looked at the dome which was the most familiar part. Then it hit me, it is the cathedral that the Bird Woman from Mary Poppins sits in front of. I really wanted to take a picture sitting on the steps but I sadly did not get a chance.

 

St. Paul's

 

 

We toured London on our own private bus which was nice but at the same time it was kind of hard to see the sites. The first time I saw Big Be was for a split second because we wouldn't stop to see the sites sadly. We also had our own tour guide, Nigel, who was awesome. He was very eager t answer all of our questions and fill us up with facts about the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels.

 

After we had lunch, we all got back onto the bus drove around for a bit and then drove across the Tower Bridge and went to the Tower of London.

 

 

 

So the crown jewels were pretty cool. I want my own crown now no matter how heavy it actually is. After we saw the jewels we went into the White Tower and saw various weapons and suits of armor. As I walked through I picked out my suit of armor and the weapons I would have when I went into battle.

Above is the saddle I would have chosen. This dragon is also made out of guns, swords, scrolls, shields, and other things but I forgot what else was on there. After we were done with the Tower of London we went to Buckingham Palace and took a few shots

 

Caitlin, Cassidy, Me, Kiana

Suki (My Teacher), Me, Cassidy, Caitlin

After that we grabbed a bite to eat at the Victoria bus (train also maybe?) station and saw Billy Elliot.....which I did not like; I thought.....nevermind I won't get into it.
After the play we (Caitlin, Cassidy, Kiana and I) hopped on a Taxi and rode to our hostel, The Generator. The driver dropped us off next to an alley and told us we were there. We were all sketched out to walk down this alleyway that had security guards on either side. When we got to the end of it there were people hanging outside smoking, kissing, and hanging out that just added to the sketchiness factor. Then walked up a weird staircase which led us to a weird hallway with a ton of double doors. Then when we got to the lobby it was actually a really cool place. It had a coffee bar and an actual bar with a DJ. We had our own room which was really nice.

Day 2 March 28:
We woke up and grabbed some tea and croissants at a French cafe that was down the street. I have to admit, I felt really elegant and classy eating in there with the classical music like Clare de Lune playing while I was sipping my tea.
After breakfast we walked to the closest Underground station, Kings Cross (Yes that is the one from Harry Potter but I will get to that later), and took the Underground to Oxford Circus and the girls did quite a bit of shopping. With that being said I am going to skip over all of that. I forget what happened after we got out of Urban Outfitters.....so I guess I am going to skip over some more things.
Later that night the girls decided we are going to a club, and after staying in the club for less than an hour we hopped on the Underground and went to Westminster. I think Westminster is my favorite part of London. We got there at probably 1245 and Big Ben was right there as we walked out of the station. It was almost as if it was waiting for us to get there. We took a few pictures and walked across the Thames and soaked in the view and heard Big Ben strike 1 am. I can't upload the photos from this night because they are on my IPhone and I have difficulties with uploading those for some reason.
After hanging around Big Ben for a while we went back to the Generator and checked into another room which was a large room with 13 beds in it. People were coming in late at night and left early in the morning which was really annoying because I was right by the door.

Day 3 March 29:
The next morning we got up grabbed breakfast at the generator and went to Kings Cross Station to go to Platform 9 3/4.

I didn't quite make it through

 

After trying to run through a wall a couple times we headed to our new hostel, checked in, and went off to Portobello road. Portobello Road is way longer than I thought! It seems as if it could go on for miles! At the head of it all of the vendors were selling antique-y items which was pretty cool because it ranging from tea kettles to old cameras to phonographs to records to signs. Then we got to the food section which everything smelled so good! Crepes and bratwurst were just some of the things that I really wanted. Then the last part of Portobello Road that we saw was like a swamp meet. After Portobello Road it was one of my favorite parts of the weekend.......ABBEY ROAD!

We got to Abbey Road and I took off my shoes and picked up a cigarette and the four of us walked across the street and tried to do our best of recreating the album cover.

 

 

After walking across Abbey Road I split from the girls and headed back towards Westminster, but with my camera this time. On the way I made a detour to Baker Street and visited good ol' Sherlock Holmes.

I forgot to say I took a selfie with this sign

 

 

Then I jumped on the Underground to Westminster and took some pictures and jumped on the London Eye!

 This is the view coming out from the Underground station at Westminster

This photo and one below are tied for my favorite of the trip so far

This is the other photo that is tied for my favorite of my trip so far.

I love shooting in 

 

 

Almost every light in the Parliament building turned off as I was coming down on the Eye due to earth hour to save energy

 

After the Eye I visited Westminster Abbey. It was closed to I couldn't go in but I could just feel the history that had taken place at this building.

 

 

After, I went back to our hostel where the girls were and hung out with them for a while.

 

Day 4 March 30th:

Well we woke up grabbed breakfast and headed home. I then came home and typed this blog up! Probably watch a movie tonight and procrastinate on my homework some more! This has been a long post so I hope you all enjoy my London stories!