Hello there!
We had Good Friday off for Easter Break so I left Luxembourg on a train to Brussels Midi to catch another train (Eurostar) to London St. Pancras International. This particular line goes in the ‘Chunnel,’ under the English Channel through a tunnel. (They’re quite creative, aren’t they?) But anyways, I made it! St. Pancras is a gorgeous building! (It is the building Ron and Harry fly past in their flying car. “Ron, I should tell you, most muggles aren’t accustomed to seeing a flying car.” I was a Harry Potter fanatic this week, but when am I not?) Moving on, the hotel, Premier Inn, was right across the road from the train station. I practically ran into mom in the elevator because she saw me walking up. By the way, my first few minutes in London was for it to be pouring down rain and my umbrella in my suitcase. (I know, I know. Who goes to England and doesn’t have their umbrella handy? Well let’s just say I was lucky to have a newspaper to hold over my head.) After all of that, we brought my suitcase up to the room. We walked on Euston Road for a little bit, stopped at a pub and got dinner (I had fish and chips, delicious!) and visited Kings Cross, where of course I got a picture at Platform 9¾.
We had Good Friday off for Easter Break so I left Luxembourg on a train to Brussels Midi to catch another train (Eurostar) to London St. Pancras International. This particular line goes in the ‘Chunnel,’ under the English Channel through a tunnel. (They’re quite creative, aren’t they?) But anyways, I made it! St. Pancras is a gorgeous building! (It is the building Ron and Harry fly past in their flying car. “Ron, I should tell you, most muggles aren’t accustomed to seeing a flying car.” I was a Harry Potter fanatic this week, but when am I not?) Moving on, the hotel, Premier Inn, was right across the road from the train station. I practically ran into mom in the elevator because she saw me walking up. By the way, my first few minutes in London was for it to be pouring down rain and my umbrella in my suitcase. (I know, I know. Who goes to England and doesn’t have their umbrella handy? Well let’s just say I was lucky to have a newspaper to hold over my head.) After all of that, we brought my suitcase up to the room. We walked on Euston Road for a little bit, stopped at a pub and got dinner (I had fish and chips, delicious!) and visited Kings Cross, where of course I got a picture at Platform 9¾.
We woke up the next morning and got breakfast. We had a classic English breakfast that included a fried egg, bacon, baked beans, and a hash. We went and grabbed our stuff to take it to the hotel that we stayed in for most of the week, Luna and Simone Hotel on Belgrave Street. It was only about a 15 minute walk to Westminster Abbey from there so we used our London Passes and went inside. There were so many chapels and tombs from so long ago! We also got to see the Coronation Chair that has been used since 1066?. I was really excited because we got to see Big Ben and the House of Parliament! (I’ve drawn Big Ben so many times, it was amazing to see it in person!) We crossed the Thames and got on the London Eye. The views were absolutely incredible! You could see so far! It was one of my favorite experiences in London and would be one of my top suggestions. After we got off, we walked around St. James Park. It has a little Duck Island and a caretaker’s cottage (adorable!). Right across the street, was the Horse Guards Parade which is where the beach volleyball was played in the Olympics.
Our morning was planned around the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Breakfast at our hotel was included from 7 to 9 (so it made us get up early and get moving!). Since we were ready, we started off with the Churchill War Rooms. They were so interesting, Churchill was an amazing leader. Once we had gone through the rooms and exhibits about WWII and Churchill, we walked through St. James Park. All of the spring flowers, so many daffodils, made it feel more “Easter-y.” We saw the guards and bands march through the gates. It was kind of hard to see the actually changing of the guards because we were across the street from Buckingham Palace and couldn’t really see through the people. But, it was still really cool! We walked through Green Park to take the Underground to the London Bridge. We walked along the Thames. We explored multiple levels of the HMS Belfast. Then we crossed the Tower Bridge to get to the Tower of London. We got to see the ravens and the crown jewels, they looked as if they weren’t even real. We had an early dinner at the Butler’s Wharf Chop House. It was delicious! I had halibut with roasted duck fat potatoes and shared a crab toast appetizer with mom. We ate with a beautiful view of the Tower Bridge. After dinner, we had enough time to go do the Tower Bridge exhibition where you get to walk across the walkways and there is a glass floor to look beneath you. The views were also really good! You got to learn all about the history and mechanics of the bridge too! We walked around that area for a little bit more then headed back. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Buckingham Palace to get some pictures when there weren’t so many tourists.
WE GOT TO SEE WHERE THE HARRY POTTER MOVIES WERE FILMED! I WAS GEEKING OUT THE ENTIRE TIME! It was unbelievable! We got to see all the original sets, costumes, props, and so much more! I can’t believe that all of the people involved in the movies could create an entirely new world for the actors and now the fans to feel as if they’re actually in. At the very beginning of the tour you walked into a ‘movie theater’ where you watch clips from all the movies and got an introduction from Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe. Then the screen came up and you saw the doors to the Great Hall. Those celebrating birthdays got to open the doors (I almost lied and said it was my birthday just so I could too, but I restrained myself). You walked into the Great Hall where all of the tables were set and there were costumes set up all around the room for the characters of the houses and of course all of the professors at Hogwarts up front. Then you got to walk around through the sets. We saw the was the special effects work, the animals involved, the make-up, everything! I loved every second of it! Something that has just been added was the Platform 9¾ set that was just added with the actual Hogwarts express that you could walk through! We walked through Diagon Alley and saw the giant model of Hogwarts. At the end, you saw every wand that was used by someone in the movies (I saw Daniel Radcliffe’s!) and a quote by J.K. Rowling that every Harry Potter fan loves: “The stories we love best do live in us forever, so whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” It was PERFECT!
The tour took about half of the day (although I could have stayed there for the rest of my life). When we got back to London, we walked to Harrods. It is so expensive, but all of it is so classy and so is the area that it is in. Since we had some extra time, we went to Victoria Station to get our train tickets for Oxford and Swansea.
The tour took about half of the day (although I could have stayed there for the rest of my life). When we got back to London, we walked to Harrods. It is so expensive, but all of it is so classy and so is the area that it is in. Since we had some extra time, we went to Victoria Station to get our train tickets for Oxford and Swansea.
We ate breakfast at the hotel again and then went to Kensington Palace and the gardens surrounding it. We saw the Royal Apartments, an exhibit for fashion of Her Majesty the Queen, Princess Diana, and some others, and an exhibit about Queen Victoria. Then, we walked through Hyde Park. I had to register for my classes. We had to go back to the hotel in the middle of the day so that I could use my laptop. After I got my classes, we went to the Museum of Natural History. The building is amazing! We went to Oxford Circus and then walked down Regent Street (and went in Liberty of London!) to Piccadilly Circus. We walked to Waterloo Place thinking it was in the direction of Trafalgar Square. We didn’t know if we would have enough time to make it to Westminster Pier for a cruise down the Thames, so we practically sprinted to make it. But it was worth it! We got to see the sunset on the Thames and it was gorgeous! Then we took the Tube back over to Westminster to see the London Eye, Big Ben, and Parliament all lit up at night.
WE WENT ON THE DOWNTON ABBEY TOUR AND IT WAS FANTASTIC! First the tour went to Cogges Farm, which is the setting for the Drew’s Farm (I should be on the show, but it’s whatever..). After visiting there, I want an English farm. It was adorable and perfect. Next, the tour went to Bampton, the real life village that is portrayed as Downton Village on the show. It is part of the Cotswolds area and all of the little cottages were so cute! We got to the see the Church that has been used in the show for weddings and funerals. Then, we went to Highclere Castle! (Holy sheep! There were so many dotting the countryside!) The area was just gorgeous. I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I WENT TO THE ACTUAL DOWNTON ABBEY! We toured the castle. They had little snippets about the show. But, an interesting part about the history of it is that that 5th Earl of the family that truly resides there helped discover King Tut. In the basement, which would be the kitchen and servant areas on the show is actually filled with Egyptian artifacts and exhibits. It was so cool! We came back to London and got dropped off by the Marble Arch. We took the tube to Notting Hill and walked around a little bit. Then we went back to Victoria and got dinner.
We traveled to Oxford. It was perfect, I loved it! It doesn’t even feel like a major city. When we arrived at the train station, we stopped at the tourist information desk and picked up a guide with a walking tour in it. We saw so much! It took us to an old church that we climbed and got really good panoramic views of the city, past the Town Hall, through gardens, and by so many different colleges within the universities. It was so pretty and the architecture of all of it was so impeccable! I know Robert Frost said that Miami University “was the most beautiful campus there ever was,” but I don’t think he visited here. Oxford, England is the only place that can beat out Oxford, Ohio. Once we got back to London, we stopped by the hotel to drop off some stuff. Then we left again for Covent Garden. We went to an Indian Restaurant, Punjab, and had butter naan and chicken tikki masala. It was some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had! Then we walked through Cambridge Circus to come upon Trafalgar Square.
On Friday, we took a train from London Paddington to Swansea, Wales. It was around a 3 hour ride. We walked from the train station to the bus station. We took the bus to Rhossili. The ride seemed as if we should have been on a tour bus, but it was just a normal route that went through the beautiful, quaint countryside. Rhossili was this cute little village with cliffs and a beach. The cliffs lead into some rocks that the locals named Worms Head. The way the color of the water was mixing with the sky, made it seem as if it was the edge of the world. It was incredible. Then we took the bus about half way back to Swansea and got off to see the Three Cliffs. The view from the top of Nothill? was so worth it! We hiked down the beach. It was so different then what I’m used to on the East coast of the US. There were a lot of hills, by the time we got back to the hotel and finally got to sit down my legs felt like jello.. But I adored it, Wales was breath-taking!
Our last full day in London did not disappoint. We changed hotels back to the Premier Inn by St. Pancras. Of course when we go to leave with all of our luggage from Luna and Simone Hotel it is down-pouring (and it was so nice for the rest of the day..) We walked from the Premier Inn to Madame Tussauds. I didn’t really have any expectations. I knew that it was wax recreations of famous people but that’s about it. It was actually really cool! They look so real, as if they could just come to life from their poses. There was a "haunted house" part, which was actually kind of creepy because you didn't know who was real and who was fake! They also had a little ride, called the Spirit of London, that took you through some of the history of London in a little taxi! The exhibition going on was with the Marvel superheroes and there was a 4-D experience with that too! It was fun! After that, we went back to the hotel and then decided to get afternoon tea at the British Museum. It was perfect. It was a combination of savory and sweet treats and we chose Earl Grey tea. Afternoon tea makes you feel very classy! We got there late, so by the time we had finished the museum was about ready to close. So we rushed through a few of the exhibits, such as Egypt and Africa, but we did get to see the Rosetta Stone! The British Museum is something that will definitely be on my must see list the next time I go back to London. (Night at the Museum 3 was filmed in the British Museum, so of course that night I watched it. It was actually really cool seeing it because not only did it include the museum but other places around London. The whole time I was saying “We were there!” or “We saw that!” It was actually a really cool feeling. It definitely gave me a reality check in reminding me that I’m traveling the world. I know that sounds really stupid, like how does she not know that she’s traveling to all of these places.. But believe me, it doesn’t even feel realistic. I’m going to have such culture shock when I get home!)
I had an amazing time in Wales and England. They are definitely on the top of my list for places to return to. This week with my mom has been amazing. I can’t thank my parents enough for giving me this unbelievable opportunity to travel the world. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay them for this experience. The memories and knowledge that I’m gaining here will never be forgotten. In saying that, I can’t believe that it will be coming to an end soon. I will be traveling this week to Slovenia with one of my classes, then on the last few weekends to the Netherlands and Portugal. It is bittersweet, but I’m excited to go home and see what life will bring me next.
Cheers,
Kirsten
Cheers,
Kirsten