kimberly.: November 2008

November 14th-16th, 2008....

The three days we spent in London seemed like three hours, the trip just flew by, there was so much to see! We started our trip by going on a Royal London tour. We saw Wellington Arch and Hyde Park corner. Then we walked down Constitution Hill, which has no historical significance other than it leads to Buckingham Palace. We went to Buckingham Palace as saw the end of the changing of the guard then walked to the home of the princes. There we got to make faces at all the guards and try to make them laugh or move, but they cheat and cover their eyes with their big hats, but they didn’t move. It was weird, I always thought they wore all red suits, but they all were dressed in blue uniforms. Then we explored the city and ended up at Westminster Abbey. We took a tour through Westminster Cathedral. We weren’t allowed to take pictures which was a shame because it was the most beautiful thing in London, a breathtaking church. We then went and saw Big Ben. We also visited the National Gallery and saw some amazing art work, they had ever artist you could think of, and it was free which was awesome because London was so expensive! Then we went to the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera House which was so much fun. It was really nice. They building was beautiful, the costumes were gorgeous, it was fun to see all the pretty people all dressed up with their little binocular/glasses on a stick, it was great. The next day we did loads of exploring. We started the day by going to Notting Hill and a huge huge huge street market. It was neat, it started as an antique market, and not like 50-100 year old antiques, that’s just old stuff, this was like 200-300 year old antiques. Then it turned into a food market and finished as just a normal market, but it went down a road for a whole mile. It was enormous. Then we went to the British Museum. This museum had a lot of amazing sculpture and things from all over the world. We saw the Rosetta stone, Egyptian mummies, and pieces of the Parthenon. It was really cool. After we did some more exploring, went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Globe theatre, the Church of the Knights Templar, Tate Modern, and the Millennium Bridge. The next day we started off by riding the London Eye. It’s supposed to be the largest Farris wheel. It sits above the Thames River and from the top you got a 360 degree view of the city. It was pretty! Not so much a ferris wheel though, it went so slow I got bored, but it was a grand site from the top. Then we went to the London Bridge and then the London Tower. The Tower of London was sweet. It was this huge castle where all the royalty used to live, it was where Anne, Henry’s wife was beheaded and many other people. It is also houses the crown of jewels and all the crowns and stuff from old kings and queens. I’ve never seen so many diamonds, gold, and jewels in one place. Then we took the tube to Wimbledon and saw some of the grounds and enjoyed dinner in a cute little pub. London was amazing! I’ve loved everywhere I’ve visited so far, but only for visiting, I don’t even think I could live in Dublin long term. But I would definitely enjoy living in London, or somewhere in England. It was so nice!