Oh the humor of the everyday...

...as I write this before I head to my first class, IN AMERICA!

So london, right?

It's like the youngest child in a family, who all her brothers and sisters get help with moving into college, because lets face it, they are loved the best. Then that last child comes along and her parents kick her to the curb and say "No! We won't help you move your heavy belongings! Get out of our house, we are replacing you with a dog!!!" (COMPLETELY KIDDING)

London is like that. All your effort goes into the first five cities of your journey, so by the time you reach London, you are about ready to drop kick the next tourist you see, and all you want to do is get a pedicure.

But alas, I was in London, so the Queen in me was adamant that I must get out and see my kingdom! The first day I immediately went to St. Pauls Cathedral. I think we all know why....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VwU_oS2ErQ

Then I crossed the Millennium bridge. The one the death eaters DESTROY! Don't worry. They didn't show up.

The Tate Modern was on the other side of the river. I got to see a Matisse painting; I got to see two Jackson Pollacks; and I got to see a painting by Monet.

Sometimes I think modern artists are a little full of it. One of the works was a mirror hanging in the Portrait Gallery. The idea of the mirror...oh I mean, art, was that we are there to see paintings, and we are looking at windows into other people's lives, so what happens when we look into a window of our OWN life? hmmmmm

So then I set down the side of the river looking for my subway station to take me to the Big Ben area. I must have passed it, because I just kept walking, and all of the sudden there it is! I saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I walked up and saw St. James Park, and the area where they train the horses of the Queen's brigade (or something). I wrote the name down, but I left it in Asheville, along with anything else useful, ever.

I saw Piccadilly Circus after that, and went into lots of little shops, but by that point I was completely worn out, so i decided to go see Harry Potter. The theater is worth a paragraph in and of itself.

So I bought my ticket on a self-service machine, and it asks me to pick my seat. Hmmmm, ok. First I have to pick between the stage or the circle. I went ahead and picked the circle for fun. Then just picked random letters because there was no diagram! When I walk into the theater, there is an usher who is preapred to tell me where to go. This theater. is. massive. And I by chance, picked the second to last row in the entire theater! I ended up moving up a few rows once the movie started, but it was funny of all the seats I could have picked, I picked THAT one.

The next day was museum day. I started out at the British museum. I saw a piece of the Rosetta Stone, and an Easter Island head, along with lots of other interesting things. I went to the National Portrait Gallery which was surprisingly cool. I went because it was on the list of top museums, and it was right beside the National Gallery. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but it ended up being really cool. Then I headed to the National Gallery, and basically saw the rest of the pieces from the Ren. Art class along with some other pieces.


Next I headed to the Natural History Museum and the science museum. Not culturally significant to London, but I never say no to a fun science museum. After that I shopped a little bit, and ventured around oxford circus.

My last day in the central part of London consisted of getting up early and realizing nothing was open yet because it was a sunday. So I ended up doing a little bit of wandering. I wandered around covent garden, and eventually wandered over to Buckingham palace. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH the palace...it was MAHHHH-velous. On my way back up the mall after seeing my palace I hear the clippity cloppy of little horses behind me and I turn around, and there are all these guards on horseback, and behind them I see this marching band, not playing, but just walking with their instruments. Then in perfect silence, they march into a gated area. Never to be seen of again.

After the mysterious soldiers and marching band, I walked back to Covent Garden once things had opened, and walked through some lovely shops.

After this part of my day, I was already exhausted, so I decided to walk back to my hostel and head on to my hotel at the airport, like the cool kid that I am. Getting all of my bags to the airport, through the metro, and through some above ground trains, was quite a feat, but I got there. Once I got there and the hotel was lovely, and it was airconditioned, and I even had a bathtub, I knew that my adventure was officially over. But I did go to bed at 8 that night, so that might have been as good an indication as any that my adventure was REALLY over.

I had a grand time! And outside of all the marvelous things that I did and saw, I just feel extremely gratified and proud of myself that I did it! The whole "traveling by myself" idea was questioned at many junctures in my adventure, but mainly because you realize you miss having someone to talk to. But all in all, I loved it! I feel more independent, and because of my wonderful parents and their child rearing, I know what situations to enjoy whole heartedly, and what situations from which to "hooligan dash."

I loved my trip and I can't wait for another one, but until then I have not a little adventure called my senior year of college.