London Calling

October 22, 2009 I officially landed in London at Gatwick Airport at approximately 9:20 am. I have been dreaming about going to London since I was 15 and I finally made it. Chris, Charity, and I took a bus and then the tube to our hotel so that we could squeeze in an afternoon nap before heading to Piccadilly Circus for the evening. Once there we walked through the theatre district and China Town before deciding that we were extremely hungry. We settled on a Turkish restaurant and the food was absolutely delicious, it definitely hit the spot after a long day of travel. Chris and I are Potter fans so we ended up a King's Cross Station that night so we could go to Platform 9 ¾. We first went to the one that was built to have half of a trolley cart coming out of it and then we went to platform 4 which was actually used in the films.
Friday, October 23 Chris and Charity went to the British Museum but I had other plans in mind so I split off for a couple of hours so I could go check out Charing Cross Road. The road itself has a ton of book stores on it, mainly second hand and antiquarian. There was also a side road off of it that was nothing but book stores. I took a few pictures and then headed into Quinto Bookshop which carried antiquarian books on the first floor and second hand books in the basement. I perused the shelves upstairs and picked up an absolutely gorgeous book which had hand painted inside covers and came in at a pricey £60. After reluctantly putting it back on the shelf I walked past the locked glass case that held the most valuable books and I dropped my bag at the front counter so I could go explore the basement. The reason for this is because upstairs they had CCTV cameras but the basement was not equipped with them. They had clothes pins to identify bags with and they were labeled with a famous author's name, I got Keats. The basement was divided into tiny rooms that were packed with books and I could even hear the tube running overhead as I looked through the wide selection. It was a perfect experience but I was in desparate need of a book so I left and went to a new release bookstore that was more within my price range.
I soon got a text from Charity and I hopped back on the tube to meet her and Chris at Tottenham Court Road. We ended up down the street at a little cafe for lunch where I officially had my first cup of tea in London and I ordered an English Breakfast which was delicious. It was time to go see the major landmarks so we took the tube to Westminster where we exited to see the London Eye and Big Ben. I was completely ecstatic and I could hardly contain myself, the whole experience was better than Christmas morning. I took a ton of pictures of Big Ben and Parliament so that I would be sure to have a least one that I liked. We walked past Westminster Abbey and stood by the Thames for a bit before heading to Buckingham Palace. Once at the palace we met up with a friend of Chris and Charity's from school who is studying in London this semester. We went back to her place and made pizza for dinner before heading back to the tube.
Saturday Chris wanted to take a solo trip to Abbey Road Studios, he actually ended up going with a girl we had met the night before, so Charity and I decided to meet up with him later. Charity entertained me and went with me to the Oxford Circus station where we got off and went to Carnaby Street to the Gola store. Gola is a British shoe brand and I of course had to buy a pair while I was in London. It was then time to meet up with Chris and after a bit of confusion and frustration due to a lack of communication we got to him. The Tower of London was the major stop on our list that day so we took a tour and saw the crown jewels along with climbing up through the cramped towers. Afterwards we saw Tower Bridge and then walked along the Thames trail for a quite a while before getting exhausted when we realized we would never make it to the Millennium Bridge before dinner. Finally we found a train station and got off near Monument Station where we crossed the unexciting London Bridge. Chris and I got way ahead of Charity and when we turned around we couldn't see her. Soon enough she came into sight with a couple of guys from Argentina who had asked her directions to St. Paul's Cathedral. We talked to them for a bit and as it turns out they are studying law in Spain this semester. When we reached the cathedral we took pictures of it and then headed to Millennium Bridge which is right across the road from it. The bridge itself is a pedestrian bridge and Chris informed us that when it was first built it had to be closed down for a year to further construction on it because it swayed way too much. It's another destination for Potter fans who have seen the 6th installment as it's the bridge that is destroyed in the opening scene of the movie. We ended up at a little pub near the cathedral for dinner where I got fish and chips and it was absolutely delicious.
I love London and I can see myself living and working there some day even if it's just for a couple of years so I can fully experience the culture of the city. There is so much to do in London that you could live there your whole life and probably not experience it all. I really enjoyed the tube and it was extremely convenient in getting us to where we needed to be. I loved being surrounded by the British accent and there is just an amazing sense of pride about the British people. I really hope I can go back.