London (Part 2): The Grand Tour

February 18^th (a continuation)

If I told you that Toot Hill Butts was the name of a town, would you believe me? Think what you want to think, but on the bus from Oxford to London, I swear to you I saw a sign for the town of “Toot Hill Butts.”  And this is why I will never fully understand the UK.

Upon arriving in London, I was determined to find my way to my next friend, Cara’s flat on my own- without the use of a smart phone (shocker, right?!) After studying the Tube map (London’s equivalent of the subway) for some time, scribbling down some station names and transfers, attempting to buy a ticket only to discover I had forgotten to look at what zone I was traveling in (rookie mistake, I know), I finally got myself on the right train. When I popped back out into the city, I was only a few minutes away from her flat, and navigated the rest of the way with a paper map I had drawn myself the day before.

River Thames

Sure enough, I found the place and was reunited with my friend! We spent the night wandering around London- Piccadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, the UK Parliament, Oxford Circus, heck we even went clothes shopping! By the time we got back to her room I was happily exhausted and fell right asleep, “cat-dog style” as Cara calls it (sleeping head to foot).

February 19^th

We went for a long run in Hyde Park; thank god big cities provide these parks for people like me, I'd go crazy after even a day of not seeing any green space.

Later, Cara had some reading for class to do so I headed off to Buckingham Palace to see how it compared to the queen’s palace in Edinburgh. After our run this morning, our long walk last night, and all the walking I had done in Oxford, it finally started to catch up. I felt a sort of dull ache each step I took (maybe that’s a bit overdramatic). But hey, I was in London and didn’t want to waste a second of it. So I took “strategic” breaks on my way to the palace- a bite to eat in a Starbucks, people watching on a park bench, lounging in the sun on the grass…  A walk that was only supposed to take a half hour or so ended up taking nearly two, so you can imagine the buildup I had created over the two hour commute to this palace.

When I finally arrived, I was totally shocked to see one of the palace guards (the ones that wear those tall black hats, I’m honestly not sure where the head stops and the hat begins) MARCHING! I didn’t realize they were allowed to move! So I frantically snapped pictures and took some videos, because I thought this was one of those moments to go down in history, but I soon calmed down once I realized a) no one else was panicking and b) they marched nearly the entire time I was there. I'm guessing they don't need to stay stationary.

Besides the marching, the palace wasn’t all that exciting- very crowded and touristy, though what can I expect from an attraction of this sort. So I started the long walk back home (don’t worry, I took breaks on this one too).

At night, Cara and I watched Driving Lessons, a British movie which was slightly creepy but had a wholesome ending that made it all worth it. Plus, Rupert Grint from Harry Potter was in it, and how can you go wrong with Rupert Grint?

February 20^th

Cara had class today as well, so I was off for more adventures, this time to a place called Portobello Market. Although the area where the Tube disembarked was slightly creepy and dirty, as I got closer and closer to the market, the streets brightened up. It was a really cute place- they sold fruit and veggies, jewelry, tacky souvenirs, and the like. But I spent most of my time in secondhand book shops- I’m the first to admit that I’m obsessed, we just don’t have books nearly this cheap back home. On two separate occasions, I had finally selected a few books and was ready to pay when I realized I didn’t absolutely need them. And so the struggle continues.

A cute shop in Portobello Market

I had some more time to kill later on today, so I checked out The British Museum. I saw they had a special exhibit on the history of money in the UK, which I thought looked interesting. After navigating through waves of people and up three flights of stairs, I finally reached the tiny exhibit room. Not giving up, I went to the natural history section, which never disappoints!

That night in the British spirit Cara, a friend of hers, and I watched a Harry Potter movie.

February 21^st

Cara and I ran in London’s other major park- Regent’s Park. Where we entered it was bare, even ugly, but as we went farther along it transformed into a gorgeous place- all flowers, fountains, and trees. On the way back home, as we dodged cars and buses, I wondered for a moment if running in all this pollution is detrimental, but I try not to dwell on these things.

Since Cara had class, I got in one last day of exploring. First I went to the Wellcome Collection, a museum with informative displays and exhibits relating to the history of medicine and current medical issues; it was one of my favorite free museums! Many of the objects in the museum were collected by Sir Henry Wellcome, ranging from torture devices to prosthetic limbs.

Covent Gardens was my next destination. This upscale area of town had the typical outdoor shops and bakeries but was livened up by the presence of many street performers. When I first arrived, one performer who must have recently ended his show was holding up a bloody finger, desperately calling out for some assistance, so I gave him all the clean napkins I had. 

A daring street performer in Covent Gardens

At night, we met up with some of Cara’s friends for a… Harry Potter tour of London! While the Harry Potter part of the tour was rather disappointing (the tour guide seemed to be more obsessed with "Joanne" Rowling, as he fondly referred to her, and pointing out facts from other movies that had nothing to do with HP), the parts of London we walked through were absolutely gorgeous. 

River Thames

After the tour, I was off to catch a bus back to Edinburgh, the gory details of which I will write about in my next post, as I've got early class tomorrow!