Sightings

This has been a very eventful week since my parents were here visiting me on their Spring Breaks, so we got lots of sightseeing in. This was also a kind of big week at work for me because we had many people away on holiday, which presented lots of opportunities for me to do many things on my own. It’s always nice to be handed those extra things to show off what you’ve learned and what you can do. Unfortunately, I’m beginning to feel like my days in Europe are becoming increasingly limited. With less than a month here, and staying after the program impossible, I am trying to get in all the things I have yet to see and do in London.

On Wednesday, my day off, I spent the day hard-core sightseeing with my parents and brother. We first went to the Churchill and Cabinet War Rooms Museum. It was pretty expensive, but, possibly, the coolest museum I’ve seen so far in London. The Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill and his advisors debated about strategies during WWII were really interesting to see. The whole museum was actually underground where the Churchill and many of his advisors lived during heavy bombing and rooms where the war was debated, etc. However, the Churchill Museum was by far more fun. It was one big room full of Churchill’s whole life, personal and professional. It was very interactive, but fun for adults, which is hard for a museum to pull off—interactivity that’s not for kids. It was really cool. If you’re even a little bit into history, I highly recommend it. It’s worth the 10 pounds.

We had a very full day that Wednesday. The museum was right across the street from St. James’ Park so we walked through the park back to the Tube, where we went to the one place my Mom was dying to go—Harrod’s. According to my Mom, I would never go on my own, and I just have to see Harrod’s. Even for non-shopper, I have to say that it was pretty cool. The whole first floor is mostly just touristy type things—a Harrod’s gift shop, and a TON of food. I’ve never been in such heaven before. A whole chocolate wing, a seafood wing, a pizza restaurant, a tearoom, a whole grocery store. It continued forever and was amazing. We ate at a cute little place on the main floor, but it was really expensive. Everything in Harrod’s was really expensive, so maybe I’ll just get take away next time, but it was pretty cool. And, of course, my Mom lent her financial support to the gift shop, which is always nice.

We were not done with our day. We walked around a bit and then went on to our next eating destination—Kensington Gardens to walk around and for high tea. By the time we got there we were kind of hungry, so we ordered two full teas for the four of us to split, and it was all very delicious. Nothing like scones with real cream and sandwiches with no crust to make your day a little better.

My brother, Shale, and I then split off from my parents, who walked around London at night while Shale and I went to the London Eye. It was pretty cool. It was a nice view of London, but, in my opinion, not worth the money. It was cool to bond with Shale, but was definitely an attraction I could have lived without. Then Shale and I hung out at the hotel room and waited for our parents while watching the premiere of The Apprentice, which is a big deal here in London.

Thursday was Lauren’s 21^st birthday. A very big deal. Not in England, but still to us. I started the somewhat hectic evening with a nice Italian dinner with my parents and then a second Italian dinner with my friends while my parents saw the play 39 Steps, which they really liked. Then, my friends and I decided to take the opportunity to go to this one bar that’s been very hyped about by all our friends. It’s basically a bar made entirely out of ice. Everything—the glasses, floors, walls. We were given huge cloaks to wear to keep us warm, and they did. It was all sensationalism basically, but it was very cool.

We were all exhausted by Friday, but that did not stop me from still doing stuff. It was a good workday for me. I did a lot of work that I was proud of. I had a quick pint with my colleagues before going to a delicious dinner of tapas with my parents. My brother decided to stay behind and order room service, because we went on to the musical Billy Elliot near my work. It was a wonderful, wonderful musical. One of the best I’ve seen, and I am quite the critic. I really enjoyed it. The story was very complex and innovative, but there was also great music and, obviously, choreography, so it was a very enjoyable evening.

Saturday was my family’s last day here, so it was a bittersweet day. We awoke early to get in their last bits of sightseeing. We ate a good breakfast and made our way through Kensington to go to the Natural History Museum, which is very cool, but has an especially impressive castle-looking outside. We then went next door to the Victoria and Albert Museum for a few minutes because I’m going back on Wednesday for our class field trip. I said goodbye to my parents and left to spend the afternoon with my friends. 

We headed to the Covent Garden area to investigate getting tickets for all the shows I want to see before I leave. I have decided not to hold back on my musical viewing these last few weeks in London. This is the only time in probably a long time I’ll be living in a musical capital, so I’m going to enjoy it now! I got tickets to see the new play based on the film, and true story, Calendar Girls. It’s an entirely new performance, which is always exciting to see, so that’s in a few weeks. We then got day-of tickets for that evening to see Spring Awakening, a musical I’ve wanted to see since it won the Tony almost two years ago now. I absolutely loved it! It was such a different musical with such a great story. I would highly recommend it to anyone my age. I don’t know how the older set would feel about, but it’s definitely worth seeing.

Sunday was another big day for us. A few friends and I decided to take a little day trip to Greenwich. It was a good day trip for us because we were all tired, so it wasn’t that stressful. We took the hour ferry ride from Westminster Pier and immediately ate at the famous pub their called Trafalgar Tavern. It was really cute and had very good fish and chips. We then went to the prime meridian, which is what the town is known for, which is the basically where the start of time is. What I mean by that is that you can actually see where the lines of longitude and latitude start, so you can stand at the 00 point in between each hemisphere. It also features the original time telling device and a free museum that explains how modern day time came to be. It was pretty interesting. It was ironic that we went to that museum today because last night was England’s turn to Spring ahead, so we changed times. After that, we walked around in the cold and got to see some of the town and a few markets that were there. It was a nice mellow day trip.

Tomorrow is back to work and class as usual. I am trying to fit in everything I want to get done before I leave, so I will probably have many more fun-filled days to come. Hope everyone has a good week!