Just got back from London. This trip was a bit different, but in a good way. I was really happy because lucky for Megan and me, we have some friends (Meg's old roommates) studying in London so we got to stay with them. They are studying at Regents College, which I guess is a super rich school which is located in Regents Park, where a lot of dukes and lords live so that's kind of cool. It was really pretty. The one downside- it snowed the night we got there! I actually didn't mind though because I haven't seen snow since last winter. Favorite part of Britain- they speak english and have awesome accents!
Megan and I have decided that the universe just really doesn't want us to travel because every trip we seem to have some sort of traveling problem. We took Ryanair for the first time (a cheap ticket airline) and I now understand why they are so cheap. We didn't start boarding until the time our flight was supposed to leave. Then we were stuck in the loading tunnel for a half an hour waiting to just get on the plane. Then everyone finally got on the plane, and it took off an hour later. We also realized that the British are super uptight about security. Their airport had so many things we needed to do and Spain is so chill. And they had a very judgmental customs person. He asked us why we were there, why we were in Europe, what we were studying. When we said social work he said really? And we responded yes, then he said "have fun with that" in a super sarcastic tone paired with a judgmental glare. He was crabby. Anddd since our flight was so late, we missed our bus that took us to the tube (metro) that would take us to Regents. So we finally caught a bus and were running an hour and a half late. Unfortunately we were also having trouble getting ahold of our friends, Katie and Heather. We asked a British guy if we could borrow his phone to call or text them but it was dead. Luckily, Heather was able to get through to us. We met them at the metro station and headed over to their room. Since it was so late we just hung out and chilled. Megan and I slept on the floor (I got a mattress, Megan wrapped herself up in a cocoon).
Snow!Waiting for the tube
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Being touristy
Being touristyCool building
Platform 9 3/49 3/4
Double Decker bus!Regents 
againTrafalgar Square
National art galleryagain
street perform (frozen)Me
After that we headed out for some more walking around. We went to the place the inspired Diagon Alley (more HP- they're big fans) in hopes of finding the British edition of HP but we couldn't find any! After a lot of searching we stopped for a snack at this place called Ben's cookies- and it was probably the best cookies I have ever tasted! Super delicious. Then we walked around and went to Picadilly circus, which was pretty cool. We stopped at M&M world, which was the best place ever. It's basically four floors of awesome. There was so many M&M related things, I had no idea it was even possible. We stopped at a book store to get some books (I needed a book in English because they don't sell any in Spain and I'm done with all the ones I brought and they got their Harry Potter books). Then we walked to this store called primark, which is known for super cheap stuff! I wasn't really in a shopping mood, but I did see some stuff I liked. They should really get one in the states. It was really awesome. Sadly for us, we later discovered that we literally walked right by Emma Watson. We were extremely upset when we realized this. But we went back to Regents for dinner.
M&Mso many!
M&M worldPicadilly Circus
againBen's cookies!
After hanging around for a bit, we went out with some of Katie and Heather's friends. They were all really nice. We went to this pub called the volunteer (which was purple on the outside- I approved), and it was pretty crowded. But we all squeezed around a little table. I tried pear cider which was actually pretty good. It was a really fun night for everyone. I got hit on by a 30 year old British guy, but he could tell I wasn't really feeling it so he started talking to me about how much Obama sucks (surprised to hear this since most Europeans like him) and how there are no good presidential candidates. It was a weird conversation. One thing though was that it was kind of weird for Megan and me though because the times are way different than Madrid. We went out at 9:30 and were back by 12:15, where as in Madrid we would just be about done with dinner at 9:30 and just going out at 12. It just shows the different lifestyles between Madrid and everywhere else.
Saturday was another eventful day. We got up and had breakfast, then went to Buckingham palace to watch the changing of the guards. I was extremely surprised by how many people were there since this happens every other day, but there were tons. It was really cool to watch though. I couldn't see everything but it was fun. And I really liked looking at Buckingham palace. I think it would be awesome to live there. We then walked toward Big Ben/Houses of Parliament (they are attached in case you wondering- I didn't know that before). We went to this little place for lunch where all the people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They were trying to be speedy I guess but they just looked stressed. Regardless the food was good, exceptttt I ordered diet coke and they gave me regular (which I drank because I didn't want to make a fuss). Normally, this would not be a big deal, but Spain does not have real diet coke and I'M DYING. So I was planning on taking advantage of every opportunity, but it was not in the cards for me at lunch (no worries I had diet coke twice- that will have to be sufficient until May).
Buckingham PalaceKatie, Heather, Megan
Changing of the guardMe in front of the Palace
After lunch, we went and bought tickets to have a tour through the Houses of Parliament. We had about an hour to kill so we just looked around the area. We went and looked at Westminster Abbey (the outside) which was really pretty. I want to know why Europe has such cool architecture/buildings EVERYWHERE! I love all the buildings. I think the US should build some like it. Anyway after walking around we went on our tour. I was not sure if I was going to like it because I'm not really that into government but it was actually really interesting. It was probably one of my favorite things that we did there. We took the route the Queen Elizabeth takes when she comes to Parliament. I learned a lot and I was actually interested for the majority of the time. Sadly, we couldn't take any pictures except in the entry way- so no pics for you guys. But the house of lords sits on red seats and the house of commons sits on green seats (in case you wondering- maybe this is common knowledge and I'm just oblivious). When we were done with our tour and trying to leave, we actually got stuck inside the gates for about 10 minutes. There was a peaceful protest going on across the street and the officers were afraid if they let people out, protestors would try to push in through the gates. They were wearing V for Vendetta masks which I thought was kind of cool (my friends and I watch that movie on Nov 5 each year). And they talked about the gun powder found on November 5th in the basement of parliament on our tour so it all kind of fit together for me. But they did finally let us out. We walked over to the bridge to look at the river and take some pictures, then we headed out to dinner.
Big Ben/Parliament :)
Houses of Parliament Westminster Abbey
ParliamentProtesters
V for Vendetta masksRiver
We went to this place called Nando's, which was really good. I got a lemon and herb chicken sandwich and garlic bread and it was tasty! Then we went back to Katie and Heather's dorm room to watch a movie while we waited for their friends to get back from visiting stonehenge (little jealous- I think that'd be cool). We watched Mean Girls then headed out to another pub called the globe. But when we got there, they carded me because apparently their rule is if you don't look over 21, they card you even though the age limit is 18. So I give them the only ID I have with me which is my international student card. Apparently that is an unacceptable form of ID so they wouldn't serve me. And Megan and I were the only ones carded. I was very upset. But my friends got a few drink for me so it was all good in the end. We then headed back after a good day and went to sleep.
Like I said before, the universe does not want Megan and me to travel. So we left an hour before we had to meet a bus to take us to our airport (it should have taken 40 minutes tops to get there). Well the train we needed to catch at the tube took 30 minutes to get there. Then it kept stopping for long periods of time. So we get out of the tube stop and see the bus. So we are running down the street and it pulls away literally 30 seconds before we get there and we see that it left early. So we are really upset and another guy comes out of the hotel and we told him he missed the bus and he was nervous because his flight was even earlier than ours. We all decided to split a taxi because it was an hour away and only 60 pounds total so we thought it would be faster. Wrong. The taxi driver had no idea where he was going, turned around 3 times and was completely lost. We ended up getting to the airport 15 minutes before our gate was supposed to close. Luckily the line for Ryanair was empty so we got our tickets stamped and headed to security. Again no line luckily but as my bag was coming through the security people grab it. Great. They said they needed to check one of my liquids (I have no idea why or what they would do). Then we walked to our gate and made it on time. Our flight left a little late, but earlier than our first one. So that was my trip to London. Less touristy and more hanging out with friends, but I really enjoyed it. I definitely want to go back there. There are still a lot of things I would like to do there. That's all for now. I've got midterms this week so wish me luck!
Cheers,
Ashley
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