In Which I Take London By Storm

Sorry I'm so adorable

I know it's been a while since I posted. So sue me.  But don't really please, I have no time for that sort of nonsense.  I'm too busy globetrotting.  This past weekend two friends of mine and I took a trip to London.  I've been a lot of places.  Like, a lot.  But that doesn't mean I am too jaded to take in all that London had to offer.  In a word (or three I guess), I LOVE LONDON.

We took a train there, which was cool since the last time I was on a train was in Japan (see what I mean about the globetrotting and the jet-setting and whatnot?).  It's a really short ride there, just two and a half hours.  We got in late thursday night, walked around forever trying to find food, and ended up ordering pizza before passing out at three in the morning.  Not so fabulous.

The next day completely and totally made up for it.  I saw, and I'm not lying, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor.  Yeah, I know.  I was ready to pack up and go home right then because the only thing that could have topped that moment was if Kate Middleton was there with him.  For those of you wondering, I did not have to look up William's full name.  I know it from listening to the CD of their wedding and vows on my ipod.  Now that you understand the nature of my obsession, maybe you can begin to comprehend the level of excitement I was feeling.

That's a royal!

We saw the major sights, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye.  It was actually sunny out the entire weekend, which seems like a miracle.  On saturday, we went to the Portobello market.  It's this big open air market with seemingly everything you could ever need.  There's old stuff, new stuff, foodstuffs, and weird stuff.  It was fun just doing something so random.  We didn't buy anything, but it was a good way to start the day.  Our only other mission for the day was to find somewhere that we could sit down and have scones with clotted cream.  Little did we know how much of a challenge this would be.  First of all, two of the major central tube lines were closed.  For the entire weekend.  It took us forever just to figure out how to get to a place that we thought might have scones.  Once we got there, we walked for two hours, stopping in every cafe and tearoom, trying to find our elusive baked friend.  It's a good thing they were totally worth it once we found some at a bakery in an alley.  I'm sorry, mews as the Brits say.

So worth the entire afternoon of searching

Not our friend, and why in the world is the pass called an oyster card?

Sunday was more low-key.  We each had different things that we wanted to do, so we split up for the afternoon.  In the morning, however, my friend Ellen and I walked through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.  Absolutely beautiful.  Besides Versailles, which is way far, Paris doesn't have a central garden or park area of that scale.  In the afternoon I went out to Stratford.  For those of you who are so woefully uninformed, this is where the 2012 Olympics were centered.  I almost had a panic attack I was so excited.  Working with the Olympics is the only thing I've ever been this sure of in my entire life, besides my conviction that blonde hair is the best color.  So that's saying something.  Unfortunately, the complex is closed for renovations until the summer of 2013.  Why they need to renovate a brand new stadium I have no idea.

Casual, me and the worst part of the Olympics, this horrible mascot

All in all, I fell in love with London and I hope that I can go back someday soon, albeit with a larger budget.  The British Pound is not kind to the meager wallet of a college student.