Oh where, oh where, oh where to begin. I suppose the beginning would probably be the best starting place. I left Lille on the 20th to go on my UK/Ireland adventure and I think that the beginning of the trip reflected a lot on the trip overall—lots of ups and downs even at the train station. I have never been grilled so much as I was going through UK customs. I was seriously shocked at the questions the officer was asking me, so I was very nervous when answering them. I’m sure that made me look more suspicious and it probably wasn’t as bad as I remember, but in comparison to the Dutch customs it was like I was entering a country unfriendly to the US. However, once I got through customs it was smooth sailing. A girl from my Lille program was on the same train as me and we end up realizing that we both needed to go to around the same place in London. The train to London was very fast and it was like almost every other train ride I’ve been on, minus the fact that I went under the English Channel. No big deal, going under water like that.
Once I got into London, the first thing was I did was find the hostel out in the Hammersmith area. For a hostel, it was pretty nice, but nothing to write home about. Since I had an all-day metro pass and several hours before meeting up with my fellow SNC-ers, I decided to head out to Westminister to do a little site seeing. I ended up doing a ton of walking that day because it was simply gorgeous out in London, people were wearing t-shirts with no jackets and shorts if that gives you some clue. I walked past Parliament, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey and then I headed towards Trafalger Square and the British National Gallery. As you can probably imagine, it was packed full of people. After hanging around the Square for a bit, I wondered over to Leicester Square and then to the British Museum. Since it was a Friday, everything was packed. The only real notable thing I saw was the Rosetta Stone, but mostly I was practicing the art of people watching. That night I met of up Kelsey and we went back to her dorm where she cooked an amazing stir-fry and I got to see Kelsey, Alyssa, and Mike (all people from SNC)> It was nice to just be around people I knew and we compared our experiences studying abroad versus De Pere. That night we went out to Gloucester Arms—a hang out just a short distance down the road from the dorm. Over all, the first day of the trip started off without any real big hitches and it was very weird (and exciting) to be back in an Anglo-phone country.
My second day in London was probably one of my favorites because Kelsey introduced me to Portabella Road market in Notting Hill. Now, we have markets in Lille but it was nothing like Portabella Road… this was huge with almost anything you could want. And it just went on and on and on. Kelsey and I ended up spending a good portion of the day here. I did make a purchase or two… turns out the London is filled with lots of old records. Now, I’m not someone who plays old records or even collects them—I’m probably the worst of the people, I like them for the sleeves alone. I have one in my room but have always wanted more. Well, I found two more to add on to my collection, an old Bob Dylan and an old Rolling Stones to balance out my Pink Elephant Records that is in my room. The other highlight of the day was the singing falafel owner. Now, we had to wait for a super long time for our falafel, but it was totally worth it as there was more than enough entertainment. The shopping day continued on Carnaby Street where I finally found my walking shoes I had been looking for! It was a very successful shopping day over all and I had an amazing time just being in the city. For that night, Kelsey and I met up with Alyssa and Mike and went to get Indian food. We ended up going to Brick Lane, which reminded me of Little Italy in New York. All these owners were out in the street yelling deals at us to get more customers and we tried to find the best deal that we could. I have to say that the meal was excellent and I definitely had my fill of spicy food. Now, if I could just get some Chinese food…
My last day in London, Kelsey and I went sightseeing some more. We went to all the big sites (St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminister, Parliament, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus), but the best thing of the day was at the end when we voyaged out to Wimbledon. Okay, I play tennis, I’m assuming that’s pretty basic knowledge, but I’m not a huge fan of watching it on TV. Just am not. I have to say Wimbledon blew me away. I was able to get so close to some of the lower courts and I was actually eye-level with the grass on the courts. They still had the brackets up from the last tournament and were selling strawberries and cream! I didn’t have any, but glad to know they’re keeping up their standards year-long. I can now say that I have made it to Wimbledon, never mind the slight technicality that I visited as a tourist and not a player in the actual tournament. That night, Kelsey made an excellent dinner of chicken fajitas before Kelsey, Alyssa and I went on a mad search for frozen yogurt. This is something that is not common in Europe, it’s either ice cream or regular yogurt… there is nothing in between. After wondering around trying to find the place, Snog (don’t you love British slang/humor?), we ended up stumbling upon it and had a lovely treat. Overall, it was a great ending to my first city of the trip.
Overall, London was a great start to my trip and I loved seeing all the Norbs people (thanks again!).
Excuse My Americanness: I think I had Starbucks everyday in London. I needed American-sized proportions and not a dinky little cup of coffee. And it was delicious.
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