Mind the Gap

London is an awesome city with lots to do and see. The stereotype I had in mind was that Londoners are not the friendliest folk, but I came away with a great view of every one I encountered. The restaurant staff, people on the streets, whoever-- I was pleasantly surprised to find them all helpful and cheerful. From Big Ben to Westminster Abbey to London Bridge, everything was just as I imagined.

The highlight of my time in England was seeing The Taming of the Shrew in Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I was in the production in 8th grade and I remembered some of the lines! The weather was extraordinary in the open air theater and the cast was amazing.

Camden Market

 

This is exactly what I pictured for a London home

 

 

Going down the stairs in the subway... sometimes there were cases and cases of stairs going up and down and all around. They were pretty crazy

Harrods...The most famous shopping location that I had never heard of.

 

Buckingham Palace

We saw the changing of the guards and the signing of the papers!

Our hostel was an experience, but it served its purpose and was reasonably priced (and had a bar downstairs). Twelve people in this room-bunks three high!

We conquered the tube system and minded the gap plenty.
(Every time the tube stops it says "Please mind the gap" about six times)

 

We went on a great free walking tour on the fourth of July. I loved the irony of seeing the house of the  "man who lost America" on our Independence day, visiting our mother country.

Trafalgar Square

 

 

Painting Princess Beatrices door...

 

Some famous nose... There are a lot of different ideas of what it stands for and no one nose who put it up!

 

Horse Guards Parade

This is the site of the beach volleyball for the Olympics. They only had 2 weeks to construct the Olympic courts inside of it!

Big Ben is the bell inside the tower, connected to Westminster Abbey

The bell was damaged a long time time ago, so it clangs with a unique twang

 

 

I mailed my parents a postcard at this box sitting between the field where soccer was invented and Westminster Abbey.

Luckily London Bridge did not fall down while we were on it.

Hogwarts platform 9 3/4

Olympiccsss

I absolutely adore the Olympics, so I hit up every Olympic store and made some drastic efforts to see as much Olympic related stuff as possible.

I absolutely adore London. I loved that it was English speaking, yet so culturally different. There is an unbelievable amount of history and tradition in such a small area and public transportation is great. Unfortunately it is really expensive! Like really really expensive.

Awesome pumpkin tortellini from an outdoor market.

A British pie. It was pretty bland, but the concept is nice