Ana Luna, my friend/host/ personal chef/tour guide for the
weekend and Brendan’s buddy Karl met us at the station and chauffeured us to
the only natural first destination upon arriving in London: Chipotle.
I had been craving Chipotle for a few weeks, ever since I
found out that there were some in the city. I got a burrito with half chicken-half
beef (a scientifically proved way to get more MEAT), and chips and guac. To say
that Chipotle was my favorite meal abroad would make me sound like such an
American scrub with no sense of culture or any shred of a sophisticated pallet,
but Chipotle was my favorite meal abroad. I was STARVED at this point in the
day and for the love of God just look at these pictures.
After Chipotle we went to Ana and Karl’s flats (Flats?!!?! Sew
trendy #London #Abroad ) to drop off our
bags. After settling in and regaining feeling in my toes and fingers, we went
to Westminster station to meet up with Bridget. Westminster Station was
straight out of a post card, as soon as we stepped onto the street we were met with the image that I'd say most associate with London, the London Eye and Big Ben.
 |
| Me and Bridget |
 |
| Me and Ana Luna |
 |
| Big Ben |
 |
| London Eye |
We walked over to Westminster Abbey and all of the tours had
ended. However, there was a choir service at 5:30 that was free admission so we
attended that. The music was nice, although the real star was the building
itself. The ceilings are absolutely MASSIVE and every single wall or corner is
carved with such insane detail. There were like five separate churches inside
and it was just a breathtaking view. I was amazed that they could have build
something so massive back in the 1200’s. No power tools? No cranes or trucks!!
ALIENS.
It was amazing to be in this
space where the likes of Henry VIII had been coronated or where Kate and Prince
William got married (Ladiesss). Mom, you would have loved this. We weren’t
allowed to take pictures inside, but this may give you an idea.
 |
| Westminster Abbey |
After Westminster we grabbed dinner at the Blackbird for
some traditional British pies. We intended to watch the Villanova game at a sports bar
but the place we went to wasn’t playing the game. We hung out there for a
while, laughing at all of the freshman abroad students in their Nova Nation
shirts attempting to start chants/socialize with us. After a fleeting NCAA
basketball fix (my Bracket has been bent sideways and f*$&#D) we went to meet
some of Ana’s friends. We ended up at this ridiculous Japanese themed tea place called Opium and couldn’t leave there fast enough. A presumably Serbian
promoter then got us into another club but we were all exhausted and had big plans
for Saturday, so we closed the books on a successful Day 1.
Commence the warmest, CHEAPEST night’s sleep in all of
London. Ana Luna you are a SAINT.
Saturday I woke up and braved the snow, took the tube all by
myself (Mom/Dad you’d be so proud of my travelling skills. I think I could
drive to Wendy’s now. Ugh Wendy’s) and met Bridget at Buckingham Palace for
the Changing of the Guard. I didn’t know
what to expect, but I knew that at the very least I’d get to do some prime time
Asian tourist people watching. Some of the best in the World.
Perhaps we missed it but literally all that happened was one
of the Royal guards (red shirts) stepped out of his little guard shack and a
new guard took off his black jacket and stepped in the box. Pretty anti-climactic.
As we were leaving, a bit slighted after that pathetic display of national
pride, about 20 guards on horses marched right in front of the palace, putting
on quite the show. No Queen sightings.
Bridget and I wandered through St. James park in search of
the infamous London pelicans, but none were to be found. There were so many
gross birds and weird ladies feeding the beasts, all in all a hilarious stroll
through a park if I’ve ever had one. We hopped on the tube to the London Bridge
and I got my customary instagram of the Tower Bridge. We then went to the Borough
Market. This experience requires its own paragraph, holy shit was it awesome.
The Reading Terminal Market has found its competition.
Borough market was a massive outdoor market under a bridge with so much food.
As soon as you think it ends, a whole new area will reveal itself. I ate an
Argentinian empanada and the best sandwich I have ever enjoyed. A Pork Belly
with Crackle and Apple Sauce sandwich from this small counter called Roast.
Scott would have died. Even Guy Fieri would have been impressed with this
culinary accomplishment. It was basically a mound of pork fat with deep fried pork
skin? Ears? Testicles? It doesn’t matter it was so amazing.
After lunch we went to the Churchill War Rooms. This decision was initially a means of escaping the cold, but it was my best decision of the
weekend. Life? Unbeknownst to me prior to yesterday, the war rooms were a
SECRET bunker underneath London where Winston Churchill conducted and
essentially ran WWII. It was fascinating. The staff worked and lived down here
for the duration of the war, working an average of 16 hours a day. We got to
see the Conference Room where all meetings and decisions were made. The tour also takes you through the Map Room, left just as it was after the War ended, which
tracked the Allied forces on maps using push pins and yarn. I was absolutely
fascinated that they could conduct a war without any computers or real
technology.
Since London was continually bombed throughout the war (to
divert attention on civilians’ needs and not the war effort), this secret
compound was build with a 6 foot steel and concrete reinforced ceiling. The war
rooms were never hit.
My favorite part of the tour was a room with an “Occupied”
lock on it, leading every person in the camp to believe that it was a restroom.
Only Churchill knew the room’s real function, a direct phone line to the
President of the US, either Roosevelt or Truman at the time. I thought that was
so cool, and just one of many amazing stories regarding the LEGEND of Winston
Churchill.
Jeez he’s babbling
about these, what are they, war rooms? I don’t get it….It was so amazing to
be in the space where decisions were made that literally changed the course of
history. They spoke of the pressure that these men were under on a daily basis
and I could really sense it, tough to explain. I’m switching majors and becoming a history teacher. I didn't take many pictures, but this should give you an idea of a sample room.
ALSO best part of the War rooms was running into Nygren’s
friend Carys. 2 Points.
I'm serious guys, it was so cool.
Saturday night we all went out and met some of Bridget’s
friends at a club called Foundation. They serve drinks in tea pots and mason
jars, which was pretty awesome. Saturday was definitely the wilder of my two
night’s in London. See facebook. It was a great night to end an awesome weekend.
I flew back today with no issues. I didn’t have to pay 70
pounds to print my boarding pass or get stuck in Paris due to a gay marriage rally,
forcing me to book a new flight and get back to Galway past 3am. I am counting
my blessings.
London was an awesome city, but the company definitely made
the weekend. I’ve gotta thank Bridget and Ana and Karl for everything, you all rock!
I’m back in Galway for two days now and then my Spring Break
begins. Don’t expect to see a blog from me for quite some time, but I can
assure that my next post will be pretty epic. Well enjoy the NCAA games I envy all of my American
readers, and Go Shockers!
Listened to this song about 41 times while writing this post. The Lumineers album is unreal.
No comments:
Post a Comment