5/24 & 5/25 Rest of London

5/24

It was another beautiful day in London. Today was very busy and a lot of walking. Mom and dad I hope you are taking walks right now to prepare your legs for the walking you will be doing when you get here. Well today started at Westminster Abbey. It is a huge cathedral where the coronation ceremony for kings and queens are held. We didn't go inside just walked around and took pictures of the outside of the building. From there we walked through St. James Park on our way to see the House of the Guards and Buckingham Palace. We were in time to see part of the changing of the guards but could not get close enough to see the whole thing due to the crowds around the palace. From there we headed to the London Eye, but we didn't feel like spending over an hour in line for it. Instead we just walked around and watched the street performers do some pretty amazing things.

After some lunch, we walked through Green Park on our way back to Buckingham Palace so we could actually get some close up pictures of the palace and its guards. While at the palace some strange contraption rolled/was pushed by. It looked like a wooden platform with a big wheel in the middle. We were not sure what it was for. We decided to go check out some of Hyde Park and the thing it housed. This park is gigantic. We went and looked at both the Kensington Palace and the Princess Diana memorial children's park. We then headed to this little 7 story department store called Harrods. I got quickly bored and was tired of walking and didn't feel like buying any of their over priced merchandise so i left.

Drew (another kid on the trip) wanted to find out where the famous Abbey Road intersection that the Beatles had as one of their album covers was. So with a tip from our waiter about the general location we headed out. Finding it was a little adventure. Everyone we asked along the way for directions said that we were going in the right direction but told us differently how to get there each time (this held true for all 7 or 8 people we asked). We finally found it and took a replica picture of the one that the Beatles used as their album cover. After we found it we realized that we were going to be late in meeting David back at the train station (we told him we would be there around 630 and didn't start the return journey till 630). We were also trying to make it back on time for the Jack the Ripper walking tour that started at 730. Well we got back at 735 and David was no where to be found. We assumed he had gone on the tour. We lucked out and found one of the Jack the Ripper tours that was just leaving the area. We tagged along and didn't have to pay. Who said being late didn't have any benefits. The tour lasted for bout an hour and a half and was very interesting. We also got a side show when a drunk tried to pick a fight with our tour guide and tried to lead the tour, it was pretty amusing.

After the tour we were all very tired and hungry. We found a local place to eat called the Best British Grub. It was delicious but my stomach did not agree with the meal and I was sick for the rest of the night. Maybe I should of payed for the Jack the Ripper tour.

5/25

I felt much better after some sleep. I didn't not get that much due to several of my fellow classmates being a bit under the influence and being loud in the room. We decided to start our our last day in London by visiting Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. The line to get a ticket was over an hour and a half long and we didn't think it was worth the wait. I will probably try and take my family there when I am back in London with them. From there we headed out to see the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, and the Stock Exchange buildings. We also checked out the Covent Gardens and watched the street performers there.

After some lunch, we headed to the British Museum where we enjoyed several exhibits from Medieval Europe to the Egyptians to present day. It was getting time to go pick up our bags and head to Victoria Station to catch a coach back to Bristol. On the way their, Stephanie had bought a liter and a half of Orange juice. She had forgotten that the juice was carbonated and when she opened it, it sprayed the other Stephanie pretty good. It was very amusing to say the least. We got on the bus without any problems but Drew ran into some issues. I don't have time at the moment to go in to them though. I really don't have time to upload pictures today hopefully I can get some up tomorrow.