Today I liked London a whole lot better than I have been. I got up this morning, ate my breakfast and then went and met Kate early so I could join her class to walk around/ get a free tour and whatnot. We went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was just cleaned up into “pristine condition” (according to Kate’s professor) for its 300th anniversary. Apparently that 300th anniversary happened to be today. And you know who happened to be there “celebrating”? The Queen. THE FREAKIN QUEEN OF ENGLAND. We literally just stumbled upon the Queen. We saw a big crowd and Kate’s professor told us that normally when crowds like that gather a member of the royal family is close by, so a guy in her class asked an officer who informed us that the Queen was inside and would be out shortly. So we waited the longest 10 minutes of our lives. She was so precious in her little blue outfit and hat and white gloves, greeting the little school children waving British flags. You can tell the Englanders love their queen. Everybody cheered for her as she walked out of the church and got into her car.
After that we continued our walk to other sites like the wharfs, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London Bridge (is falling down, falling down - I know I’ve been singing it ALL day), and the Tower Bridge. Pretty cool stuff. We ate some fish and chips for lunch at a little restaurant by the Tower Bridge. It was good, but tasted like any other fish fry I’ve ever had. Sorry London, you lose this one. Then we had ice cream with Cornish cream. Not really sure what that is but it was real good. After lunch we headed to the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It was super cool. It had all these specimens and anatomical things. Kate and I both enjoyed it and then laughed about how we’re just nerds for loving that museum. (Literally, it was one of those.) Then we went back to Kate’s to have a little bit of time to relax and get ready and eat dinner before it was time to head over to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to see Wicked!
We made it to Wicked on time, after walking in a complete circle after getting off the underground. Lesson learned: always look left AND right. Wicked was so good, as always! I was a little bit concerned before if they’d have British accents or not while they were performing. They did. After Wicked, we took the tube back to Kate’s stop where I switched lines and began my journey home. I made it through sketchville alright and to the bus station, then power-walked from the bus stop back to the hotel. Watch out Londoners, I’m getting comfortable with your means of transportation! The tube is actually very easy, just like any other city metro or subway. It’s the buses that are hard to figure out. Then combine the two and it’s a lethal combination.
Tomorrow, I might try to do a thing or two in the morning before meeting up with Kate at 1:30. I really just want to sleep in, since I haven’t since Ubeda, but I can sleep when I get to America. I wanted to go to the horse parade at Buckingham Palace but I think I’m going to stay in the hotel and be online and try to get Wimbledon tickets for Thursday morning (yes, they only go on sale the day before). That’d be a really cool, once in a lifetime event to see a famous tournament, if I could make that work! Then tomorrow afternoon we’re going to wander around the Hyde Park area and then see Kings of Leon and Zac Brown Band (and 2 bands I’ve never heard of before) perform in Hyde Park. I’m excited. ZBB is seriously one of my all time favorites, and last summer they put on an amazing concert. I’m hoping for a repeat.
I’m glad I’m enjoying London now. I thought I was going to be miserable for the whole week, since that’s how it started out, but really, things are fine. I stress myself out too much and I’m too paranoid. Yeah, sure, I’m in a giant city by myself, but there’s plenty to do and I can do whatever the hell I want to, on my time! I have no one else to please! This is a dream vacation for some people! Other than the occasional loneliness, I’ve been okay with so much “me time”. I only have 2 more days to explore this wonderful city, so I’ve got to take advantage of it while I’m here!
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