London!

Between my travels and studies, I haven't set aside time to do this, which is upsetting because I want to be able to remember everything that I did! Since my parents are coming to London, Newcastle, and Edinburgh next week, I thought it would at least be a good idea to create a post about my adventures in London (and hopefully Edinburgh)! So I'm going to try to recount the things I did in London, even though I went almost two months ago.. haha

We stayed in a hotel in Chelsea about a half hour outside of London, which was a huge bummer because transportation into the city took up a lot of our time, and we already only had one weekend to spend in England's capital! However, we made it work, and I still got to see all of the major sites in London. 

Red telephone booths. They're everywhere. On every street. I had always associated London with red telephone booths, so it was really cool to actually see them in person. My friends and I, of course, took tons of pictures in the first one we saw. 

After a mini photo shoot, we went to Buckingham Palace because we heard that the changing of the guards would be happening very soon! After walking a bit and navigating with a map (extremely necessary), we knew that we were getting close because the streets were getting really crowded. Tons of people filled the  circle surrounding Buckingham Palace. Of course, some areas were roped off where we couldn't stand, but that didn't stop me from getting a good view. I walked right up to the gate and tried to peep through people to witness the changing of the guards. An older woman and an older man noticed that I couldn't see very well so they lifted me up onto the stone around the gates. The lady continued to hold me up against the wall for a good 15 or 20 minutes! I got an amazing view of the Palace and the guards from there! The gates are beautifully crested with gold, and the Palace is huge! I got to see some guards on horses ride through the gates and the tons of guards in their big tall fuzzy black hats moving around and saluting and changing positions. It was quite an interesting site. But lo and behold, I was eventually yelled at by some British official to get off the wall. Oh well, it was worth the amazing pictures I got! haha If you want to know more about Buckingham Palace, here ya go: 

http://www.royal.gov.uk/theroyalresidences/buckinghampalace/buckinghampalace.aspx

(crowds watching the guards march into the Palace gates)

(I wasn't kidding.)

(beautiful gates!)

(photo of the guards taken through the gate)

We also went to St. James's Park, which is the oldest and most famous royal park in London. In addition to Buckingham Palace, it's surrounded by two other palaces. There's a stream/river in the middle of the park, and we got a really good view of the London Eye and other cool buildings from one of the bridges. There were lots of beautiful, colorful flowers surrounding the park. I would recommend going there before or after visiting Buckingham Palace because it's a really quick walk from there. After making a circle through St. James's for about 20 minutes, we decided to move on to see more sights in London! For more info./pictures of St. James's Park, go here: http://www.royalparks.gov.uk/St-Jamess-Park.aspx

(beautiful flowers surrounding St. James's Park)

(one of the palaces that can be seen from the river/stream)

We then walked through the city, and passed Parliament, Big Ben, souvenir shops, tons of red telephone booths, and policemen on horses! We ventured to my favorite site in London - the brilliantly engineered EDF Energy London Eye. The London Eye, situated on the Thames River, is the tallest cantilevered observation wheel in the world, reaching 135 meters and weighing over 2000 tons. Before getting on this huge "ferris wheel," we were led into a 3D movie of the London Eye that took us zooming over London and the London Eye during night and day. I wish I would have taken a video! Confetti even showered us at the end of the movie! It was super sweet! 

After waiting our turn to enter the Eye, we stepped into one of the huge glass capsules. I had no idea that the capsule would be so big. You could probably fit more than 30 people into that huge glass oval. In fact, 800 people can fit in the London Eye per revolution!!!! We floated above the Thames River and got the absolute best bird's eye view of the major sites in London! The ride was a full half hour so there was plenty of time to enjoy the scenes and take lots of pictures. The glass of the capsule was surprisingly very clean, which allowed me to take crystal clear pictures! The London Eye was my favorite thing in the city. :) If you're ever in London, definitely go on it! 

I thought that these fun facts about the London Eye were pretty cool, and the site has a lot of other information about it too! 

http://www.londoneye.com/ExploreTheLondonEye/InterestingFacts/Default.aspx

(Julie, Me, Jenn, and Jenna in front of Parliament and Big Ben)

(walking to the London Eye!) 

(view from the London Eye)

(view of Parliament from London Eye)

(top of the London Eye)

(in the London Eye)

After experiencing the London Eye, we went hopped on the Thames River Cruise to go to the London Tower. Although, you can take a cruise along the entire Thames River, we were under a time limitation so we decided just to take it a little ways to get to the London Tower. A few of the major sites I remember passing were Shakespeare's Globe, the Millennium Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, the London Tower, and the London Bridge. Taking a cruise is definitely a cool way to see any city, and I would totally recommend taking one in London, even if it's just to get from one site to another. 

(view from the Thames River cruise) 

(on the river cruise)  

(The London Bridge.. No, it's not falling.)

(The London Tower)

After stopping for a quick bite to eat, we journeyed to the London Tower. I had absolutely no idea how large it was actually going to be, but it's extremely huge inside! There were tours in the Tower regularly, so we decided that a tour would be the best way to see everything. There is so much history to discover and see there, but I'm just going to tell you the top two things that fascinated me the most. I've learned a lot about St. Thomas More from reading assignments in high school and at Loyola, and I know that he was held in a tower for standing up for the Catholic Church in the face of political oppression. However, I never knew that he was held in the London Tower! I'm not one to find history interesting, but how unbelievable is it that I got to touch the exact Tower that St. Thomas More in! 


The London Tower also hosts the Crown Jewels, which are absolutely dazzling symbols of the British monarchy. They are the greatest working collection of Crown Jewels in the world. There are 23,578 gems that make up the Crown Jewels, including the Imperial State Crown, which has 2,868, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 5 rubies. There other crowns, scepters, orbs, rings, swords, spurs, bracelets, and robes there too. Did I mention that the BIGGEST DIAMOND IN THE WORLD, the Cullinan diamond, is also there! It is 3,106.75 carats (621.35g), and it's situated in a large scepters. How cool is THAT!!!! In order to see all of these jewels, you hop on a moving floor inside of the vault so you can't really pause to admire them for too too long, which isn't cool, but I guess it's a good thing too. Otherwise, I would have stayed there all day admiring the jewels! Unfortunately, it's strictly forbidden to take any pictures of the jewels. (Bummer #1) We spent about two hours in the London Tower, but there's so much more to see. Check it out: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/

(us with a Tower tour guide!)

(the tower where St. Thomas More was imprisoned)

(part of the London Tower)

(the middle "courtyard" of the London Tower, where the famous ravens are)

(St. Edward's Crown, 1661)

(No, I didn't break the rules. This picture of the largest diamond in the world is from the web.)

After seeing the Tower of London, we took a pretty long walk through the city to St. Paul's Cathedral. The dome of the Cathedral is absolutely huge, and I couldn't wait to see what it looked like inside. But, unfortunately, it was closing right as we got there. I tried to go in through the exit. FAIL. I did, however, get to go back on our last day in London. Funny story, actually.. Thinking that it was a Catholic church, I had planned to go to mass there on Sunday. Little to my surprise, I arrived in the middle of an Anglican mass. FAIL x2. If I would have done my research and known that, I would have gone to another mass close to our hotel in Chelsea. Anyway, here's a picture of the outside of the cathedral. Unfortunately, It's forbidden to take pictures inside. (Bummer #2)

(the beautiful dome of St. Paul's Cathedral)

(the front of St. Paul's Cathedral) 

After attempting to go inside St. Paul's, we took the metro to Covent Garden. Nope, it's not a botanical garden. It's a few bustling streets filled with lots of shopping, eating, and entertainment. The area is filled with people, and it gives off a very cool London vibe. We decided to eat dinner there at an Italian restaurant called Bella Italia. The food was great, and after walking around a bit more, we were on our way back to our hotel in Chelsea. Here's some more information about Covent Garden: http://www.coventgardenlondonuk.com/shopping/page/1

(the Covent Garden train station)

(the beginning of Covent Garden)

(Bella Italia)

(dinner at Bella Italia with my friends!)

After spending a night out in Chelsea at a classy club, it was rise and shine for the hotel's breakfast on Saturday morning! We were off for another day of sightseeing. Our group leader booked a tour of the enormous British Parliament building for us. After transporting to center city London again, first thing's first.. It was time for a photo shoot with Big Ben. Everywhere you go in London, I feel like you can see Big Ben, but now it was up close and personal. I'm still not exactly sure what the significance of it is, besides the fact that it's a huge bell tower with an ornate clock. I also have no idea why it's called Big Ben. Anyways, after waiting in line outside and taking tons of pictures of Big Ben, we entered the Parliament building. I really wish I could tell you all about my tour, but once again, we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside (Bummer #3), and since it was a bit ago, I've forgotten a lot about the tour.. except that it was really long. It probably took a good two hours or more, but I have to admit that it was very beautiful. There were so many long hallways and huge rooms. I do remember a large red meeting room with a huge golden throne inside. Before going to England, I had never seen such bedazzled jewels and thrones. I also remember a room with a bunch of statues of saints situated close to the ceiling. One of them was St. Patrick, of whom I just recently discovered was actually from England, not Ireland! If you can make the time commitment, I would recommend touring Parliament. The guide was excellent and extremely knowledgeable.

(#1 Big Ben picture - Big Ben and I) 

(#2 Big Ben picture - with the London Eye in the background)

(#3 Big Ben picture - Big Ben from the street)

(#4 Big Ben picture - Big Ben up close)

After touring Parliament, we took a short walk to Westminster Abbey, a huge iconic Anglican Church. The architecture of this Church was very gothic and unlike anything I had ever seen. The line to get into Westminster was very deceiving. It looked like an hour wait, but it actually only took about 10 minutes.   Luckily, we had our London Pass, which is a very expensive card that gains you access to many sites in London, so admission was free. Once you're inside Westminster, it's absolutely huge. There's a courtyard area in the center, other side abbeys, other places of worship, and burials and memorials of some famous people, including poets. Once again, we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside. (Bummer #4) Here's some more information about Westminster: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/

(amazing architecture of Westminster Abbey)

(the courtyard)

(the courtyard from behind stained glass)

(the right wing of Westminster Abbey)

(the front of Westminster Abbey)

After visiting Westminster Abbey, we decided to go to the British Museum. It was raining outside at this point so it was a good chance for us to go inside. Nothing beats the Louvre, but the British Museum was pretty amazing. We wandered through a good amount of the exhibits, but there wasn't enough time to see absolutely everything. I'm sure that you could spend at least a day in there. To be honest, I can't remember every single exhibit that we went into, but I know that we explored the Egyptian, the Roman, and the Greek exhibits. I saw real, preserved mummies from as early as 400 B.C! It's unfathomable to think about how long ago that actually was. I also got to see the original ROSETTA STONE!!!!! In case you don't know what that is, I'm going to quote exactly what the information in the display case says: It's a large granodiorite stele that carries "an inscription in different languages which helped decipher the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic script. It is only surviving fragment of a larger stone slab recording of a decree on March, 27th, 196 B.C." And I thought that the mummies were old. After going through a few more exhibits displaying everything from ancient clay pots to huge statues, our last stop was the Parthenon Galleries. Many pieces of the Parthenon are displayed in a series of rooms. The Parthenon was a temple of Athena Parthenos and was Athen's most important building built between 447 and 432 B.C. It still stands today as a standard of excellence for its craftsmanship and supreme design. Although there was a lot more to see in the Museum, I was more than content with seeing all of these ancient artifacts. Here's the link to the British Museum's website: http://www.britishmuseum.org/

(ancient mummies)

(the Rosetta Stone)

(a panoramic view of part of the Parthenon Galleries)

(pieces of the Parthenon)

After leaving the British Museum, we stopped for a super quick dinner at a nearby cafe and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral, but as I said, that ended up failing. Oh well, at least I got to see the inside of the cathedral this time. As every other Cathedral that I've been to in Europe so far, it was very pretty.We then headed back to our hotel to get ready for a night out in Piccadilly Circus, even though it was feezing cold. It looked like a London wannabe of a Times Square, but I guess it was cool to add it to the list of places that I've been.

(Piccadilly Circus)

(My friend Julie and I standing on the banks of the Thames River)

So that's London in a nutshell. There's so much more to see. I wish that I would have time to go to Harrod's Department Store and to visit Kensington Palace, but there's just not enough hours in the day. I would definitely return to this bustling historic city. 

I have so many more pictures of my adventures in London, and since I can't include them all in this blog post, check them out at: 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150820108045085.749630.816235084&type=1

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150820177805085.749648.816235084&type=1

By the way, I mentioned that I used a London Pass to gain free admission into Westminster Abbey, and we were only able to use the pass for two other things. Unless you're staying in London for a week, it is absolutely not worth buying one. Luckily, Loyola provided us with these passes so it was a waste of money on their part, or I guess our part since that was our tuition money.

On a brighter note, I also used my handy dandy Fodor's "London's 25 Best" guide book throughout the weekend. I would have been absolutely lost without it. So thank you Fodor's. I hope that you got one Mom and Dad!!! :)

That's all the blogging I can do for now.. I've already taken out too much study time. Hopefully I will get a post up about Edinburgh sometime soon? Or all of my other weekend trips in England? Or Cork? Or Paris? Or Barcelona? hahaha.. I'll get there eventually, even if it is over Christmas break! 

To my Mom and Dad: I hope that this blog post helps you plan out your trip to London a little, or at least gives you a preview of what you'll be doing and seeing! I cannot wait for you to visit next weekend!!! :) 

Buh bye for now! xoxo

A Typical Day in Newcastle!

Today's a good day so I felt like writing a quick blog post.

After history class today (which I found slightly interesting?), I went to King's Gate (a new building dedicated to all sorts of student services) to pick up my sports membership paper so I can finally join the gym! On my way out, I got a free new Powerade energy drink and headed to the post office on Northumberland Street to mail some post cards. The street is always so so so busy at lunch time! It's on a bit of a slant so when you're at the beginning of the street looking down, it just looks like a huge mass of people! One thing to note.. there is no order with how people walk here. You'd think they might all walk on the left side of the street because that's how they drive, but nope. It's just random. So I dodged through the huge crowd of people and avoided about 10 people trying to hand me flyers about random things like saving tigers, getting a makeover, and tons and tons of night club promotions for the millions of clubs in Newcastle. There's also lots of people holding up huge posters and signs to advertise night clubs and stores (except the one about the fish pedicures!). 

So then I made my way towards the Charles Grey monument, and to my surprise there was festival/market going on! I REALLY REALLY wish I had my camera to show you all what was going on, but I'm going to have to tell you instead! There were a bunch of "booths" with people selling things such as fresh produce, pork roast, fudge, cider, clothes, hats and gloves, and lots of other stuff. There were also themed tents with people doing different things. There was man dressed up as a joker juggling, a lady dressed up in a colonial type outfit spinning wool into cloth, and a man dressed up spinning clay to make pots and other cool looking things. We went to Durham last weekend (which I still have to write about), and I think the same market I saw today was also set up in Durham when we went because I recognized a lot of the same "booths." It's really cool to be able to walk through Newcastle after class and see the excitement going on in the streets. 

After wandering through the festival/market thing, I went into Grainger Market, which is an inside market set up every morning and afternoon (except Sunday). It has a bunch of different shops in it. I bought some bananas and cheese there, and then headed to Tesco Express (small, cheaper grocery store outside of Grainger market) to buy some tomato sauce and juice. I love juice so I end up buying three liters of it at least twice a week. A good amount of my money is definitely going to be dedicated to buying juice here. Anyway, my hands were full by now so I started heading back to Marris House. I went through the festival again and the crowds of people and got to Newcastle's campus. And then I got another free Powerade energy drink as I walked past the Student Union. 

When I finally got back to my apartment, a package was waiting for me at my door! Thanks Mom, for the M&Ms and homemade cookies!!!!! You made my day! :) So I drank some orange juice, ate some carrots, and made a turkey and mozzarella toastie (what the Brits call toasted/melted sandwich). I am eating Mom, I promise! 

(Thanks, Mommy! I love you!)

Now I'm about to start doing some homework again. Since we don't have regular quizzes or assignments in my Biology classes, I have to do a lot of independent work so I don't die when finals come around. I'm also going to have a lot of essays to write soon. I went to the Walton Library (the medical library which is way closer to Marris House than the main Robinson library) yesterday to study, and I really liked it. Although, it doesn't compare to my home in the Newman study. 

My next five weekends are packed. 

The Hounds are going to the Lake District in Keswick this weekend. We're staying in a cabin sort of place (I think), and we're going canoeing & hiking and doing a high ropes course. It should be fun! 

I leave for EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND on October 21st! It's a Loyola-paid weekend trip, and I'm very excited because I hear the Edinburgh is absolutely beautiful. 

I'm going to a Katy Perry concert on Thursday, October 27th with my friend Julie. And I leave for CORK, IRELAND on October 28th (Halloween weekend) to visit my boyfriend TJ!

I'm going to PARIS, FRANCE on November 4th until November 6th. Even though I've already been to Paris, it is one of my most favorite cities so I'm very excited to go back! TJ is also coming along, so it will be a little more romantic this time (it will be our 5 month anniversary on the 5th) :)

And finally, I'm going to BARCELONA, SPAIN on November 11th until November 13th with all of my Loyola friends here in Newcastle! I'm really looking forward to seeing the coastal city and experiencing the culture.

I'm going to post a few pictures of Newcastle below that aren't from today, but they show places that I walked by today, and every day! I hope you enjoy!!!!

(King's Gate)

(between campus and Northumberland St.)

(one of the many entrances to the Eldon Square shopping center)

(Charles Grey monument area.. It was A LOT more crowded today with the festival!)

(one of the openings to Grainger Market)

(landmark building on campus.. I walk through those arches every day.)

So, I'm going to try and keep making blog posts. I still need to add one about my other weekend trips and about London. But I also have to keep up with my school work, which always comes first!

Talk to you soon! Cheerio! xxx