The Other Side Of London
As I've mentioned before I went to London last weekend. This post will be fairly short seeing as I was only there for one day and being considerate of the fact that some of the places I went didn't allow photography there won't be many pictures. Please follow along anyway as Marta, Nicole, and I take you on a trip through parts of London that you may recognize and several that you may not. We aren't big into touristy things and I don't like large crowds too much so most of our day was spent wandering the streets and parks as we got more of a local feel for London.
We left Swansea on the 7:00 am train to London. It was pretty simple, get on, fall asleep, wake up, get off in Paddington. I must take this opportunity to warn you that I had only had about four hours of sleep in the three days leading up to this trip so there may be some things that I don't remember so well, sorry. While planning this trip we made the fortunate discovery that we would be in London on the last day that the Houses of Parliament would be open to the public for the next several months. We had bought tickets online for a twelve o'clock tour. Upon our arrival in Paddington Station we bought all day passes for zones one and two and caught the tube (subway) to Westminster. Lauren told me before I came here that I had to get off at that stop and after seeing the view I must thank her profusely for her demanding suggestion.
I didn't have the opportunity to get a picture of the view but imagine Big Ben, seen above, literally right on top of you. I hope that your imagination can do it justice.
We found the ticket office pretty quickly and then walked around Westminster (a section of the city) for about an hour waiting for our tour to begin. Below are some pictures from our walk.
The Houses of Parliament as seen from across the street and a block away from Westminster Abbey.
I give you Westminster Abbey. We didn't' actually go in but it was still beautiful.
Me and Westminster Abbey. Notice the double decker bus in the background!
Marta and I with Westminster Abbey.
An unforgiving goofy picture from the Abbey. Is that Mic Jagger on the right?
Moving on now we are on our way to our tour of Parliament.
Nicole and I with Big Ben taken from the street in front of Westminster Abbey.
One of the entrances to Parliament as seen from the, "lobby."
This would be the other entrance into Parliament.
These are the only pictures that I can offer you because photography was prohibited inside the building. It was amazing though. I actually got to stand in the room where Parliament debated what to do about the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. Did you know that the Queen is only allowed into the House of Lords? That's right, she isn't granted entrance into the House of Commons. David, if you read this, question time is on Wednesdays from 12:00-12:30, come visit.
After seeing Parliament we headed over to the Orangery in Kensington Gardens. Its a restaurant that is housed in the old stables at Kensington Palace and if you eat there, technically, you can say, "I ate at Kensington Palace." Well, I'm not that cool but we did have tea at Kensington Palace. Just an ironic story for anyone interested. Marta has a friend that she grew up with in Knoxville. They live about ten minutes apart from each other but they haven't actually seen one another in four years. It turns out that her friend is studying abroad at Imperial College in London this semester as well. We met her at the Orangery for tea. It took four years and a trip around the world but Marta got to see her friend. Her name is Melissa and she was probably the friendliest face that I saw in London. I have a friend studying in Madrid this semester, anyone up for a reunion? It is true, you do meet all kinds of people over seas.
Melissa and Marta at the Orangery.
"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" Sipping tea at Kensington Palace. See Daddy you were right, I am a princess, just kidding.
Nicole and I in the Orangery.
After tea in Kensington Gardens it was off to the Albert Memorial. Evidently it is a memorial to Prince Albert. Below are several pictures of all things Albert.
A view from the back of the Albert Memorial. Things can only get better.
The Prince Albert Memorial from a distance.
Nicole, Albert, and I.
I'll leave you with this goofy picture of Marta and I in front of the Prince Albert Memorial. Maybe you'll be kind and forget this image.
We went to the Albert and Victoria Museum after seeing the memorial. We spent about two hours looking at clothes from the 16th-21st centuries in the fashion exhibit. The V&A Museum is kind of like London's version of the Smithsonian, huge and never enough time. We got a nice glance though and a passing view as we headed back to the tube station. To be honest, it would take at least a couple of weeks to see all that London has to offer. I'll stick with Swansea though, a small sea side village with sailboats and wind generators. I have to turn my laptop back into the library now so you won't be hearing from me for at least a day maybe longer, sorry. Enjoy the break though and I'll be back in a few days with more from Stonehenge and a day in the life of Swansea.
We left Swansea on the 7:00 am train to London. It was pretty simple, get on, fall asleep, wake up, get off in Paddington. I must take this opportunity to warn you that I had only had about four hours of sleep in the three days leading up to this trip so there may be some things that I don't remember so well, sorry. While planning this trip we made the fortunate discovery that we would be in London on the last day that the Houses of Parliament would be open to the public for the next several months. We had bought tickets online for a twelve o'clock tour. Upon our arrival in Paddington Station we bought all day passes for zones one and two and caught the tube (subway) to Westminster. Lauren told me before I came here that I had to get off at that stop and after seeing the view I must thank her profusely for her demanding suggestion.
I didn't have the opportunity to get a picture of the view but imagine Big Ben, seen above, literally right on top of you. I hope that your imagination can do it justice.We found the ticket office pretty quickly and then walked around Westminster (a section of the city) for about an hour waiting for our tour to begin. Below are some pictures from our walk.
The Houses of Parliament as seen from across the street and a block away from Westminster Abbey.
I give you Westminster Abbey. We didn't' actually go in but it was still beautiful.
Me and Westminster Abbey. Notice the double decker bus in the background!
Marta and I with Westminster Abbey.
An unforgiving goofy picture from the Abbey. Is that Mic Jagger on the right?Moving on now we are on our way to our tour of Parliament.
Nicole and I with Big Ben taken from the street in front of Westminster Abbey.
One of the entrances to Parliament as seen from the, "lobby."
This would be the other entrance into Parliament.These are the only pictures that I can offer you because photography was prohibited inside the building. It was amazing though. I actually got to stand in the room where Parliament debated what to do about the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. Did you know that the Queen is only allowed into the House of Lords? That's right, she isn't granted entrance into the House of Commons. David, if you read this, question time is on Wednesdays from 12:00-12:30, come visit.
After seeing Parliament we headed over to the Orangery in Kensington Gardens. Its a restaurant that is housed in the old stables at Kensington Palace and if you eat there, technically, you can say, "I ate at Kensington Palace." Well, I'm not that cool but we did have tea at Kensington Palace. Just an ironic story for anyone interested. Marta has a friend that she grew up with in Knoxville. They live about ten minutes apart from each other but they haven't actually seen one another in four years. It turns out that her friend is studying abroad at Imperial College in London this semester as well. We met her at the Orangery for tea. It took four years and a trip around the world but Marta got to see her friend. Her name is Melissa and she was probably the friendliest face that I saw in London. I have a friend studying in Madrid this semester, anyone up for a reunion? It is true, you do meet all kinds of people over seas.
Melissa and Marta at the Orangery.
"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" Sipping tea at Kensington Palace. See Daddy you were right, I am a princess, just kidding.
Nicole and I in the Orangery.After tea in Kensington Gardens it was off to the Albert Memorial. Evidently it is a memorial to Prince Albert. Below are several pictures of all things Albert.
A view from the back of the Albert Memorial. Things can only get better.
The Prince Albert Memorial from a distance.
Nicole, Albert, and I.
I'll leave you with this goofy picture of Marta and I in front of the Prince Albert Memorial. Maybe you'll be kind and forget this image.We went to the Albert and Victoria Museum after seeing the memorial. We spent about two hours looking at clothes from the 16th-21st centuries in the fashion exhibit. The V&A Museum is kind of like London's version of the Smithsonian, huge and never enough time. We got a nice glance though and a passing view as we headed back to the tube station. To be honest, it would take at least a couple of weeks to see all that London has to offer. I'll stick with Swansea though, a small sea side village with sailboats and wind generators. I have to turn my laptop back into the library now so you won't be hearing from me for at least a day maybe longer, sorry. Enjoy the break though and I'll be back in a few days with more from Stonehenge and a day in the life of Swansea.
posted by Jennifer at 10:31 AM
4 Comments:
OMG, you actually drank tea?! I'm astonished!
The tea must taste like hot chocolate!
The Tesco tea is amazing with a little sugar and milk. Its the Kensington tea that you have to watch out for. It was Blackcurrant tea which I thought that I'd love since I like tea and blackcurrant but no, it was horrible. There was just something that I really didn't like about it. Its not that it tastes like hot chocolate, its that tea is cheaper, healthier, and (I never thought that I'd say this) but just as good. I'm astonished too.
It's good that you have a picture of yourself drinking tea. Otherwise I still would not believe that you drink hot tea. Then again, how do I know that the cup actually contained tea?
I'm just giving you a hard time. :)
It is funny the people you meet in London. Beth and I met our old RA in London one day.
love ya!
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