I'm baaack: Semana Santa in London

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I just spent the last week (or so) in London! It was weird and wonderful and I loved it. I hadn't realized just how much I missed London until I got there. Landing in Stansted, an airport I'm very familiar with, was super surreal, and the first thing I did (before catch my easybus) was get a pret sandwich, a Cadbury egg, and some peach tea, since that's not sold in Spain. And before I continue, I will warn you that I probably have to break this trip up into several posts, at least 2 but possibly 3 or 4. probably 3. I've written 34 pages in my journal about it, so we'll just see where it goes.

Hokay, so. I finally got into the city of London, topped up my Oyster, and checked into my hostel, which was in the London Bridge area. Once I had done that, I walked around Westminster, Piccadilly, Leicester, and Trafalgar. I forgot how crowded it was up there and was starting to lose my sanity when I saw a sign: "Mamma Mia! Tickets available for tonight's show" and I remembered that I wanted to see the Lion King. After a quick stop in Chinatown for a meat bun (just as weird and delicious as I had remembered) I ventured to Covent Garden and found the Lyceum Theatre, where the Lion King is showing. They didn't have a sign outside, but I went to the box office and they had 2 tickets left for that night's performance. One was super cheap, but really far back, and the other was more expensive than any other ticket I've bought in London, but still cheaper than Broadway, and I snagged it. More on that in another post (that way you can skip it, Andrea!)

On Saturday morning I woke up, and my hostel room was full. (Don't worry mom, I booked an all girls' hostel). Three of the girls, all of whom were on vacation from Philly, seemed pretty cool, but I had plans for the  day and headed off. After breakfast, I took the tube to Gloucester Road, to get some chai at Caffe Nero, and check out the IC London Centre. Sadly, the ICLC was closed for the day, so I walked to my old neighborhood. It was really strange to see it again- there was a new dry cleaners' and nail shop, and there were little differences that I found strange. I even walked up Gunterstone Road to our corner,  and saw that the dead plant on our old windowsill had been removed, and there were no longer orange curtains.

After that it was too cold to stay outside, so I wandered through the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Natural History Museum. I probably looked like a total fool, doing all the interactive things at the latter, but I had fun. By the time I was done there, it was getting on in the afternoon and I decided to go to Tesco, to buy some water, creme eggs for the ladies back in Ithaca, and some snacks, so I wouldn't end up going and buying a late lunch and dinner. At some point, the Philly girls came back to the hostel room and invited me to go to dinner with them. We went to a really cool place just around the corner from the hostel, and I had some sort of filo dough pocket with veggies inside. It was really good, and I enjoyed eating dinner at a normal time (this whole Spain eating schedule is killing me).

On Sunday, I woke up to a church procession outside the hostel, and realized that I had most definitely slept through breakfast. Luckily, the Philly girls were planning on doing the same things I wanted to do, and since I was alone and they didn't really know how to use the Tube, we decided to hang out all day. We walked along the river to Tower Bridge, and got a very late brunch in a restaurant on the south bank. I had Shepard's Pie, one of the girls had bangers and mash, and the other two had Sunday roast. All of it looked/smelled/tasted amazing, and was perfect to start a long day of exploring. We walked around the outside of the Tower (they had plans to see it Monday) and then made our way to Embankment, so they could see all the stuff I had done the day before.

While in Leicester Square I bought a ticket to see Wicked, and then we went to Cool Britannia, a giant souvenir store that I knew about from the year before. After they finished their shopping, we ate lunch in Covent Garden, where I had the most massive sandwich I've ever seen. You'd think that a chicken caesar salad sandwich would be smallish, or at least 'lighter' fare. Nope. It had 3 pieces of bread, loads of lettuce, and practically an entire wheel of cheese. Needless to say, after that lunch we decided to take the stairs at Covent Garden instead of the elevators. There are 193 stairs in all, and their ridiculous to walk down. Props to anyone who's ever gone up them.

The next stop was Hyde Park, to take in some sun and walk off lunch. There were tons of roller skaters and also animals. We saw swans, ducks, and even some squirrels that people were trying to feed. We kept walking until we got to Kensington Gardens, and took a look at Kensington Palace. It was gorgeous, but in an understated way. It had a yes-I-rule-you-but-I'm-not-a-snobby-rich-person feel to it, which was nice.

Monday I actually made it to breakfast, and went to the ICLC to see Sarah, Bill, and Claire and also make use of Internet for which I didn't have to pay. It was very nice to see them all, and I was able to get all the info for my next adventure... the Harry Potter Studio Tour. That's a post unto itself, though, so you'll have to wait for it. The tour took up all of my afternoon, but I got back in time for dinner and the showing of The Hunger Games. I had watched it online with Christina when she came to Granada, but it was awesome to see it on a big screen, with high quality audio and video. The movie, like most others, wasn't on the same level as the book, but it was still very good.

Tuesday morning I went back to the ICLC (Claire told me to come as often as I liked for the Internet), then met Lee, a girl I worked with 2 summers ago, for lunch. We went to a cute place in Covent Garden, called Cafe Rouge. It's actually a chain, but I was impressed enough with my steak baguette and French fries that I didn't care. After walking and talking for a while, we got on the subject of American candy, and how much I missed Reese's. She took me to a store that sold all American goodies. I bought some Reese's eggs and a Reese's bar (they didn't have plain cups), Barq's root beer, and chocolate covered pretzels. Like many other things, pretzels are missing from Spain.

Pretty soon Lee had to go, so I met my friend Becca, who is studying at the ICLC, to go get some Ben & Jerry's. Normally I would refuse to pay the exorbitant price of European B&J's, but it was Free Cone Day, so we gave in. I had, as usual, Cherry Garcia, and enjoyed every bite. It's too bad they can't have free cone day more than once a year...

That night I went and saw Wicked, then went out with the Philly girls, as it was their and my last night in London. Wednesday morning was momentous, as I met Ellie and Jen, who both worked at Camp Q with me,  for coffee and hangout time. Jen had to get back home early, but I went with Ellie to her house in Birchington (about an hour and a half train ride from London) and stayed there until Saturday. Her parents and grandma were super super nice, and it was really fun to stay there.

Before we did anything on Thursday, Ellie and I went to the bus stop to get Ellie's American cousin, Rhyan, from the bus stop. Rhyan is an au pair in Germany, and she had a 2 week break, so she was visiting her relatives then going to Dublin. The three of us went to Quex House, a stately home near Ellie's, which also houses a museum. The man who lived there in the late 19th century went on frequent hunting trips to Africa, and brought back his kills to be stuffed. There was even a suit (really like a safari outfit) he was wearing when a lion attacked him. It's all ripped up in the back, where the pinned him down. Apparently, He survived because a)the people he was with beat the lion off him fairly quickly, and b) a folded map or something in his pocket kept the lion's claws from piercing his heart.

Friday morning, we had hot cross buns (Andrea- these were way better than the ones you bought) for breakfast, which is apparently a Good Friday tradition. The cross, I found out, is made of a flour and water paste, not sugar as we who went abroad last year thought. They were delicious, and soon after eating them we  dropped Rhyan at the bus station and went to Canterbury, which is nearby.

Canterbury, I must say, was super cool. Ellie said it was the nearest 'big city' but it definitely had that small English village feel. We wandered around, got milkshakes (Ellie's was skittles flavored!! ) and saw the Cathedral. Normally, you have to pay to go inside, but we were wandering around when we saw a door, which was open and didn't say 'no entry' or anything like that, so we went in. Before we knew it, we were inside the actual cathedral. We even got to see the spot where St. Thomas was murdered while praying.

Friday night we went to the birthday party of Ellie's best friend's little sister, which was very fun. I got to meet all of her friends from home, and was almost convinced by one of them that he was Irish. I figured it out soon enough, but Ellie lovingly made fun of me for it until the moment I left on Saturday.

By noon on Saturday I was back in London, and had checked into a different hostel, this time in Bayswater. It was really weird and I will say that I was glad to only have to stay there one night. After walking around the city one more time (and I mean walking- I went on foot all the way from Bayswater to Westminster) and seeing Chicago, I was more or less ready to head home. I was in the hostel lobby, when a group of guys walked in. They were using the computers too, and one of them, after a few minutes of chatting with his friends in what I think was Finnish, asked me if I spoke English. I said yes, of course, and he asked me a couple of questions about what I was doing in London.

After a few exchanges, he smiled and said 'Wow! Your English is amazing!'  I honestly think I sat there with a blank look on my face, before I recovered from the shock of that statement and managed to say "Well, I'm from America". He replied that he and his friends thought I was from Spain, because they looked at the tag on my backpack and saw my Granada address. I pretty much logged off and headed upstairs right then. I mean, I'm sure my friends and I would totally pull something like that, but never in a million years would we admit it to the other person! Ugh. Creepy.

Sunday morning I packed up quickly, checked out, and got a full English and some orange juice at 'Waffle Palace' in Bayswater. I wasn't impressed, but it was better than eating toast in the hostel basement. After that just got on the bus, caught my flight, and came back to Spain. Just like that, Semana Santa was over. Now that I've been back to London, I want to visit it even more. Hopefully I can get back soon!

Also, I have to just say quickly that yesterday I had a class visit to Generalife, a part of the Alhambra, and I saw the background of my blog. The actual thing. Let me say, the picture does not do it justice.

Stay tuned for posts about shows and Harry Potter