Last Day

Last night after blogging I went to the Westminster Palace, home of the Houses of Parliament. Finally, after their being busy all day, I got a chance to see British government in action. I went into the House of Commons, the more rowdy and interesting of the two houses. It was nearly 9:30 p.m.; the House closes officially at 10:30. The place was smaller than I'd imagined, and full of ceremony. All of the Members of Parliament weren't there, but it was still fun. My two favorite parts: the dripping irony with which the opposition sometimes addresses the government official speaking, and the Speaker of the House. The Speaker has a thick brogue, and he presides over the whole affair. Near the end, it's his job to close certain business ("the debate") by putting the question. He actually posed about ten questions, and they all went something like this: "As to the....All in favor? (Aye, aye) Opposed--(he doesn't even break, really)--I believe the ayes have it, the ayes have it." Every time. Here are a few nighttime views from Westminster Pier.

For my last day in London and abroad I gave myself the luxury of sleeping in. I've noticed that I'm getting tired, running out of steam on this grand adventure. So I slept an extra 40 or so minutes this morning, and it felt great. I couldn't sleep through the smell of toast, though. Mmm, bread.

My first stop was once again Westminster Pier, for British Airways London Eye. I stepped into a little capsule and went round on this huge bicycle wheel for 360 degree views of London's skyline. The London Eye is the tallest thing around, so you get great pictures. It was impressive and fun. The second half of the spin was not surprisingly less fun than the first. I started thinking about the trip ending. This sort of marks the beginning of the downspin half of my summer, where I'll do more looking back than ahead. I still have the lake, but school haunts: only one month left of this blissful summer.

After my spin, I headed out to market. It was quite an experience. I hit the whole spectrum, from Pinto to Ferrari. I started at Old Spitalfields. The vendors have booths and do their best to display their wares for buyers. Here you can haggle.

Next I hit Covent Garden. Moving on up, this place felt like a Park Ave. It had nice, permanent stores like Lush and Gap along with street vendors and artisans. I enjoyed looking around, as much at the people as the merchandise.


I walked to Picadilly Circus and took the tube to Queensbridge, where the place to go is Harrods. Harrods is Saks on steroids. You're struck by the massive place immediately, and intimidated by the impressive show of luxury cars parked VIP-style in the street, drivers waiting.

There are seven floors to the most elaborate and expensive department store I have ever visited. Lucky for me, they were having their only sale of the year--a huge, up to 50% off sale. The trouble is you're looking at dresses by Valentino, bags by Gucci and Hermes, suits by Armani himself. And the dollar is currently crap compared to the pound sterling. So I look at a beautiful coat, and find the tag: £1010. Wait, it's minus 50%: £505. Then convert to dollars: £1010 or even more now. I was surrounded by beautiful Arabian people who weren't even carrying their bags. They had checked them. I saw a purser pushing out a large crate that you might find at the end of a forklift, full of Harrod's packages. Once again, I was out of my league. That's okay, I'm not sure I want to be in that league. I wouldn't mind having a Gucci bag and shoes, though.

Scary. Waxen Mr. Fayed welcomes people to his store.

Tonight I'm going to grab a quick dinner and finish this trip in true London style--at the theater. I'm seeing Chicago. I wasn't an enormous fan of the movie, but I really like the music and it's London's biggest show. I'll have to post the pictures later, I guess. They are taking too long to upload and I've got to get to the show. Tomorrow morning early, I'm heading home. Thanks to all of you for your comments and for reading. It has been fun letting all of you in on this amazing journey. Should I continue blogging? I'm not sure my regularly-scheduled life is that exciting.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for an awesome gift. Thanks to God for traveling mercies. Home again, home again...soon.

ESPNLondon

Sorry it's taken me so long to write a new post. I've been a busy girl, and have lots to fill you guys in on. Here's the highlights reel. Well, highlights and then some; now that I am finished and looking back at it, it's more like the entire game.

I went to the Tower of London this morning. A Beefeater yelled a tour of the place. There are about 150 Beefeaters who live in the Tower, and they serve as guides and hosts to the Tower's guests. My guide was pretty sassy. At one point he asked a lady to put away her video camera because he doesn't like those things pointed at him. Hmm. In addition to the Beefeaters, the Tower is home to the Crown Jewels, eight ravens, an armory museum, and a lot of bloody history. William the Conqueror built it as a fortress, complete with prison tower, executioners block (where several nobles lost their heads), and stinky feces-filled double moat. Pretty impressive.

With a Beefeater

The White Tower, the Tower of London's major landmark

After the Tower I cruised the Thames River to Westminster Pier. It was sort of a dreary day, but a fun ride and neat view of the city. Once ashore, I walked up to Westminster Abbey. This place is all at once very beautiful and just a little bit weird. It was built by William the Confessor, and has held every royal coronation since his (he crowned himself). It also holds the remains of some famous dead, including Bloody Mary and Elizabeth I (both queens). In Poet's Corner I stared at monuments honoring Chaucer (buried there), Dickens, Shakespeare, Browning, Shelley, the Brontes, Wordsworth, Handel, and many more. I stayed for Evensong, my second ever Anglican service (the first was a wedding). It was impressive. I was there early enough--having stayed--to get a coveted seat in the choir loft. The boys/mens choir came in and filled in near me. There was responsive reading and singing, and it was all really beautiful. I really loved watching the little boys. They did a Magnificat in another language, really staccato, and made the best faces. Except for this one little Asian boy on the front row, who sang all his parts but looked bored out of his mind.

After Evensong I did Rick Steves' Westminster Walk from the Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben to Trafalgar Square. On the way I saw cool old buildings, monuments, and #10 Downing Street, home of the UK's new Prime Minister. Trafalgar Square was filled with people when I got there. They were hosting a pre-Tour de France event. I didn't realize that the Grand Depart was taking place in London this weekend. When these terrible dancers came out, dressed like road (gray suits, white stripe down the center) I couldn't handle it anymore and left. I walked home on the Mall past Buckingham Palace.

The next morning I headed to Henley for the Royal Regatta. Yes that's right. I am here in London at the crossroads of some very important events: Wimbledon, the Tour de France, the Henley Royal Regatta, and the Justin Timberlake Concert at the new O2. I'd heard from my seat friend on the Eurostar that I had to get to the Regatta, to have a look at English society.

I had to make two trips to the station, because the first time I left my Tube card and I was too impatient and stubborn to wait in the long lines to pay for a single pass. (Too thrifty also--I'd already paid for the week, why pay more because I'm forgetful?) Finally, out of Paddington Station, I was on my way. On the train I was suddenly surrounded by all these chic young people. I felt very conspicuous, very American. At least I'd worn a dress. My denim jacket felt like a neon sign. The men were mostly wearing jackets with their nice shirts, some ties. Bottles of wine were opened before we left the station, and I noticed most people carried grocery bags. Picnic lunches--how could I not know?--crap! The ladies dressed ranged from hip, slightly slutty to did-you-just-pull-that-out-of-your-grandmothers-dress-up-box? prim. They looked like they'd been dressed by costume designers from Amanda Bynes' movie, What a Girl Wants. They even had hats. The cutest ones were more suggestions of hats than real hats: stiff circular bows, trimmed with feathers or ribbon.

Dressy, dressy. Notice hats on left. Lady on right shares my denim dilemma.

Stripes! Some of them wore ties that perfectly matched the jackets.

I was way out of my league. As I got out at the station and took a bathroom break (always a good decision) I made up my mind to have a good time. I wasn't easily convinced. I noticed that most people had little paper shields pinned to their dress straps or lapels, almost like gift tags. Where could I get tagged? I walked over the bridge, catching sight of the grand festivities, and headed toward the sales tent. "This stand is for members, only members can buy. I'm sorry, but all of the public stands are sold out today," a kind lady told me. "But you can walk along the footpath. It's quite nice."

So I headed off. Actually, being alone, this was by far the best way to go. I walked the entire length of the regatta, watching the racers row by in turn. I passed very posh people at the start. Men looked very proud to have on loud magenta and green striped coats, or carnation pink blazers with matching ties--oarsmen with fine tradition. The hats got bigger as the ladies got older. As I walked further along away from the members area and toward the start, the crowd got decidedly less genteel. I even saw girls in just their bathing suit tops and shorts. Shabby and improper. I had a good time, and headed back to the city a little early.

Back in town, I headed to Leicester Square in the heart of the West End theater district. I ate a little picnic dinner in Trafalgar Square, and then got tickets for the new show, "In Celebration!" This show's main draw for me is that it was starring Orlando Bloom. That's right. I paid a nice fee to sit for two hours 50 feet away from Orlando Bloom in person. The play was good, despite all that. It was about family relationships, which is always an interesting subject. Did I mention I saw Orlando Bloom in person? There were girls in the audience who looked like they'd dressed expecting him to ask them out from the stage.

Fountain in Trafalgar Square. Note the Tour de France stands behind.

The next morning I headed to the Mall near Buckingham Palace to watch some behind the scenes action before the Tour de France Stage One left. The riders were all in and out of their buses, getting interviewed, and talking a little with fans. I stood next to a cycling enthusiast who helped clue me in to everything (very helpful). I saw Fabian Cancellara, the rider who won the Prologue, wearing his yellow jersey. It was a good, laid-back location for up-close views.

When they left, riding toward Greenwich and the official start, I headed to the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. If you visit London, go here--whether you think you're interested or not. It is an incredible, interactive, and informative place with a really cool, subdued feel. It's one of my favorite museums on this trip littered with the great European museums.

I left WWII and headed to London Bridge and the Old Operating Theater. This place was really fun for me. It is a museum to the old practice of medicine, surgery, and training medical students. It's loaded with herbs (medicines for the humours), equipment, and photos. I'm very glad to be learning medicine now, rather than then. At that time consenting to surgery was basically agreeing to physician-assisted suicide. I read patient notes that made me shudder.

View the students would have had: patient on wooden table, no anesthesia, physician's cane between the teeth for pain, sawdust box below to catch running blood.

I ate lunch overlooking the Thames and then crossed the Millenium Bridge, aka the Blade of Light or Wobbly-Twobbly, to St. Peters and back.

Millenium Foot Bridge

Then I hit Tate Modern for a look at art from the last century. In my hour and a half blitz I only saw two galleries, but they included incredible works by artists such as Jackson Pollock, Henri Mattise, Pablo Picasso, and Marc Chagall. If I have any time left over tomorrow, I think I'll go back.

Tate closed just in time for me to walk back over to the Globe Theater to watch Shakespeare's Othello. As I walked in I felt like I was walking either back in history or onto the set of Shakespeare in Love. But it was real. I was too late to get one of the cheap standing-only tickets; instead I sat comfortably on a rented cushion in the back with a great view of the stage. The play was just okay, I'm sad to say. Iago was incredible, as were Rodorigo and Cassio. The girls were pretty good, but Othello just didn't quite hit it. His voice was too soft for the Moor.

This morning I did a double decker tour and then watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. In other words, I was definitively a tourist. A little bored with the grand procession, I headed off to the British Library.

They say that Britain's greatest contribution is in its written word, despite all its imperialistic history. As an English major and long-time lover of books and words, I'd have to agree. The British Library literally has a treasure chest room, housing incredible works. Here's a snapshot of just a few of the hand-written things: Handel's Messiah; Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre; Lewis Carroll's diary where he writes of finishing writing down Alice's Adventures; the Beatles lyrics of Yesterday, Help! (in marker, I think), and others; letters from Queen Elizabeth I, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, the Magna Carta and lots of other stuff. In print, one of the first Gutenberg Bibles, a first printing of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and other illuminated and sacred texts. I had a ball.

In the afternoon I went to Kensington Gardens, and looked at Kensington Palace, which was once the home of the late Princess Diana. The people still mourn her. I walked to the Orangery, just behind the palace, for high tea. It was very pleasant, and very expensive. Definitely something you have to do at least once. I did champagne tea: a flute of champagne, pot of tea, cucumber sandwiches, scone with clotted cream and berries, and chocolate cake. It's very traditional. Let's face it--it was dinner.

High Tea at Orangery

That brings us up to date! I know this was long, so sorry about that. I only have about 40 hours left on this amazing adventure. I'm doing much better than I even expected alone. My little room is a nice home base. London is a great city alone, because there's enough to keep me constantly busy and surrounded by other people. I'm minding the gap at stations, feeling safe even at night (though I'm on guard, don't worry), and am even getting the hang of looking the right direction when crossing the street. It's helpful, though, that they paint big "Look Right" and "Look Left" signs at the ends of the walks. I get nervous when I see cars going by with no one in the driver's seat, though; that still manages to make me laugh.

The Mall, leading straight to Buckingham Palace

Thanks for making the trip with me. Hope you're all doing well. Let me know.

Chunnel of Victory: 9 minutes

Hey all. My trip here yesterday could be called an adventure in almost making it. I decided to play it safe and get to Brussels extra early before my Eurostar to London. I would take the 8:06 a.m. train from Den Haag HS instead of the 9:06, which would have put me there just in time. I woke up at 6 a.m., planning to catch the first bus after seven. I hadn't rechecked the bus schedule, but I was pretty sure the bus from Wassenaar to Den Haag came at about 17 minutes and 47 minutes after. I ate breakfast, drank one last Nespresso, prayed with Adam and Casey, and headed out. I was only a few minutes off schedule, and still made it to the bus stop at 7:10.

The first 7 bus came at 7:01. I was nine minutes late. I wasn't too nervous, though. I caught the 7:31 and made it to Den Haag Centraal at 8:01, just in time to watch the train to Den Haag HS leave the station without me. I had to wait until 8:21 for the next train to leave, and rode the 3 short minutes to the next station. But it was okay, I'd catch the 9:06 as originally planned and things would just have to work smoothly in Brussels. I sat down to wait and pulled out my journal. Trains were moving in and out of my platform quickly. I'd gotten lost in journaling, so I almost missed my train. I was relieved when I got aboard. We started to move too quickly, though, and then I noticed I was on a 9:01, not a 9:06, and the B-city I was headed towards was not Brussels.

I just about threw up right there. The guy across from me noticed me looking green, and asked the question with his face. "I think I'm in the wrong train," I told him.

"Where are you trying to go?" he asked.

"Brussels Zuid," I said. He looked nervously toward the woman across from him.

She leaned forward. "It's okay," she said, "You have to change in Rotterdam. They all go the same direction."

"Thank you," I replied weakly. "I think I'm going to go wait downstairs." I went down toward the doors and plopped down on my suitcase, wringing my hands and worrying. Would this intercity train with all its stopping actually beat my train to Rotterdam. I had a five minute headstart, but I wasn't sure that was enough. I started praying hard. Lord, you know everything. You are in control, not me. You can make this train fly. I closed my eyes and pretended we were actually flying along. As the minutes ticked, I felt sick but just kept praying. This was my shot. If I didn't make it onto that train there was no way I could catch my Eurostar. I'd have to wait till evening and wouldn't make it until 10:30 p.m. Father, put some train person on the platform that knows which platform I have to get to--let there be enough time.

We pulled into Rotterdam with about 2 minutes till my train was supposed to get there. Two train men were on the platform almost right in front of my car. Platform four! one said, then I was off, dragging my bag on one wheel and then its belly, not caring.

I made it. Then I made it onto the Eurostar, where in my first class seat all the panic of getting there was forgotten. We got a nice lunch, two drink services, coffee, dessert, and a chocolate. I sat next to a nice Irish guy who has a family and three houses. It was a fantastic trip.

I arrived in London at the Waterloo station and took the tube to Picadilly Circus to pick up tourist information, a map, and exchange my money. London's underground metro really does look like a tube, so it's an apt name. All that settled, I went to my bed and breakfast in the Victoria neighborhood to check in.

The guy behind the desk was a foreign guy, who was not shy. I'd stood there all of half a minute when he started telling me how beautiful I am, how lucky they are to have me stay there. He loves Americans. "Here's your key. Room 36, gorgeous," he said.

"Oh, boy," I replied. This phrase is getting to be a thing with me. What is it with these guys? Luckily right then Nick Vu walked in and we headed away from Romeo. I got settled in and then we went to get theater tickets. We bought tickets for Wicked and then tried taking the tube to Hyde Park. We went to Green Park on accident, and suddenly ended up at Buckingham Palace. We finally made it to lovely Hyde Park, but in the rain Speakers Corner was empty. We went back to Victoria and grabbed a quick, yummy dinner and then went to the show.

Wicked, if you're not familiar, is an incredible musical. We'd never seen it before, so it was just thrilling. The performers were just amazing, and the show itself is a lot of fun. I had chills. And basically, I'm hooked. I think I'm going to eat less so that I can see more shows here. Afterwords we walked along the Thames from about the Tower Bridge to the Globe and got some dessert. When we finally got back to Elizabeth House (the B&B) I was zonked. It had been a long day.

Nick just left so now like Cosette I'm on my own. Get ready for a lot of goofy pictures of me doing stuff. I'll keep you posted. Cheerio!