LONDONTOWN

Ello,

If you can believe it (I can’t), I just finished my last trip of Abroad. It was a great way to finish, celebrating a holiday surrounded by close friends – I am definitely getting exciting to return home. That being said, I don’t want to leave either…

The infamous phone booths

I traveled to Heathrow by myself where I was planning on meeting up with Brittney whose flight arrived a similar time as mine. What we did not plan for was customs and getting interrogated! No other EU country had required that, but we should have known. It also turned out that I had to take a train to the terminal Brittney was in, so all in all it took a little longer then expected to leave the airport. We took the tube down to South Kensington and immediately fell in love with the area our friends live around. The locals (Georgia and Emma) were taking Kelsy around town when we arrived, so Britt and I grabbed lunch at a place called Byron’s where I had my first root beer since August – A & W I might add. Then the reunions began. Kels (who stayed at SCU this quarter) ran into the restaurant and we shared a HUGE hug, and then I saw Georgia who I hadn’t seen since Germany so I was happy! After that we headed to the girl’s (Caitlin, Emma, Kelly, & Georgia’s) flat. After decompressing for a few minutes, the boys arrived (Mikey, Miller, & Matt – who also stayed at SCU this quarter). So Kelly took us out on a tour of Hyde Park. We saw Royal Albert Hall, Albert’s Memorial, Kensington Palace (where Princess Di lived), and the street with all the embassies. It was a gorgeous, and -1 degree C, winter day. The park is massive and was beautifully frost-kissed. Then we headed into the main Kensington area to shop for our Thanksgiving dinner at Whole Foods.

Reunited with Kels in Hyde Park!

Royal Albert Hall

Kensington Palace

In front of the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park

It was quite the controversy whether to do homemade things or not. In the end, the boys found a pre-made gourmet Thanksgiving area, so that solved that dilemma. Kelly and I also got a wheel of cheese to make baked Brie with nuts and berries. Afterwards, we grabbed tea and went back to the flat to change while the boys (accompanied by Emma and Georgia) headed back to Mikey’s family’s penthouse to start preparing the feast. When we arrived, things were in the oven, wine was being opened and the table was set beautifully. We had such a great time being all together.

During dinner, we toasted with champagne and went around saying what we were thankful for. It was the consensus that we were thankful for Santa Clara, the irreplaceable friends we have made there, and for the wonderful opportunity our parents had provided for us. Although it was all of our first times away for Thanksgiving, we had our Santa Clara family, and felt so blessed that we had the ability to all be in the same place in Europe for the American holiday. After dinner, we devoured four pies (there were 11 of us), and then headed to Vendome, which is a club across the street from the Ritz. Far East Movement (“Like a G6”) was playing and we met up with the rest of the Santa Clara crew there (Mary, Lauren, etc etc). Kelsy and I took our first red double-decker bus home that night. 

Thanksgiving Dinner at Mikey's (Georgia, Kels, Kell, Emma, Me)

So happy!

Kell, Georgia, Me, Emma, Miller

The old crew together again (Britt, Kels, Me)

The dinner table

Kell and I

Pies

Dinner

Toast to the best friends ever

Met Mary at Vendome! 

The following morning (Friday), Kels and I got up before the rest of the girls and got breakfast at a little café in South Kensington. I got eggs Florentine and a cappuccino, and was set for the day. Then we took the tube downtown and I got my first sighting of Big Ben and Parliament. Unreal to finally get to see them! You pop out of the tube directly under Big Ben and it was towering over me and beaming in the sunlight. So exciting. Then we wandered over to Westminster Abbey and headed inside. I could not believe the number of royal tombs and poet memorials! While walking around a voice came on over the intercom and asked us to pause for a prayer. It was really moving experiencing that in this monumental place of worship. At the time we were in the Henry VII chapel I believe. We headed into the cloister, and the sun was reflecting off the building illuminating the grass in the center. It was gorgeous. From that location you can see the tips of the Parliament building peaking over the roof as well. Exiting the cloister took us into the nave and then we headed outside and to the gift shop. It was all decorated for Christmas (London goes all out I discovered, which I LOVE). Brittney met up with us there, and then we headed over Westminster Bridge for a great view down the Thames, of Parliament and Big Ben, and of the London Eye (huge Ferris wheel). After a photo shoot in one of the infamous red phone booths, we hopped back on the tube to the Tower of London.

First view of Big Ben!

Westminster Abbey

The cloister

Westminster Bridge & Parliament

Britt & I with Big Ben

The London Eye from the bridge

Best view

Our first stop was the Tower Bridge. It is gorgeous, painted in red, white and blue with an elaborate design and of course the two big towers. It also gave us a view of City Hall and the ship Belfast, all the way down to the Tate Modern. On our way down from the bridge to the river, we of course stopped at Starbucks, and then headed into the Tower of London. There was an ice rink outside of it that momentarily distracted me, but I regained focus. The Tower is so cool! You enter, and it’s like its own walled city. You even cross a moat (empty), and there were big gated entrances from the moat as well. We went into the main courtyard area and saw the memorial for those who were executed by the scathe, as well as entered the chapel. We passed on the torture tower (Volterra was enough for me), and headed straight for what I’d been dying to see…THE Crown Jewels. But, we got a picture with the guard outside the building first. To get to the jewels you literally enter a vault. Then you go by them on a conveyor belt. The size and beauty of the jewels blew my expectations out of the water. After this, we poked around a little more and then decided it was lunchtime.

Tower Bridge

Kels & I being nautical

Full view on our way to the Tower of London

One moat entrance

So cool!

Ice rink outside the Tower!

They should hire me

Heading to see the Crown Jewels

Inside

We took the tube to the Knotting Hill area. Getting off of course we ran into some of our friends who were heading to the Oxford Circus. Then on our way to lunch on Portobello Road, we ran into Emma and her family. The world is too small! Anyways, we grabbed lunch at a pub and instantly regained our energy. Britt got the fish and chips and literally an entire fried fish was brought to her! After lunch we meandered down Portobello road to the markets, which had a great feel. Such a cute area, and so much fun to explore. It started to get dark and the street lights up spectacularly. After being in that marketplace, we got the shopping bug so we headed to Oxford Circus and checked out the infamous TopShop (the big 5 story one). I may have bought a vest there…and a London shirt at the Nike store – whoops! We then walked down to Piccadilly Circus because the Oxford stop was closed, and it ended up being really fun because of how elaborate the Christmas light decorations were on the main street. Peaking down alleys, there were some fun Christmas markets but we needed to get back to the flat.

Portobello Road in the Knotting Hill area

Britt's Fish & Chips

Portobello Road

Piccadilly Circus

When we arrived, all the girls were in the main room and we discussed dinner plans. It was Kelsy and the boys’ last night (they needed to get back to dead week at SCU), so we headed to the girl’s neighborhood pub Zetlands, where we had dinner and ciders upstairs. Afterwards, we all headed back to the flat to spend some quality time before the boys and our girlfriends who weren’t staying with us left. We then bought some chocolate and fell asleep watching a movie.

Saturday morning, Kels had to leave for her flight at 10:30am, so I got up with her and we went back to our little breakfast place. Then I saw her off, and headed on my own to Green Park. I grabbed a Chai and went on a stroll through the park before the Changing of the Guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It was so crowed around Buckingham! I had no idea how many people would be there to watch the ceremony! I wormed my way up to the right side of the main gate and staked out my spot. Then the procession came, music played and the guards (in their full attire) came in with flags, swords and guns to swap spots with their currently stationed comrades. To make it even more special, the Queen was in because the flag was flying atop the palace! After the ceremony, I called Caitlin and Britt who had arrived during it. I never thought I’d find them in the crowd, but while walking I heard my name, looked up and there they were! Success!

Green Park

Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace!

Buckingham Palace

Entrance

Me, Caitlin, Britt

We headed back through Green Park (it was freezing), and then took the tube to the St. James area. We saw St. James Cathedral (one of my favorite churches now), where Princess Di was married. The interior is all white, adorned with gorgeous chandeliers and a massive dome. This area of London is really cool too. It is stereotypical London and I loved it. We took a short walk to Millennium Bridge (the one in Harry Potter!!!), and crossed it to see the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We kept walking along the river, passed an “Anchor” pub, and wandered through redbrick buildings (every street looked like Diagon Alley) until we hit this huge *DELCIOUS* outdoor market. After helping ourselves to samples of cheese (award-winning), and drooling over the fluffiest English muffins I’ve ever seen, we got to London Bridge. It’s so ugly it’s almost funny. No wonder the song thinks it’s falling down. It just a plain, old, green bridge.

St. James Cathedral

Surrounding area

St. James Facade

Millennium Bridge (Harry Potter)

Full View

The Globe

The Borough Market

The Anchor!!!

English Muffins!

View from London Bridge

London Bridge

Big surprise, but after walking through the tasty market (Pike Place times 1000), we were hungry. Caitlin was kind enough to take us to Covent Garden where Chipotle is located. It had been too long. I got a huge veggie burrito loaded with guacamole. Made my month! Covent Garden itself is really cute, and the shopping area had some fun Christmas activities. We got Ben’s Cookies (I had dark chocolate chunk), and then wandered over to the “Kissmas” tree. It’s a Christmas tree in the square with mistletoe under it - an adorable idea to raise money for charity. We all got up there and squeezed a leaf on the mistletoe that lit the whole tree up, gave our donation, and watched the number of “kisses” go up on the screen. So silly (the actual couples going up were probably cuter, but we still had fun).

Covent Garden

Market at Covent Garden

We meandered the streets until we got to Trafalgar’s Square where the huge lion statues are and the National Gallery. The sun was setting and we got an epic view of Big Ben in the distance (as well as hypothermia). There was a tube stop right there so we took it down to Harrods where I got the shopping experience of a lifetime. It is covered in white twinkle lights so I could spot it from a mile away. When we entered I was immediately overwhelmed (probably a dumb idea to go on a Saturday night during the Christmas season). Anyways, we checked out the purse and perfume sections for fun (I don’t know how anyone actually shops there), and then I wanted to see the pet area. We took the Egyptian escalators (literally decorated Egyptian-themed) to the top floor and peered at the pets through the glass. Unreal, they even have a groomer! Rumor has it, way back when they used to sell lions! I could not believe the size of this place. It’s a full London block (which are huge), and around six stories. By this point my dogs were barkin’ and we were all getting anxiety from the number of people shopping, so we went back to the flat.

Trafalgar's Square - Britt with one lion

National Gallery

Trafalgar's Square

Harrods

We decided on a low-key, classy girls dinner in South Kensington. So we got dressed up and headed to Med Kitchen. We split a bottle of wine, and chatted about abroad and how fabulous the weekend was (it had made us so excited to be permanently reunited despite how great our abroad experiences have been). Then I went to meet up with my Eastside buds Reid and Tyler at Sport’s Café in Picadilly Circus. Reid is studying in London for a quarter and Tyler is at Oxford for the year. It was so great to see them and catch up. Reid ended up taking us back to his go-to neighborhood pub. I had a cider and we met a bunch of the friends Reid has made in his program. Of course, a friend of his from the east coast knew a Forest Ridge buddy of mine. The world is shrinking I tell you (I thought abroad would make it bigger hah!). Reid, Tyler and I were talking about how awesome it is that we are all here in Europe and have the ability to meet up. It really is incredible. After hearing Reid and Tyler’s best British accents, learning the jargon, and swapping stories, we said goodbye with long hugs and I headed back to the flat. The girls were waiting up for me, and we had a long chat, shared some laughs, and then hit the hay.

Girl's dinner

Tyler, Me, Reid

Sunday, Britt needed to leave for her flight at 12:30 and I needed to leave around 5pm. So we meet some more of our girlfriends (about 10 of them) for omelets at Whole Foods. It was a brisk, frosty morning, so the walk was super cold but beautiful. I love South Kensington, they live in a great area. After breakfast, we walked through Hyde Park and over the river to the Winter Wonderland Festival. As I said, London is Christmas-obsessed! The entire carnival was Christmas themed including rides, Santa Claus, an ice rink, hot cocoas, Christmas shopping booths, and candy! We loaded Kelly up with four Marc Jacobs bags while we rode the Christmas Coaster with our feet dangling free! Freezing cold but it definitely made us laugh (and our stomachs drop). But the ride actually gives you a fabulous view of Hyde Park. We then saw the time…yikes! Britt needed to leave for her flight. So we grabbed some candy canes and fudge (priorities), and took the quick tube ride back to the flat to say farewell to Britt (until we see her at Santa Clara if you can believe it!). After she left, we hung around the flat (so comfortable – I almost fell asleep), and then went out to get hummus (random I know). After that, I finished packing and checking into my flight, and then snuggled up with Kelly to watch Home Alone until I had to leave for Heathrow. I had to leave earlier than planned because there was a tube strike scheduled for that evening.

Hyde Park - headed to the Winter Wonderland

Ice Rink

Christmas Coaster

Entrance!

We were excited

So Christmasy

Without too much of a struggle, I got to Terminal 4, did some shopping at the airport’s Harrods, grabbed Starbucks and headed to my gate. My flight was an hour late, but I eventually made it back to Rome to face my last week of classes. Where does the time go?    

The flat

To sum up my trip, I love London and can definitely see why it is a favorite of many. I could easily see myself living there (and it’s the home of Harry Potter to top it off). I’m so glad the girls living their picked it. It sounds like their experience is great, the area they live in is fabulous, and they have amazing internships. I could not be more thankful for my great hostesses in London and the friends I have made at both Eastside and SCU! I am so lucky.

On that note Happy belated Thanksgiving! I’m sad I wasn’t home but just because I was missing doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about everyone! I am so thankful for you all! Mom and Dad thank you so much for sending me on this fabulous journey – I am so grateful.

Cheerio! Brilliant! Bugger!

Love, Brianna