A Jolly Weekend in London!

April 9- April 11

Ello' gouvnah!

 This past weekend I went to London with my friend Hilary to celebrate her 21st birthday and to check out the land of fish and chips. I left Nantes on a beautiful Friday afternoon and made my way to the airport for my 8:50 pm flight. The plane I took was small and had propellers but seemed safe enough and London was only a short 1 hour flight away. Upon landing in Gatwick airport at 9:15 (England is one time zone behind France), I made my way to passport control. After standing in line for about 20 minutes behind a family from French Guiana who's idea of disciplining their two young boys was to tell them they were ugly, I finally made it to the front of the line and gave my passport to the customs lady. For being an American citizen, blonde, and with the last name St. George you would think I would make it through passport control pretty easily, this was not the case. The woman asked me about 20 questions ranging from "How much money do you have on you?" to "Who is paying for your studies in Nantes?" She eventually let me go and I made my way to the easybus that would take me into central London. With some help from some very friendly British folk I managed to find my way to the Underground and to the proper stop that would deliver me to the University of Westminster, where Hilary and a bed were waiting for me. Hilary came and met me in the lobby and we went to our dorm room and went to sleep.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Our first stop was Starbucks (there are about as many Starbucks in London as there are in New York!) and then Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. We did not go into any of these places as they cost a lot of pounds.

Big Ben!

Parliament

London Eye

Westminster Abbey

After checking out some of the touristy places we decided to wander around and just explore. We walked through St. James Park which was beautiful and filled with birds and gardens. Around this time it was almost lunch and Hilary and I were dead set on trying some authentic British Fish and Chips. We walked down Regent Street, the main shopping area of London, and found a little alley way that Hilary had discovered the day before and found a cute pub that where we decided to eat lunch. Now, if you have been following my blog you know how I feel about fish but being in France has made me a slightly more adventurous eater so I got fish and chips despite my complicated relationship with seafood. It was delicious and I had a half pint of beer (sounds a lot more than it actually is) with my meal.

Beautiful Garden in St. James Park

A Coot

Regent Street

Having eaten a delicious British lunch, Hilary and I met up with our friend from home Sarah at Harrods, the famous department store. We walked around with Sarah and her friends who were trying to find this frozen yogurt place that apparently was the "Best Fro-Yo I've ever had" according to Sarah's friend Chelsea. We eventually found it and while it was vastly over priced it was, in fact, delicious. After the Fro Yo fix Sarah took us to an eclectic outdoor market that had food from around the world along with clothing, jewelry, and other miscellaneous stands. Tired from our long day, Hilary and I decided to head back to the dorm around 4 to rest and recharge for the London Night Life. Around 7 Hilary and I pulled ourselves together and met up with our friend Peter from middle school and had a picnic dinner in the park with some beers. After dinner, Hilary was not feeling well so she headed back to the dorm while Peter and I headed back to his flat for some wine before meeting up with my friend Sarah and checking out the London nightlife. We went to this pub/bar/club that had three floors: The top floor was for dancing and the other two were more pub/bar atmospheres. After dancing up a storm I took the bus back to the University and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up at 7:30 and decided to get a jump start on our day. We made our way over to London Bridge only to find it out it wasn't really that cool till we looked across the river and saw Tower Bridge which was the actual goal of our excursion and ate some breakfast. Even though everything in London is incredibly expensive, the museums are free so Hilary and I then hit up the London National Gallery which had an amazing collection of art from everywhere in Europe. Around 10:45 we got back on the tube and made our way to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. Seeing as it was a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday, the place was packed with people ready to watch the spectacle. I some how managed to run into my friend Mallory who is studying with me in Nantes who was visiting London with some friends from school. Even though the place was packed and we did not have a great view of the Changing of the Guard, I still managed to see some of it and it was pretty cool. The soldier/band played some Beetles and the soldiers with guns swung them around a bit, good times. After the procession was over, we went to the park and took a nap for about an hour to recharge. 

Tower Bridge

Changing of the Guard

After our lovely nap in the park, Hilary and I grabbed a quick bite and headed over to the British Museum which contained artifacts from every continent in the world. It was a huge museum and I am sure I did not see everything but what I did see was incredible. My favorite section was the Egypt exhibit that had mummies and real human remains, it sounds kind of morbid but it was cool. We headed back to our dorm to relax and get ready for our last night in London. Around 6:45 Hilary and I decided to get Tapas for dinner and found a relatively inexpensive but classy establishment on Regent street which was only a tube ride away from the University. We split a pitcher of Margarita Sangria that was delicious and the meat lovers tapas menu which was composed of 7 tapas dishes that were all delicious. Full and a little buzzed from the sangria I met up with my friends Sarah and Peter for a drink at this pub near the dorm, we drank this yummy hard cider and discussed our abroad experiences. I headed back to the dorm around 11 as I had to wake up at 3:30 to make my way to the easybus stop, then to Gatwick, then back to Nantes. I got a little lost find the night bus that would take me to the easy bus but I eventually found it and got to Gatwick 2 hours before my flight. I landed in Nantes around 9:50 am and was exhausted. 

I had a wonderful time in London and would like to thank Hilary for inviting me on this excursion with her as well as Peter and Sarah for showing me a great time! Here are some more pictures of London. I have a lot of work this week and lots of traveling to do as my time in France draws to an end. Until next time, Cheerio, mate!

KSG