London

London was by far the city I felt the most comfortable in. It reminded me a lot of DC because there were constantly people speaking other languages. I arrived at King's Cross Station on Thursday evening. Fiona met me and we tried to find Platform 9 and 3/4 but it was missing. We went looking for it between Platforms 9 and 10, but nothing was there. I felt just like a confused Harry Potter. 


After dropping my stuff off at Fiona's dorm in Camden Town, we got burritos near Oxford Circus. London at night is so lively and it was really cool to take public transportation. I got an Oyster Card the first day, which is the equivalent of a SmarTrip except that it saves you at least 50 pence on every trip. 

Near Covent Garden:

The next morning, I went to Westminster Abbey. I was so excited and I loved doing the audio tour. From a history perspective, London was the most exciting place that I've gone. 

Then we went ice-skating by the Museum of Natural History with Fiona's friend Ellie. There are rinks all over London set up between now and Christmas.

Walking by the museums, you can see scars on the buildings from WWII:

We walked through Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens, where we saw the Albert Memorial:

Kensington Palace is currently "being transformed," most likely in time for the 2012 games:

We had afternoon tea at the Orangery, the restaurant at Kensington Palace:

The next morning, I went to the Tower of London. I got there just in time for a yeoman tour. The yeomen have at least 22 years of military experience and spend the tour alternating between historical stories and poking fun at the crowd. 

We met friends at Picadilly Circus for lunch. My friend Dean dragged us to a Texan restaurant, which was pretty funny to find in the center of London. 

After lunch, Dean, Lea, and I went to an arcade where we spent the afternoon bowling and playing games. Fiona took me around Camden before dinner, showing me the Camden stables. The stables were turned into a market, with stalls being different stores. Fiona, Ellie, and I got French food for dinner in Islington, which is a really nice neighborhood. On Sunday morning, I went straight to King's Cross. It was then that I noticed a sign for Platform 9 and 3/4, which had actually been moved out of the train station during construction. I opted out of seeing the fake one.

I really loved seeing all the different neighborhoods in London and taking the tube everywhere. The downside was that both Fiona and I weren't feeling well, possibly because of food poisoning. I still went out even when I wasn't feeling well, but I can't wait to go back and see even more of the city!