Day one was Monday. We didn't spend a LOT of time in London, but it was our train ride the took up most of the day. The EuroStar train wasn't as cool as everyone had made it seem. Though I enjoyed the quite and ability to just sit and listen to my music for a few hours. One in London, Connie and I found my friend Megan who was meeting us at the station to make our further travels slightly easier. Once Connie was on her train to visit her friend Jason, Megan did her best to help me find Frank's "flat" where I got to see Maureen, Amy, and Adam after three days of separation. It was a lovely reunion. We had bangers and mash which Frank and Maureen made for dinner before heading out to one of the close London Pubs.
My first experience with Strongbow Cider - and that was absolutely delicious! Even Maureen and Amy liked it! After having a drink or two, we went back to Frank's to get settled in for bed and ready for our early morning to come!It was fun! We started off the day by going to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Which, I must say, wasn't as impressive as I was expecting it to me. Buckingham Palace that is.
That's Buckingham Palace behind the gates that seemed to serve little to no purpose. Oh well, they were pretty. We got there early, by an hour, but we still weren't able to get right up to the gates that surround the palace.
Amy, Maureen, Adam, and I waiting for the event to start. It was a long wait and it was cold and rainy BUT, we made the best of the situation and put on our happy faces!
THE GUARDS! We were closer than I was expecting to be. I didn't really know how the whole thing would work but it wound up being okay. They must walk quite a ways before getting to the circle which is in front of the palace. It was exciting! And they played music from some classical musicals! It was cool!
Afterwards, Amy, Maureen, Adam, and I had posed by the gates, but unfortunately, that picture was taken with my camera - meaning we no longer have it. Instead, I have one of Amy, Maureen, and Frank that I took from Adam. OH! By the way! These are all Adam's pictures. :-D THANKS ADAM!
At this point however, we were all INCREDIBLY hungry. We managed to walk for quite a while looking for an inexpensive place to have fish and chips for lunch. Let me tell you - inexpensive isn't a term to use while you are in London. Everything is basically expensive, and there isn't much you can really do about it. "8 pounds for fish and chips? That's not bad...oh...right...you have to double it. Shit..." But we finally found a place that had delicious fish and chips for about 6 pounds and they also had Strongbow, so I was quite happy. Once our empty stomachs were full, we had Adam take our picture before heading on to the TATE Modern Museum.
We passed what remains of London Bridge. Kinda cool...and in the museum, there were massive slides like the one below. Adam, Amy, Maureen, and I all decided that we were going to go down the biggest one. AND WE DID! It was fun, like being a kid again, accept I got a headache from it which wasn't very pleasant.
When we finished at the TATE, we decided that we might as well go on the London Eye. The weather wasn't so wonderful for it, but we didn't know if we would have a chance to do it again before Amy, Adam, and Maureen left for Paris. None-the-less, it was still fun and we got to be in the capsule with fewer people than if we had gone on a better day. At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.
That's Frank and me. If you couldn't tell, he secretly loves me even though he tries to act like he doesn't like me...not even as a friend. Okay, well, maybe he doesn't secretly LOVE me, but he DOES like me...no matter how many times he tries to fight it!
Adam snapped this shot when we weren't looking. From left to right, its me, Maureen, Frank, and Amy is in front of Frank. It was raining and I was anxious to get back to Frank's flat and have dinner because we were running short on time. I didn't want to miss PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! And of course, we didn't. We made it to the show with time to spare and I must say, I was slightly skeptical. I had seen the movie and didn't really like it. Maybe that's because Patrick Slattery kept trying to scare me during it, but that shouldn't have really made a difference. But the show was amazing. I think its funny that I enjoyed it so much - usually I like the comical shows...or the super classic ones like Guys and Dolls, or Crazy for You. To commemorate our experience, we took our picture in front of the advertisement outside of the theater.
And the end of day one went down with our underground ride back to Frank's flat. I like to be silly and it was fun.
That's Buckingham Palace behind the gates that seemed to serve little to no purpose. Oh well, they were pretty. We got there early, by an hour, but we still weren't able to get right up to the gates that surround the palace.
Amy, Maureen, Adam, and I waiting for the event to start. It was a long wait and it was cold and rainy BUT, we made the best of the situation and put on our happy faces!
THE GUARDS! We were closer than I was expecting to be. I didn't really know how the whole thing would work but it wound up being okay. They must walk quite a ways before getting to the circle which is in front of the palace. It was exciting! And they played music from some classical musicals! It was cool!
Afterwards, Amy, Maureen, Adam, and I had posed by the gates, but unfortunately, that picture was taken with my camera - meaning we no longer have it. Instead, I have one of Amy, Maureen, and Frank that I took from Adam. OH! By the way! These are all Adam's pictures. :-D THANKS ADAM!From the Buckingham Palace, we wandered up the main strip. Amy insisted that we have our picture taken with the British flags hanging from the lamp posts.
I was amused and knew that at that very moment, we were the biggest possible tourists EVER! But it was done none-the-less with enthusiasm!
Adam, Maureen, me, and Amy
Maureen, me, and Amy
I was amused and knew that at that very moment, we were the biggest possible tourists EVER! But it was done none-the-less with enthusiasm!
Adam, Maureen, me, and Amy
Maureen, me, and Amy
We continued up the main boulevard that we seemed to be walking on and managed to make it to Trafalgar's Square. The National Museum of Art was there, but we didn't go in. However, we did decide to take pictures inside of the red telephone booths that we all fell in love with...or rather, were in love with before arriving to London. Whatever, there isn't much difference. This is the picture that Adam took of me. If you can't tell from my expression how much fun we were having, then that's a shame.
At this point however, we were all INCREDIBLY hungry. We managed to walk for quite a while looking for an inexpensive place to have fish and chips for lunch. Let me tell you - inexpensive isn't a term to use while you are in London. Everything is basically expensive, and there isn't much you can really do about it. "8 pounds for fish and chips? That's not bad...oh...right...you have to double it. Shit..." But we finally found a place that had delicious fish and chips for about 6 pounds and they also had Strongbow, so I was quite happy. Once our empty stomachs were full, we had Adam take our picture before heading on to the TATE Modern Museum.
We passed what remains of London Bridge. Kinda cool...and in the museum, there were massive slides like the one below. Adam, Amy, Maureen, and I all decided that we were going to go down the biggest one. AND WE DID! It was fun, like being a kid again, accept I got a headache from it which wasn't very pleasant.
When we finished at the TATE, we decided that we might as well go on the London Eye. The weather wasn't so wonderful for it, but we didn't know if we would have a chance to do it again before Amy, Adam, and Maureen left for Paris. None-the-less, it was still fun and we got to be in the capsule with fewer people than if we had gone on a better day. At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.
That's Frank and me. If you couldn't tell, he secretly loves me even though he tries to act like he doesn't like me...not even as a friend. Okay, well, maybe he doesn't secretly LOVE me, but he DOES like me...no matter how many times he tries to fight it!
Adam snapped this shot when we weren't looking. From left to right, its me, Maureen, Frank, and Amy is in front of Frank. It was raining and I was anxious to get back to Frank's flat and have dinner because we were running short on time. I didn't want to miss PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! And of course, we didn't. We made it to the show with time to spare and I must say, I was slightly skeptical. I had seen the movie and didn't really like it. Maybe that's because Patrick Slattery kept trying to scare me during it, but that shouldn't have really made a difference. But the show was amazing. I think its funny that I enjoyed it so much - usually I like the comical shows...or the super classic ones like Guys and Dolls, or Crazy for You. To commemorate our experience, we took our picture in front of the advertisement outside of the theater.
And the end of day one went down with our underground ride back to Frank's flat. I like to be silly and it was fun.
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