London

Can't believe this was my last weekend of traveling this semester.  Mallory, Nina, Collin and I spent it in London!  We met up with a few DIS friends over there, Delaney and Kavanaugh.  It was a great last weekend of traveling but hard to believe it was our last trip.  Just this semester I've traveled to Sweden, Germany, Austria, Hungary, England, France, Spain, Greece, and Italy... I'd say a pretty good list for 4 months!

We landed in London on Friday afternoon and got settled into our hostel, which one of the people in our room described as "a concentration camp".  It wasn't that bad, but cramming 8 people into a room the size of a closet isn't the most ideal situation, but we made it work.  The first night we walked  across the street to Hyde park, then went to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben.  On the way home we passed through Winter Wonderland in Hyde park, which is a seasonal carnival that they set up for Christmastime.  It reminded me a lot of Tivoli.  They had a ton of food and sweets, rides, fun houses, singers, and a Christmas market.  We hung out in there for a while and watched a bunch of drunk old ladies sing and dance to one of the entertainers at the park, it was pretty funny. 

  

 

The next day, we started off at the Portobello Market in Notting Hill.  There were tons of cute little shops all along the streets, it was a really cute place. 

 

Then we went to the Parliament buildings near Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, and Kings Cross (where a scene in Harry Potter was filmed).  It was a LOT of walking but we had a great day touring around the city.  I think London and Rome are my two favorite cities other than Copenhagen.

                                         

Westminster Abbey

 

Big Ben


Harry Potter, Platform 9 3/4



Buckingham Palace

 The next day we took the train to Greenwich, recommened by Jorgen, and walked around the town.  The Meridian line is in Greenwich, separating the East and West hemispheres.  We took a bunch of pictures there, then made it back into the city to see London Bridge, the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge.  It was so pretty at night time, everything was all lit up!

 

Greenwich Park and the Meridian Line

 

London Bridge                                                                     Tower Bridge