Last night, Chris and I were so wiped out from our fun weekend that we crashed by 10 PM and didn't wake up till nearly 9 AM this morning.
The plan for today was fairly loose since he had to do work. I had no problem roaming on my own, but luckily, my friend from UW, Chelsea, was in town. We had tried to meet up when she was also coincidentally in Istanbul while I was there too. However, it didn't work out then.
I met her around noon near the financial district of London. When Chris and I had taken a bus there yesterday, I'd seen some cool buildings but couldn't take pictures. So I made up for that today.
As we strolled, we caught a glimpse of the London Marathon, which started early this morning. Lots of people cheering the runners on.
We strolled across the London Bridge, and no, it's not falling down. In fact, the original London Bridge that was falling down was dismantled and bought by a guy, who moved them to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. I read that in high school while prepping for Knowledge Bowl, and I never forgot it. I know...I'm a nerd.
From the bridge though, you could see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London over the River Thames. I did not realize the water was that nasty.
We were getting hungry, so we stopped by a French cafe on the waterfront. A bit spendy because of the location, but overall manageable. So we stopped and ate some delicious food. First time that I tried French beer too. I still prefer German beer.
After lunch, we decided to just walk around and take pictures. I took very few pictures of myself during this trip, and frankly, I didn't really feel like being in any. But Chelsea convinced me to get one in front of the Tower Bridge.
What I have noticed about London is that, in addition to its old historical buildings, it also has a share of fancy, futuristic buildings. I like it.
We decided to walk in the direction of the London Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster Palace. A few highlights, including Shakepeare's Globe Theater, we passed along the way:
Besides the Globe Theater, one of the highlights I liked in particular was the Millennium Bridge. If you're a Harry Potter movie fan, you'll recognize it from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when it was destroyed by Death Eaters.
We stopped briefly by the Tate Gallery of Modern Art, as there is a special exhibit by Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei. He was arrested by the Chinese government on April 3rd and hasn't been heard of since.
There was a sign in support of him inside the museum.
His exhibit was a large field of sunflower seeds. At first, I thought, "Ok, no big deal. This is why I don't like modern art." Then, I read that each sunflower seed is handmade from porcelain. I changed my mind; it's rather impressive.
The London Eye was pretty neat, but of course, wanting to save money, I did not go up. It was nice and sunny out too, so it was pleasant to just walk along and sit. I got tan actually. Starting in Istanbul, I've gotten a bit more color as a result of the sun. In fact, it was so nice out, Chelsea joined a bunch of other tourists by getting ice cream too.
Taking pictures of Big Ben and Westminster Palace from across the river proved difficult because of the sun. So we decided to just walk over. Plus I wanted to see Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Palace is the seat of Parliament, and it's where Chris actually worked for a while. Pretty awesome building. Very impressive. I especially like the equestrian statue of Richard the Lion Hearted out front. Might be time for Marcus Aurelius in Rome to move over for Richard I as my favorite equestrian statue.
Across the street, Westminster Abbey didn't look quite as large as I'd always thought it was. First time I saw it was on TV during Princess Diana's funeral. Pretty nuts that the royal wedding will be there in less than two weeks.
We decided to call it a day and meet up with Chris for some drinks. I had a nice stout beer that had a sort of pistachio finish. Really quite tasty and by far the best English beer I've had.
After Chelsea had to leave, Chris and I went to dinner at Nando's, a chain restaurant from South Africa. Chris was a Fulbrighter in South Africa last year, so he knew the good stuff. It was really very good, albeit pricey. If Nando's exists in the U.S., someone please open one in Seattle.
Tomorrow morning, I have to wake up at 6 AM for a whole day of travel. I'm flying to Oslo from London and then will take a 6 hour and 15 minute long train ride from Oslo to Trondheim. I will arrive in Trondheim, where my friend Jess lives, around 9 PM. Pretty crazy, but it was the cheapest way to travel. I also hear the train ride is really nice as it runs from south to north through all of Norway almost.
So long from London. Talk to you from Norway.
Sam
The plan for today was fairly loose since he had to do work. I had no problem roaming on my own, but luckily, my friend from UW, Chelsea, was in town. We had tried to meet up when she was also coincidentally in Istanbul while I was there too. However, it didn't work out then.
I met her around noon near the financial district of London. When Chris and I had taken a bus there yesterday, I'd seen some cool buildings but couldn't take pictures. So I made up for that today.
As we strolled, we caught a glimpse of the London Marathon, which started early this morning. Lots of people cheering the runners on.
We strolled across the London Bridge, and no, it's not falling down. In fact, the original London Bridge that was falling down was dismantled and bought by a guy, who moved them to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. I read that in high school while prepping for Knowledge Bowl, and I never forgot it. I know...I'm a nerd.
From the bridge though, you could see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London over the River Thames. I did not realize the water was that nasty.
We were getting hungry, so we stopped by a French cafe on the waterfront. A bit spendy because of the location, but overall manageable. So we stopped and ate some delicious food. First time that I tried French beer too. I still prefer German beer.
After lunch, we decided to just walk around and take pictures. I took very few pictures of myself during this trip, and frankly, I didn't really feel like being in any. But Chelsea convinced me to get one in front of the Tower Bridge.
What I have noticed about London is that, in addition to its old historical buildings, it also has a share of fancy, futuristic buildings. I like it.
We decided to walk in the direction of the London Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster Palace. A few highlights, including Shakepeare's Globe Theater, we passed along the way:
Besides the Globe Theater, one of the highlights I liked in particular was the Millennium Bridge. If you're a Harry Potter movie fan, you'll recognize it from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when it was destroyed by Death Eaters.
We stopped briefly by the Tate Gallery of Modern Art, as there is a special exhibit by Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei. He was arrested by the Chinese government on April 3rd and hasn't been heard of since.
There was a sign in support of him inside the museum.
His exhibit was a large field of sunflower seeds. At first, I thought, "Ok, no big deal. This is why I don't like modern art." Then, I read that each sunflower seed is handmade from porcelain. I changed my mind; it's rather impressive.
The London Eye was pretty neat, but of course, wanting to save money, I did not go up. It was nice and sunny out too, so it was pleasant to just walk along and sit. I got tan actually. Starting in Istanbul, I've gotten a bit more color as a result of the sun. In fact, it was so nice out, Chelsea joined a bunch of other tourists by getting ice cream too.
Taking pictures of Big Ben and Westminster Palace from across the river proved difficult because of the sun. So we decided to just walk over. Plus I wanted to see Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Palace is the seat of Parliament, and it's where Chris actually worked for a while. Pretty awesome building. Very impressive. I especially like the equestrian statue of Richard the Lion Hearted out front. Might be time for Marcus Aurelius in Rome to move over for Richard I as my favorite equestrian statue.
Across the street, Westminster Abbey didn't look quite as large as I'd always thought it was. First time I saw it was on TV during Princess Diana's funeral. Pretty nuts that the royal wedding will be there in less than two weeks.
We decided to call it a day and meet up with Chris for some drinks. I had a nice stout beer that had a sort of pistachio finish. Really quite tasty and by far the best English beer I've had.
After Chelsea had to leave, Chris and I went to dinner at Nando's, a chain restaurant from South Africa. Chris was a Fulbrighter in South Africa last year, so he knew the good stuff. It was really very good, albeit pricey. If Nando's exists in the U.S., someone please open one in Seattle.
Tomorrow morning, I have to wake up at 6 AM for a whole day of travel. I'm flying to Oslo from London and then will take a 6 hour and 15 minute long train ride from Oslo to Trondheim. I will arrive in Trondheim, where my friend Jess lives, around 9 PM. Pretty crazy, but it was the cheapest way to travel. I also hear the train ride is really nice as it runs from south to north through all of Norway almost.
So long from London. Talk to you from Norway.
Sam
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