Spring Break Days 1-2: London

Sunday, February 25th - Monday, February 26th, 2007:

My spring break abroad was spent with Amy and Maureen, first with a couple days in London, then a few more days in Paris. It was an amazing trip, and one that I will never forget... between Rome, London, and Paris, I've now seen some of the greatest cities in the world, and had a really great time doing it. Here's where it started...

We began our journey early on the morning of Sunday, February 25th, with a bus ride to Termini train station from Largo Argentina. From there, we had to find the waiting line for the bus shuttle to Ciampino airport. We eventually found it, and got in the back of an extremely long line. After seeing one bus depart, and just barely making the cut for the 2nd bus that left, we had some doubts about making our plane, but after a warm, crowded bus ride that felt much longer than it was, we got to Ciampino and checked in without a hitch... after the girls had stowed their all-important hair products in the bag I was checking. Security went quickly, and soon enough, we were climbing into our RyanAir plane to London. I've never had to board a plane that big from the tarmac before... and it was a pretty big plane. There was no first-class or coach, it was all just one big section. The flights on RyanAir is cheap, but they make up for it with the food you can buy on the plane. Amy and I got a bunch of food, including Sour Cream and Onion Pringles (which I hadn't had in so long... they were glorious) and Mars Muffins... yum.
In no time at all, we were on the ground at London Luton Airport. We dealt with snotty customs people (who just love the fact that they wield the power to bar you from the country, apparently... my person was nice, but Amy and Mo weren't so lucky), which culminated with Amy calling her customs person a not-so-nice, but not entirely unwarranted bad name, not quite behind her back. Oh well, they let us in anyway.
Here the happy travelers are outside London Luton, waiting for the van into London. It was an hour or so into the city, driving on the opposite side of the road, which took some getting used to. Our friend Frank, whose flat we were lucky enough to get to crash at, was waiting for us at our stop on Baker Street, only a couple blocks from where he lives.




London's BT Tower, near Frank's flat. The feeling here is hard to describe... everything is just very English... the buildings and streets are quirky, in a restrained sort of way, and everything is clean-cut and polite feeling, from the people to the the architecture. After dropping our things off at the flat (extremely nice, with modern furnishings... apparently the carpet concept has caught on in England more than in Italy), we headed to a nearby grocery store. This was our first encounter with the ultimate evil that is the British pound... essentially, everything is twice as expensive as in America. We bought ingredients for bangers and mash (sausage and potatoes) along with ginger chicken and some desserts.


The first night in London was spent near Frank's flat. Vikki, who also got into London that day, came over to spend the next couple days with us. For dinner, we cooked the bangers and mash, which was amazing and a nice change of pace after so much Italian food. Then we vegged out for a while and then went to a pub called the Green Man to get some brewskis... it was a good time, and my first (and hopefully not last encounter) with Strongbow. Yay for London! Here is Amy trying to either charge her phone or dry her hair the next morning... basically we're lucky we didn't die in a fire. They have a different plug and voltage than Italy, so that was another thing to get used to.




After our breakfast of crumpets (that's so fun to say), our first stop for the day was the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We took the tube from Great Portland to the aptly-named Green Park, and crossed the park to the palace. These are the ornate gates at the edge of the park. It was a rainy day, but that's basically what we were all expecting, since it was London and all.










Buckingham Palace! We flocked with the rest of the tourists to the front gates to watch the ceremony.























Amy, Mo, Me, and Vikki, letting smiles be our umbrellas.







The ceremony was different than I expected... several marching bands marched through the gates and positioned themselves inside... it was neat watching them go by. I was able to squeeze up to the front for part of the ceremony, but I couldn't tell exactly what transpired. There was lots of military-style yelling, lots of music from the bands (including, strangely enough, a Gershwin medley) and lots of synchronized gun moves. When it was done, the marching bands marched back out.


The nice female cop on an enormous horse.











The imposing facade of Buckingham Palace after the ceremony.












Amy, Frank, and Mo at the gates.








London's equivalent of DC's Pennsylvania Avenue, this street runs from Buckingham Palace down to Trafalgar Square.







You have to get a long way from the palace to be able to take a picture of the entire front facade... it is enormous.







A marker on the road to Trafalgar Square.








The girls posing under a British flag.























We made it to Trafalgar Square, and of course, found an iconic red phone booth to do a photo shoot in... it is hard not to smile when you are doing something so unabashedly touristy.






Amy in the booth.











A fountain in the rain at Trafalgar Square.






















Our first sighting of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.











From Trafalgar Square, we walked to the Thames and crossed it on the Hungerford Bridge.














The massive London Eye... we will return to this later.












Some London landmarks along the Thames.








At the end of the Hungerford Bridge, we turned left and walked along the banks of the river towards the Tate Modern looking for a place to eat... more specifically, a place to eat with cheap fish and chips. To the left is Blackfriars Bridge.





Part of the London skyline, with St. Paul's Cathedral on the left and Norman Foster's Gherkin building poking up on the right.










After walking for a while, we eventually found Doggett's Coat and Badge, a restaurant near the water with reasonably priced fish and chips... it was very simple, but amazing... even the peas were good, and I really hate peas.





Obviously a candid shot... outside Doggett's by the river.








Another shot of the skyline.








A signpost in front of the Tate Modern.









Millennium Bridge, and the city beyond.











The dome of St. Paul's Cathedral from across the river. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to make it inside.










Millennium Bridge and St. Paul's.








The Tate Modern is a contemporary art gallery in London, in an old power plant that was renovated by Herzog and de Meuron to house the museum. We were ostensibly here for the art and architecture...





... but let's not lie to ourselves, we really just wanted to go down the slides. An interactive art installation in the atrium of the Tate Modern, there are several curving slides that jut from most of the levels of the museum. After marveling at the enormous interior space, our inner 6-year olds took over, so we got our timed tickets and headed up to the 5th floor. It shakes you to the bone on the way down, but it was a pretty fun ride.





Another one of the slides.











A Tate Modern hallway, reflected on a glass wall.








After some time in the gift shop, we left the museum and walked back towards the Hungerford Bridge and the London Eye. There was hardly any line for the Eye due to the crappy weather, so we bought our tickets and climbed on board. This is definitely not your typical county fair ferris wheel... it is massive, and takes half an hour to make a full revolution. The wheel is ringed by enclosed glass capsules that can hold a ton of people at once, it was pretty incredible.









Most of the pictures didn't turn out so well because of the rain on the glass, but here are a few of the better ones. It must be pretty spectacular on a rare clear London day.






The Hungerford bridge and the city beyond.




















Parliament and Big Ben.


































The inner workings of the wheel.








Frank and Mo, immediately after Frank said that no one could ever get a picture of him smiling.










Amy Boyek in "When Sci-Fi Goes Emo."











My attempt at a group shot... Amy, Mo and I failed at this repeatedly and it got even worse with five people... it made for a funny picture though.







After the incredible trip on the Eye, we got off and walked farther down the river in the now-pouring rain and driving wind. Not exactly conducive for picture-taking... my camera hasn't been that wet since our site visit to Calvert Cliffs for studio... yuck. Anyway, we crossed the river at Parliament to hop back on the tube to Frank's flat, cook dinner, and then tube to Leicester Square to see Phantom of the Opera! (BUMMM.... bum bum bum bum bummm.....)
















On the way to Phantom, a really cool subway ad. "Repeat after me: I must not be a sheep."







The show was, for lack of better words, absolutely amazing. We had great seats, at the front row of the upper balcony, and it was incredible to see... the production values were pretty staggering (The boat on the lake? The candles coming up from the floor? The chandelier?? My mind is officially blown) , and the performances were fantastic... I had the songs stuck in my head for the rest of spring break, and then some.


Here's the motley crew out in front of Her Majesty's Theater after the show.










The aforementioned Green Man Tavern on the way home.