London, Here We Come!

So, the weekend of November 7th-9th was a long weekend break for us here in Ireland. Livia, Izzy, Emily, Olivia, Michaela and I went to LONDON!!!! All right, I’m super excited about all of this, but I’m going to start at the beginning and save the best for last!
We left after class on Thursday the 6th. I think our flight was at like 8:25, so we left at about 3:30 because we were trying to catch the 4:00 air coach (the bus that takes you to the airport). It’s a one hour and twenty minute bus ride from Greystones to the Dublin airport. Unfortunately, we were a bit later than we anticipated because first the air coach was about 40 minutes late (usually you can count on it being 15 minutes late, time isn’t as important in Ireland, but this was taking it a little far), forcing us to stand out in the rain for like forty minutes, and then the driver was new so he got lost on the way to the airport, so a one hour and twenty minute bus drive turned into a two hour one. Ah, well, at least we got through security quickly and were on the airplane in plenty of time. We arrived in London at 9:45, found out what bus we were supposed to get on, and then were dropped off at Victoria Station. From there we took a cab to the London Eye Hostel.
Our hostel was literally like a ten minute walk from the London Eye (which is one of the biggest Ferris wheels in the world), which is right across the River Thames from Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. That’s quite a sight to see every morning! London was even better than I’d ever imagined – beautiful, clean, and with those picturesque red telephone booths on like every corner. I expected a lot of dirty, sketchy parts, but I don’t think that I was ever anywhere that made me feel nervous. Our hostel was right beside a daycare center, for goodness sake! But, honestly, we went all over the place and I always felt fine. It was so clean, which I really wasn’t expecting.
The first day was a bit of a mix-up, but it ended up being okay. You see, we’d all planned to go to the West End on Friday night and see a show (It’s like London’s version of Broadway). I wanted to see Wicked more than anything, that’s been a dream of mine for years, so Olivia and I bought tickets to that early, while we were still in Greystones. Everyone else was okay seeing whatever they could get the cheapest tickets to, so they planned to go out on Friday morning and see what they could get. They left Olivia and I at the hostel, and we planned to just meet them in an hour or two.
So they purchased their “hop-on, hop-off” bus tickets – which was a REALLY good decision because the tickets lasted for 48 hours so we could use them to see everything and get around – and headed off to the West End. A little while later Livia called on one of the cell phones that Tammi gave us and gave me directions to get to where they were. Olivia and I followed their directions to a “T”, bought our tickets and got on the bus, but unfortunately we were unaware that the bus route is a figure eight, so from the same bus stop (and on the same route), the buses leave in two different directions. This meant that our bus went the other (and much longer) way around. There was also terrible traffic. Finally, after two or three hours of Olivia and I seeing most of the sights by accident and the others waiting around for us, they decided to hop back on another bus and go see Buckingham Palace. Olivia and I got off the bus that we were on, grabbed some lunch, and then got back on to go see the Tower of London and some other things by ourselves. It was a little frustrating, but we ended up having fun!
Apparently Livia, Emily, Izzy, and Michaela ended up getting their hair washed and blow dried for free because this new salon was opening and hair dressers were interviewing for jobs. That was pretty funny!
We all met back up at the hostel at about 5 to begin getting ready for the shows. The other four got tickets to the Lion King. They had standing tickets, but I hear that their view was great just the same!
As for Olivia and I, we were sitting in the middle of the balcony at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. I can’t explain that night to you. I absolutely have seen nothing like it in all of my life. I’ve always dreamed of seeing Wicked, which is just another example of how this trip has absolutely been a dream(s) come true! It was beyond anything that I imagined. It definitely lit my fire to be involved in theatre again! I’m going to be in that show someday. I know it!
We got a taxi back and met the other girls at the hostel where we all settled in for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday was so much fun! Livia wanted to see the biggest department store in London (and possibly the world), the famous Herod’s Department Store, more than anything, so we took the bus route that would stop there and got to see several other things on the way!
One thing we saw early on was Buckingham Palace. We got off there because Olivia and I hadn’t seen it the day before, and we ended up being glad that we did! We noticed that everyone was crushing against the gates looking like they were expecting something, and we heard that there was going to be a changing of the guards at 11:30. We waited and nothing happened, so we were about to leave when this calvary unit rode right through the courtyard past us and then around the side of the palace gates. They were all dressed in these really fancy red uniforms with black hats.
Just as we were about to leave, Izzy noticed more of the guards on the inside of the gates (you know, the ones with the big fuzzy hats?) were marching out, so we stayed and ended up being able to see the changing of the guards after all! It was just at a different time than we’d thought.
We spent an hour or two at Herod’s, which was unbelieveable. All along the outside it has these windows with moving toys and Christmas displays in all of them. Inside there are stores for everything, from toys to books to technology to clothes, accessories, and food! The food floor is amazing because there is a room for every different kind of food (tea, candy, meat, fruit…), and the tileing on the walls and ceilings is beautiful and there are all these people in white and black uniforms making things for people…Olivia and Michaela made it their task to find the most expensive thing in the store. They found a pure gold-covered iphone, “toy” cars that ran on real gas, and so much more!
I, for one, found the Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings section in the toy store which had everything from wands to broomsticks, daggers, the One Ring, and Lady Galadriel’s headdress. I have no words.
That evening we were trying to hurry to get back to the river because our bus tickets had a free river cruise included, but we ended up getting in such bad traffic that it was impossible. That was all right, however, because we decided to get off and get some fish and chips (our one meal of the trip pretty much, the rest of the time we subsisted on granola bars and the breakfast provided by the hostel). It started raining, but they were setting off fireworks over the city, anyway, for Remembrance Weekend, and so we got to stop and see those on the way to dinner!
It’s Remembrance Weekend because this year is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I. It kicks of a four-year memorial period for England, at the end of which (in 2018) they’ll celebrate the end of the war. That plays into the VERY IMPORTANT thing that happened on Sunday!
Sunday morning we woke up and checked out of our hostel. Emily wanted to get tea/hot chocolate at this little vender beside the river. We did so, and then sat talking for awhile right across from Big Ben and Westminster. Olivia and Michaela noticed this helicopter circling over by Westminster, and so we decided to go see what was going on. We were met by crowds of people crushing against gates on both sides of the street, and tons of policemen. We found a clear spot where we had a great view and asked a nearby policeman what was going on. He told us that there was going to be a parade for Remembrance Weekend, and that the entire ROYAL FAMILY was going to be there!
We stayed to watch every section of the Royal Army and Royal Guard march past before the main attraction came. Yes, ladies and gentlement, six American girls who just happened to be in London on the right weekend saw Harry, William, Kate, Charles, Camilla, and the Queen herself! They were in cars, but Olivia still got a pretty good picture of the Queen. One older woman whom we were standing by had lived in London her whole life and had never seen the Queen. What a blessing! God absolutely gave us everything on this short trip. It was beyond our wildest dreams! I think that God enjoys surprising us with even more than we hoped for. He’s such a great Dad. I love Him so much!
We all bought red poppy pins, which are a sign of WWI. Everyone in England was wearing them. We were standing outside of Westminster Abbey looking at all of the memorials and wreaths which had been set up there when – exactly at eleven o’clock – Big Ben rang eleven times and the ENTIRE CITY went silent. The entire thing. In all of London, England, all that could be heard were the cries of children. Then, after one minute had passed, a cannon went off twice and then everyone began talking again. We only learned later that WWI ended at eleven in the morning. It was so moving. I’m really kind of annoyed that we don’t have that kind of respect and tradition in the United States.
Once again we had bus issues getting to the airport, but we left ourselves plenty of time, which is good because security is much more difficult to get through on the English side! Anyway, by eleven or so that night we were back in Greystones with a million stories to tell!