I've officially slacked on updating my blog for a solid month. So to compensate I have an overwhelming amount of stories to tell and photos to share about my 2 week vacation with my mom, 1 week of that was spent in London. I will try to post all of my adventures in installments so it's not too much to handle at once, but inevitably there is a lot to tell and lots to see. Bare with me because I had an absolutely amazing week in London and really enjoyed my time spent with my mom so of course I'm going to want to tell you all about it.
I'll start with picking my mom up from the airport in Brussels. She was able to swing a business class seat and boy did it seem worth every penny. She had seats that reclined all the way flat and amazing stewardess that brought you everything you could imagine. My mom said that since this was all such a new experience for her and one she may never get to enjoy again she wanted to capture every moment of it and spent a good part of the flight taking photos and just looking around in amazement. I'll post a couple of photos so we can all experience a taste of business class.
Once I picked my mom up from the airport we caught a train back to Lille where we spent the rest of the day unpacking and meeting my housemates. My mom had brought a little souvenir from the states for all of my new friends in Lille and everyone really loved and appreciate the gifts. My mom was pretty tired that night and the next day so we just spent the time hanging out at home so she could adjust to the time chance and let the jet lag pass. Sunday we did venture out of the house to check out the circus that was in town and decided to set up their tents just down the road from my house. We also went for a walk through Parc Barbieux and found a really pretty waterfall. On Monday of that week we ventured into Lille and took a quick 30 minute tour of the downtown area and then went shopping at Euralille (the mega shopping mall in town). The next day we took the metro out to see my two schools, one of which was just built a brand new building and the old building is being demolished. We then took the metro all the way to the very end of the line to go shopping at what was advertised to be a craft store but turned out to be an over priced toy store and a small craft section. We made sure to get back from fairly earlier that night so we could pack and rest up for our trip to London the next day.
The next morning we woke up pretty early to pack up any last minute items and catch the bus, then the metro to get to the train station to take the Eurostar through the "chunnel" over to England. We got to go through immigration and border control, which means we got more stamps in our passports! The train ride was very nice, and you couldn't even tell when you were in the tunnel under the water crossing between the two countries. There was a sign at the entrance to the tunnel on the French side, and once you crossed to England there were Union Jack flags lining the rail line. Once we got off the train and navigated our way to the tube station in St. Pancras we bought a 7 day transportation pass to use on all the buses and underground tube stations. Unfortunately not all of London is equipped with elevators and escalators so we had to lug our suitcase up and down several flights of stairs before we finally got to the tube station by our hotel. Once checking into the hotel we were pleasantly surprised by the room. It was rather spacious and very clean. We booked a room that came with a full kitchen so we could cook in the room on some nights to save money. The only bad part about the room was the drafty door behind the bed, which we took care of with some cleaning cloths and packaging tape. After unpack out bags we headed off for some lunch, which we ate at a picnic table in Hyde Park. We noticed the sidewalks had signs painted on them warning foreigners of which was to look since English cars drive on the left side of the street. There were so many families out enjoying the weather together and walking their dogs. Immediately I noticed how much happier the Londoners were compared to the French. After lunch we walked to Kensington Palace, which is on the far west side of the park and is where Prince William and Kate will be living shortly. This is also where Princess Diana lived. We back tracked a little through the park to see the Italian gardens, the Peter Pan statue and then the memorial fountain for Princess Diana.
We ended up walking from the northern side of Hyde Park all the way to the very southern side. We followed our map to the Knightsbridge area and quickly found Harrods department store. For those of you who aren't familiar with Harrods (what girl isn't?!) it's one of if not the largest free standing high end luxury department stores in the heart of London. There are 5 floors of shopping to be had and plenty of price tags to gawk at. We started out in the luxury gloves room, then moved on to the designer scarves and by the time we made it to the handbags and purses wing we decided to move onto the next floor. The food halls were the most amazing part of the entire building. When you go to most malls your food choices range from Subway to Sbarro and usually a chinese take out stand. In Harrods you can pick from a fresh oyster bar with champagne or oven roasted meat with a pint of beer. The fruits and vegetables room was pretty spectacular, but my favorite room was the sweets and desserts. I found a giant chocolate easter egg that was priced at 795 British pound sterlings (that's $1205). Needless to say I did not buy that chocolate, but I did take a picture of it. On the fifth floor we found that you could reserve a time slot for a private shopper to scour the entire store for you so you don't have to tax yourself with actually browsing through the clothing and accessories. In the basement was the wine, champagne and beer cellar. There was a wine tasting bar and a room filled with some of the biggest and most expensive wines I've ever seen. We could take only so much shopping out of our price range before heading back to the hotel room. I did however buy a reusable tote bag with the Harrods logo on it for a whopping 10 British pounds sterling (that's about $15). We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant that we found to be a little bland but there was luckily some salt and pepper on the table we seasoned our pasta with.
Our first full day in London start with a trip to Buckingham Palace to watch the Mounting of the Guards. We got there 30 minutes before the processional begun but the crowds had already packed in so we had to squeeze into a spot along the center drive in front of the palace. We didn't have a view of the guards inside of the gate so we just watched a youtube video back in the hotel room to see what all actually happens. We didn't dress appropriately for the bitter cold and the wind so we had to back track to the hotel room and put on some extra layers. We then took the underground to Westminster Abbey and saw the House of Parliament, the Elizabeth Tower (which was formerly known as Big Ben) and then then West Minster Abbey. We opted to not take the tour of Parliament nor West Minster. It was still amazing to be standing along side all of these famous landmarks and marvel at their sheer size. It wasn't until now that I realized I was actually in London. All of these landmarks are along the River Thames, and just across the river is a giant hospital and museums but mostly a business district. We did pop into St. Margret's church, where we weren't supposed to take photos but of course I did. Outside of West Minster Abbey we stopped to ask a security guard which entrance Kate Middleton used for her wedding. When we pointed at the tiny entrance in front of us we were shocked to find out just how much the entrance had to be redecorated and altered to seem something more grand than it actually is. Also the camera angles the BBC allowed filming stations to film the action from made the space seem much larger than it really is. We had to refer back to a youtube video to realize that that was indeed the main entrance used for the ceremony. We didn't go inside the Abbey since it cost 18 British pounds sterling per person and we figured since the outside looked so different from how it was portrayed on TV that the inside might give the same illusion.
We ate lunch at a small cafe in a tube station and then made out way to St. Paul's Cathedral where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married. We peeked inside the church just before it closed for the day. The iconic black and white tile floor is still there! We took the tube up to King's Cross Rail station to see Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter movies for ourselves. This is of course a fake prop and wasn't used in the movie, but still kinda cool to see all the little kids marvel at it and pretend to push the trolley into the wall. Since there was a pretty long line to take a picture there and neither mom nor I are fans of Harry Potter we opted to just move on.
We ended the day at Covent Garden with a little shopping. Covent Garden is an indoor/outdoor shopping market in the heart of London. Some booths were selling handmade crafts and food, other booths were selling tourist trinkets and then there were small shops where you could buy clothing and accessories. For dinner we went to a pub and got a local London beer and shared a large plate of fish and chips.
I will end part 1 there. I'm off to tutor now, but when I get the chance I'll be sure to keep updating you with my adventures in London!!
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