When someone says you have a six-hour layover,
you think "Wow, that's a long time." Well, it is. After a smooth flight
to Boston and exploring the whole airport, you don't quite know what to do with
yourself. London excitement was thick in the air. All I can hope is we don't
gush at every accent we hear as we did for a moment with the British man
talking on Skype a few seats away. We tried to keep our minds busy with card
games, but we practically ran to the gate door when we began boarding.
The six/seven hour flight felt much quicker than
the layover. Everyone was ecstatic to see the wide variety of movie
selections—meaning that everyone’s plans to sleep were kind of forgotten. I
myself only got three hours of sleep, but the fact that I did get SOME sleep
was a wonder in and of itself. Finally, we landed and we rushed off to customs.
The line was long, but we managed to get through. Grabbing our bags was no
problem, and once we walked out of baggage claim it really hit us: we’re in
London! One of the first “British” sights was the “Royal mail” box and stamps.
Is it just me, or does everything British seem classier? There was also a
little convenience store. There were some weird drinks in there, including some
that supposedly made your brain better (which I truly doubt, they probably only
add extra choline to help with the production of acetylcholine…sorry I’ll stop
with the neuroscience speak). They had some popular magazines and,
unsurprisingly, they were plastered with Kate’s and William’s faces (especially
in light of the recent news that Kate is pregnant).
When the coach was ready, everyone ran out—once
again expecting to get some needed shut eye on the “bus tour.” Our tour wasn’t
as expected though for two reasons. One: we had an…interesting experience when
suddenly our coach wouldn’t move due to a stuck air break. In order to take a
bus tour, you kind of need a working bus. Luckily, we were able to get moving
after a few awkward minutes of sitting still at a green light. Secondly, we
actually made stops on our bus tour. The first stop was at Buckingham Palace,
an extremely pleasant surprise. We didn’t go inside, but the Palace exterior
was amazing! The gates were covered with intricate designs, all apparently
covered in gold. According to our lovely guide, Angie, all the gold was REAL
gold! Crazy right? To think that everything was gold leaf. The Victoria
Memorial was shinning despite the dreary weather. Apparently, they had just
recovered it with gold. We got to see a couple of guards! Sadly, they weren't
wearing their signature red summer coats, but instead their winter grey ones.
However, they still had the funny hats, so I was happy. ;) Another interesting
thing to see was how the road suddenly was red. Only the royal land has the red
paved roads, and I'm sure the Queen keeps track of that.
The second stop was the amazing St. Paul's
Cathedral. We didn't admire the outside for long because of the stifling gloom
of the rainy London weather, but the inside was breathtaking. I've been within
other cathedrals, but not quite like this one. I wish I could have taken
pictures of the inside, especially because I fear I was too tired to properly
form good memories of the amazing views. Even though I am not athletic in any
respect, I was not going to pass the opportunity to climb all the way to the
top. The first bit to the whispering gallery was not bad at all. Sadly, we
couldn't get "whispering" to really work (where you can supposedly
whisper against the wall and you can hear it across the room if you have your
ear against the wall). The next part was the killer--way more than steps than
you think, I'll tell you that. But we made it, all 365 steps to the top, and
the view was worth it. It was still rainy when we were up there, but even in
the mugginess, you could see so much of London. I could see the London Eye, Parliament,
the Gherkin, the Olympic stadium. I was exhausted by the time I came down, but
I would do it again in a heartbeat. What I also didn't expect to see was a
memorial to American soldiers who died during World War II (mostly those of the
air force). They even had a book of names of all those who died.
When we got back to the hotel, we were basically
dead. Getting our rooms was kind of a hassle, and apparently the people at the
hotel are very strict. We didn't get to stay in our rooms long anyway though
because it was time for the walking tour. Walking in the rain was hardly fun.
We did get visited by a very unafraid rat though who seemed to saunter right
through our group. Interesting sight indeed. For dinner, I ate with people from
another group at Nando's, a large chain restaurant specializing in
chicken.
One thing I've seemed to notice (and I don't
know if this is because we went to some very touristy places and hung out by
the hotel) is that you hear a lot of accents and languages in London. I
probably heard about five different languages being spoken as I walked down the
road, something you wouldn't necessarily experience in a lot of American
cities.
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