mind the gap

I absolutely loved riding the Underground in London. It's not scenic to say the least, but I never really use public transportation back in Texas, so the experience was really cool.

The trip to London wore me out so much, I am still recuperating this morning/afternoon. We wasted no part of Friday or Saturday trying to see everything possible. Oh! And nothing bad happened regarding the Afghanistan conference. Thank goodness the raised 'threat level' was only precautionary, and everyone was safe. Thank you for your prayers.

It was a little tough to get moving so early Friday morning, but who wouldn't get out of bed at the promise of going to London? Our entire study abroad group made the transition from train to subway without any fiascos, and a short walk brought us to the first stop: the British Library.

Before this trip, I would have told you that of all the places we planned to see in London, I was least looking forward to the British Library. I love literature, but usually end up feeling inferior in the company of people truly educated in the subject. When my survival instincts start to kick in, I will always choose flight over fight. Always. Okay, back to the Library. My premonitions had it all wrong. I saw some of the most amazing displays, each capturing separate powerful moments in time. Combined all in the same room, it was like seeing a brief blink into the history of humanity. I saw the original score for Handel's 'Messiah' (what?!), Beethoven's tuning fork (jaw drop here), countless ornate copies of sections of the Bible, scrolls filled with colorful details of other religions, and one of the four copies of the Magna Carta. The moment I saw the Magna Carta, I briefly flashed back to the time I saw the Declaration of Independence. (If I'm not mistaken, that has four copies too. Yes? Weird.) I just think that it is CRAZY how a document that had defined an entire country could be just sitting in front of me. Also, I had a falafel + hummus sandwich for lunch. Middle Eastern food has really impressed me. Moving on.

The British Museum was next! What I find most comical is that there is nothing inherently BRITISH about this museum.. besides the fact that it resides in the great UK. We talked about this in our INTS class, too: what are defining characteristics of British culture? (Mull that one over a bit. I'm still figuring it out.) This museum was enormous and overwhelming. After a quick glance at the map with Cailee and Kelly, we decided that the best idea would be to get through the entire thing as efficiently as possible. I'm pretty sure we missed a few little exhibits, but our backpacks felt so heavy by the end that we were pleased with the amount of material covered. Got to see THE Rosetta Stone, which was gorgeous, and a lot thicker than I imagined!

The next couple of hours were spent trying to maneuver around London to find our hostel, get ready, find dinner, and locate the theatre. Yes. I saw Wicked. It was phenomenal and so entirely worth the 35 GBP. During different parts, Cailee and I would lean over to whisper about how it reminded us of Amy and Corinne, the biggest fans of Wicked in our pod.. and maybe ever. The rest of the night was spent rehashing lines and songs, sounding like crazy people through Picadilly Circus (a British Times Square) and the tube. Our group spent the rest of the night laughing about who knows what until we passed out. I would count that as a success.

If you ever need a hostel to stay in, I recommend the Meininger company. It's part hotel, part hostel- so you can rent smaller rooms for a family, or dorm rooms for groups of eight, like us. It was very clean, and we had our own private bathroom. That was a plus. I think it's a German company, and they have locations around Europe.. Grant said something about them being affiliated with the Boy Scouts? You can do your research on that. Overall, very satisfied for 15 GBP.

The group (Lauren, Jackie, Kelly, Cailee, Allison, Grant, Wyatt, and I) stopped by some bakeries and a local market for breakfast. I got a great wholemeal (wholemeal = whole grain) biscuit with some raisins in it for 60p. Sweet deal, and then I had the most sour apple ever. Yum.

After we bought all-day passes for the tube, we made it to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. It was really packed (as in, thousands of people. who knew?) so we weren't able to see much. Unfortunately, the Queen nor Princes made an appearance.. even though the flag indicated that she's home. Darn. We made our way over to Westminster Abbey.. and this is where day gets a little rough. Being outside in the cold for close to 3 hours got to be a little too much for me, and my feet and hands were to the point of being so numb it was painful. I realize this sounds a bit whiny, but it was significant enough that my entire afternoon was governed by it. Wyatt and Allison went inside Westminster Abbey, but I wasn't feeling like spending 12 GBP on a tour (even though I regretted it afterwards). My sole mission at this point was to get inside someplace warm, immediately. Walking up and down surrounding streets gave me NO luck, as I was surprised to find that nearly everything next to the river is a private building or outdoor kiosk. Boo. On the way back to Westminster, we located a little coffee shop where I spent the next 20 minutes unapologetically loitering at the little bar by the window. All better.

Let's see.. more strolling through London, rode the tube to Harrod's. We ate lunch at Harrod's 102 across the street, which has a crazy cool variety of food choices. Sundried tomato and spinach quiche, anyone? The group spent a little time wandering through Harrod's.. which is identical to Saks Fifth or Neimas Marcus in the sense that all the extravagant items on sale leave you with the humbled sense that you can't always get what you want.

We took the tube over to the London Monument, which is the world's tallest free-standing stone column. Did you know? Then, for 2 GBP, we subjected ourselves to climbing all 311 steps. I got really dizzy, but the view was SO worth it- we made it to the top as the sun was setting over London, making for some very pretty pictures. Upon our arrival on the ground, we went to the London bridge (sing nursery rhyme here) and took pictures of each other with the Tower bridge in the background. The Tower bridge is much more aesthetically pleasing, but costs around 12 GBP to enter, so we settled for pictures of it instead. At this point, the entire group was getting tired- trust me when I say that two days of straight walking WILL wear you out. The all-day tube card proved indispensable as we ventured over to Trafalgar Square, which was beautifully lit at night. The settings on my camera made for some very flowy pictures of water fountains.. maybe you'll see later. Grant led us to the Texas Embassy, which now serves as a restaurant as a result of the dissolution of the Republic. Can't complain about finding some Mexican food in London. After a bit of debate as to where we would eat dinner and pass the time until our train home, the group finally settled on the Texas Embassy. Even though the chips and salsa weren't quite like it is back home, we more than welcomed the feeling of being somewhere we could identify with! I had some great vegetable quesadillas, and we spent a while just chatting. One of the girls had to find the restroom upstairs.. and came back telling us that there were a whole bunch of flags from Texas universities, and ACU was one of them! Needless to say, we all flipped out and got a picture taken with it before we left (even though the waitress didn't understand the point and cropped most of the flag out of the picture anyway). It's the thought that counts, right?

We were ready to ride the tube back to Paddington station, and were able to retrieve our tickets from our reservation smoothly, thank goodness. Trying to find seats together on the train, we discovered another group from our study abroad program heading back home to Oxford as well! By this point, I was just ready to sleep in my own bed. Some very loud, drunk guys (self-titled "football hooligans") made the ride a bit more interesting than expected, and then we basically powerwalked back to the Houses.

I have a bit of homework to get done before tomorrow's Humanities quiz (over Jane Austen's 'Persuasion') and should probably shower at some point. How will we ever find enough time to shower on our week-long trips? Ew. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Missing you all in the states. All my love.