Hello all,
Well, we (i.e. my roommates and I) were excited about going to London on Saturday. Originally, we were supposed to go with the school (as a fundraising thing where it only cost 12 pounds return on a bus from Kettering to London), but it was cancelled due to low numbers. However, our co-worker Dee (the nice woman who invited us over to her house for a dinner with her and her family a few months back) and her husband, Alan, decided they were still going to go and wanted to take us. So, we woke up at our normal times to go to school (as we all had to take a shower and get ready) and waited excitedly until 8 o'clock for them to show up. From there, we made our way on the motor way to London. It took us about 2 hours to finally get there and get parked (stopping at a services to stretch our legs, get a hot chocolate, and of course to use the toilets). We also had issues parking because their son told them they could park by his work on Saturday as the business was closed and people parked there on the weekend all the time. Well...what he didn't realize is that the parking was for permit parking only. Using the TomTom Alan had, and making many an error because its signals were being blocked by the buildings, we finally made our way to a car park and began our adventure on the tube.
We got to London Bridge station, then made our way to the London Dungeon (basically Clifton Hill's version of a fun/haunted house centred around the theme of torture, hangings, Sweeney Todd, and Jack the Ripper). I didn't know this when we agreed to going to it...I thought we were going to the historical part of London Bridge which spoke of the dungeons and the history behind it. If I had known, I might have decided not to go (thinking of my hyperventilating experience I had when going to a haunted house on Clifton Hill...). We spent most of time in a queue and waiting for them to let us in to the next scene (as they allowed us in, groups at a time). It took a good 1.5 hours to get through the whole thing which got frustrating. The final part of the "adventure" was going on a small version of drop zone. I wasn't sure if I should do it...but then decided to. It was centred on the theme of being hung and then dropped - and taking our picture on the way down. The feeling of being suspended and held "down" by a safety bar was the scary part...but I was glad I did it (until I saw the picture of my face...yikes!). And so, our dungeon adventure ended...but the rest of our day had just begun.
From the dungeon, we made our way all the river to London Bridge itself. It was gorgeous! After leaving Alan at a warship (HMS Belfast), the ladies and I went to walk across London Bridge then make our way to the boats for a "city tour" along the River Thames. From the boat (with commentary) we were able to view sites of London on either side. It was neat and I can't wait to go again and go on the Hop-on-hop-off bus to hear more about the history. (Did you know that there is an obelisk along the river that was made for Cleopatra but was given to London and placed along the river? Also, the only building to have a flat roof is Shakespeare's Globe theatre.)
We got off the boat at Westminster and made our way along to Big Ben and viewed the parliament from across the street. I could see that they placed a large evergreen (comparable to that of the one you'd find in Times' Square in New York) on the grounds of parliament and are still stringing the lights. I hope to find out when they plan on lighting the tree and maybe making my way into London for this ceremony...I can only imagine what it would look like. We then back-tracked towards the embankment and went to find something to eat (we hadn't eaten all day) - stopping at the first place we found...Quiznos.
As we had to meet up with Alan, and the tube wasn't working where he was, we met at St. Paul's Cathedral. I was, surprisingly, able to take a couple pictures (my goodness, it was beautiful...even in the dark). I was also happy to see that the church was open. Going inside, you could hear beautiful music which I thought was a recording until I looked further and saw that they were having a service! The art was absolutely beautiful and the dome, apparently, is second to that of the Vatican (I can only image what that will look like!). I am hoping to go back another time to see it in the daylight...but I was so happy to be able to go there last night to view it for the first time.
From there, we made our way back to the car and drove into Kettering. We went to dinner at the Trading Post then was back home by 9pm. I was in bed by 9:30 and went out like a light! It was an awesome day!!!
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