So two days after stepping off a plane from the U.S.A. I was on a bus heading to London. Yes, you can take a bus to London. I've been asked that a lot, but you also actually have to take a ferry or go in the underground tunnel. I was lucky enough to experience both, just to see how it really works! On the trip to London, after going through passport control for both the UK and France (those people don't mess around, they were extremely intense...) our bus was put into this huge train, to than enter the Euro Tunnel. If you are claustrophobic, I wouldn't recommend. We were in there for about 45 minutes, and you are sitting on the bus with a bunch of people, in a train car, in a tunnel, underground, under water....it was a bit unnerving, but I survived! On the way back, although it was a little less pleasant at this point because it was 4 am, we actually put our bus onto a ferry and had to get off and sit in the lounge area for the 95 minute ride. I was glad I got to see how it all worked, and I was even happier to make it to London! So back to my trip....
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| Hitching a ride on the night bus... |
We arrived on Thursday in the afternoon and it was quite rainy. Shocking, I know, you would never expect rain in England! But anyway, we didn't do much, just got settled and tried to plan out our next few days, and we were lucky enough to get beautiful weather for them! Friday we were visiting the Warner Bros. set of Harry Potter, that was the underlying reason for our trip to London, I couldn't pass it up! Harry Potter was really such a phenomenon and it was so much fun to see the behind the scenes movie magic! It was funny to think that last summer Ciara, James and I went into NYC to the Discovery Time Square Harry Potter Exhibit to see all the props, never even imagining I would get to go to the ACTUAL studio. I really can't believe my life sometimes, but I don't hate it!
We were able to see the Great Hall, walk down Diagon Alley, see so many props and costumes, and we were shown how the crew made everything seem so life-like, it was really awesome. I also got to walk up to 4 Privet Drive, and casually sip Butter Beer as I took in all the scenery.
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| 4 Privet Drive, aka where Harry used to live. #casual |
We also had the opportunity to learn how they filmed the flying scenes on the broom, and since I was there I figured I would give it a try! YOLO!
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| Flying over Hogwarts, NBD. |
After spending a good 4 hours taking everything in, we figured it was time to head back to the city. It was the evening by than so we just did some more sight seeing and rested up for tomorrow. On Saturday Chloe and I decided to take a trip to Stonehenge because it was always something that I have heard about, and since I was so close, I couldn't pass up the opportunity! It was about a 2 hour bus ride, but luckily we hooked up with a tour company that droves us there and back, to avoid the struggles of taking the train and than have issues getting to the actual site. We were lucky because it was such a beautiful day! We saw people paragliding over the stones from 3000 B.C., obviously... We had an audio guide and spent about 2 hours learning about all the history and myths. It was a really fun time and it is a place I will never forget!
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| Stonehenge Rocks! (pun intended) |
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| It was such a beautiful day! |
On Saturday with our extra free time, Chloe and I hit a few other big spots in London. We visited Buckingham Palace to holla at the Queen, and than strut our stuff on Abbey Road.
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Doing what I do best...fakin' it til I make it!
Abbey Road |
Sunday was out last day in London, so we had to make the most of it! We pretty much walked all over the city, with our sights on the London Bridge. When I actually found it, I was a bit underwhelmed. It was really just a bridge...nothing special, but luckily the gorgeous Tower Bridge was not too far away, so that made up for it!
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| The girls in front of the Tower Bridge. |
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| I came about 75 days too early! There were a lot of renovations going on throughout the city, and I'm sure it is because they are getting ready to host the summer Olympics! So exciting! |
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| Near the Tower Bridge they had a huge fold-out of all the significant events in sports leading up to the Olympics. It was really cool, and I even found Judo on there---shoutouttttt Dad! |
I also stopped by the National Gallery to see some Van Gogh's (casually while I still can), walked to Westminster Abbey, saw Big Ben, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, Downing Street (shoutouttttt Mom!), and the list goes on! I really had such a fabulous time and I was sad to see the weekend come to a close, but as I have said many times before--all good things must come to an end. It was time to head back to Leuven, and get back to reality (I am using that word very loosely...). I have four 15-page papers and lots of studying to do. Contrary to popular belief, I do actually go to school here, and its crunch time!
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| Cheers! |
But don't worry, next week Ciara and Dad are coming to Belgie! So I don't have much time to get my act together! So excited!!!!!
