London Part 2

Even though the hostel was in a shady neighborhood, the bathrooms were kind of dirty, and there were some creepy-looking people staying there, it really was not too bad. The beds were fairly comfortable, and we were given free breakfast (even though it was only toast and cereal; at least it was better than nothing). The day started off cloudy and drizzly, so even though the London Eye reopened that day, we decided it wouldn't be worth it to go on it because it would be too hazy to see anything. Instead, we started off the day by checking out of the hostel and going to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. In the winter, the changing of the guards ceremony takes place every other day at precisely 11:30am. They say to arrive there at least a half hour early to get a good spot, so we planned to leave the hostel by 10am. However, by the time everyone got ready and packed up, it was almost 10:30. Then, when we got to the train station, the station that we needed to go on was closed for construction (they are doing lots of construction in preparation for the 2012 Olympics). Therefore, we had to take a bus instead, which took so much longer because they had to make several stops. Long story short, we got to Buckingham Palace right when the ceremony was starting. There were tons of people, so we spent the first half of the ceremony trying to find a spot where we could see at least a little bit of what was going on. We kept shoving our way up closer and closer to the gate, and finally, for about the last 10 minutes, we got right up to the front of the gate, so i was able to see really well and get great pictures! The soldiers ere not wearing the typical red uniforms that you see in the pictures, though. Instead, they were wearing their winter gear: grey overcoats. The changing of the guards ceremony was probably my favorite part of the entire trip, but I just wish we would have gotten there earlier so I could have enjoyed watching the entire thing, instead of spending half of the time scrambling to get up to the front of the gate. Anyway, after the changing of the guards ceremony, we broke up into groups. Some people went inside Westminster Abbey, while the rest of us went shopping for a little while. My friend Jill and I went to all of the tourist places looking for souvenirs. Before it got dark, we went to go see St. Paul's Cathedral. It was absolutely gorgeous! We walked around the outside taking lots of pictures, and we even saw a wedding party. Imagine how incredible that would be to get married in a huge cathedral like that! We went inside, but realized that the cathedral closed in a half hour, and we did not feel like spending 13 pounds to tour the inside when we would feel rushed to see it all. So, instead, we met up with the rest of our group and made our way to Fleet Street, Trafalgar Square (where I climbed on top of a lion statue's back), the National Gallery that had Van Goh and Monet paintings, and Baker Street. We finished the night off with a delicious, cheap meal of Pizza Hut, and then we made our way back to the bus to head home to Canterbury. It was a jam-packed, exhausting two days in London, but we saw a lot. I absolutely love London because it is such a beautiful, scenic city! Eve though we did see a lot in the time we spent there for two days, there is still so much that I want to see and do there. For example, I'd like to go inside of Westminster and St. Paul's Cathedral, ride the London Eye, shop at Harrod's, walk through Hyde Park, see a musical, etc. My Grandpa Clark is coming to visit me during the first weekend in March, so he is going to take me to see some of the things that I did not get to see yet. He is also planning out a whole schedule of places in England in general that he'd like to show me. I cannot wait for him to come visit! I was sad that we had to leave London so soon, but I will definitely be making two, if not three, trips back to the city while I'm here in England!