London sans rain

On Saturday, 11 of us (9 from Eau Claire, one other American and a guy from Winchester) hopped on the early train to London and spent the day sightseeing! It was so bizarre to finally be in the city that I've heard so much about and seen so often in movies that it still doesn't really feel like I was just there.

Once we got off the train at Waterloo Station, we split into two groups and mine took the self-guided walking tour of the city, taking in all of the expected tourist attractions such as Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, River Thames, the Tower of London, London Bridge, Tower Bridge and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It was the typical inexpensive student option, since we didn't actually tour anything and only had to pay for food and random souvenirs.

It was a great way to get an overview of the city, especially towards the end when we took the Tube (or the London Underground, the subway) to Camden, a district in London which is packed with random markets and street vendors. Next time, we'll go back and spend more time at individual places -- stop at the museums and galleries (the Salvador Dali exhibit!!!), take in some Broadway and a Shakespeare play at the Globe.

Surprisingly, my favourite part of the entire day was our spontaneous walk through St. James' Park across the street from Buckingham Palace. There were daffodils everywhere and the squirrels, pelicans and other animals were incredibly tame and friendly. We all fell in love with a pelican we named Dave, who flew (hopped?) over the fence by the water onto the pavement. He was our instant friend. It was an absolutely beautiful day, one meant to be spent in the park. My least favourite part was Piccadilly Circus, which was actually what I had been most excited to see. Something about a square devoted to advertisements didn't sit well with me, especially after coming from St. James'. God does it better than we can, I think.

I took nearly 150 pictures; the best 85 are online if you want to check them out.


By the end of the day, we were exhausted from all the walking and became fairly irritable trying to find a relatively cheap restaurant with decent food and a table for the seven of us. We decided it doesn't exist, at least not in London. We ended up in this weird, American-ish diner called "Akuna Matata," which we guessed was trying to copy The Lion King's "It means no worries" motto. Since it was spelled wrong and the place itself was kind of "dodgey," we decided it meant that we should worry. I ate the tangerines I brought from Winchester's grocery store instead, and we hopped back on the train to the "uni." A fabulous day, I'd say!