I woke up at the ungodly hour of 7AM... which is really when I usually wake up but ungodly only because who gets up at 7AM when they're on vacation? Me. That's who. There was not a moment to lose and I felt like a wimp for going to bed before midnight the day before.
It was hard getting ready and getting my stuff out of my locker with three other people sleeping in the room. I kept trying to be so quiet but that didn't work out so well. Ah well, sorry weird boys who made funny noises in your sleep. Maybe you shouldn't come in at 3AM... but you smelled lovely, so at least there's that.
Astor Hyde Park Hostel Kitchen
I headed down to the hostel kitchen to partake in their so called "breakfast" but what greeted me was disappointing. Cocoa pebbles, some sort of coffee drink, and toast. No jammy dodgers in sight. Well, I soon figured out that the Cadbury chocolate spread made up for the lack of breakfast choices.... You eat this on your toast and it is a heavenly delight. Also, Elise told me before I left that I had to eat toast because toast is extra yummy in England. I have to say I agree.
Victoria Station
Big Bus Company Tour getting ready to go.
I saw bits of London such as Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Green Park, Regent's Park, parts of Hyde Park (and more specifically Speaker's Corner) and then we got to the Houses of Parliament. My tour guide said we would loop back around and I should have listened. But I didn't.
Marble Arch
Oxford Circus
Green Park
Instead, I hopped off and spent the next 20 minutes taking terrible shots of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. I walked around to the front side and over to Westminster Abbey. The actual church is not open to tourists on Sunday, so I wasn't able to go in, but I walked around to the back and found the entrance to the cloisters at Westminster Abbey. I spent a while walking around the cloisters in complete silence. It was so beautiful. At the end of the long hall, there is a gate that opens to the most beautiful little garden...
Still on the tour bus
Breathtaking view from the Westminster Bridge...
Because I can't stress this enough... Protesters having a quiet sit-in for peace outside the Houses of Parliament...
Facade of Westminster Abbey
Beautiful stained glass window at the Westminster Abbey Cloisters
Garden at the cloisters
Cloisters... One of my favorite things was seeing the plaques mounted on the walls with the names of people who had in some way contributed to the Abbey or who had some sort of historical significance such as Geoffrey Chaucer who is actually buried at Westminster Abbey.
After Westminster Abbey and somewhere in between finding a public restroom... or loo... I lost my bus ticket. The Big Bus Company was not at all helpful. In fact, I got on the tube and headed over there to demand a reprint of my ticket. I was so frustrated that they were not even trying to be helpful. I was so sad that I had spent like $50 on a bus tour that I took for like only half an hour. I sat on the curb of the alley next to the Big Bus Company and tried to come up with a back up plan.
I decided to hop back on the tube and take the Victoria Line to Oxford Circus. The tour guide had mentioned that it was one of the most popular places to shop and even though I had no intentions of buying anything, I thought it was a good place to find lunch. I ended up going into a restaurant called Spaghetti House. It was pretty good but not as good as the amazing cookie I ate afterwards at Ben's Cookies.
Yummy Spaghetti House... It's a chain restaurant, but at least it's not Pizza Hut (see Day 1)
The milk chocolate cookie was absolute heaven. I loved it so much I couldn't get myself to try a different cookie.
Heaven. Heaven. Heaven... In cookie form
After this, I decided to head over to Queen's Walk. This is the stretch that runs along the River Thames on the right bank. I had so much fun people watching, watching street performances and just enjoying the scenery.
Street performers at Queen's Walk...
I walked around for a good two hours and then went over to the London Eye. My friend Kayla, who had visited just the week before, recommended I go to the London Eye 4D experience. It was the sort of thing to get you excited about getting on it! I got in line and went up just as sunset began. It was so fun to be able to see beautiful London with the sun setting at the same time. I felt so grateful to be experiencing that moment. It was magical. I took so many pictures and probably twice as much video.
So big it wouldn't fit in the frame... No matter how far away I got from it...
The 4-D London Eye experience... Or a recreation of the movie "The Birds"
Inside one of The London Eye pods...
Favorite view from the London Eye... Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a double decker bus :)
I went up just as the sun started to set... Best idea EVER... Beautiful London town
After the London Eye, I suddenly remembered that I was STARVING. By this point, it was almost 9PM but I was on a roll and did not want to go back to the hostel... To be perfectly honest, I was avoiding it since I had my fingers crossed that weird sleeping boys had checked out and I had been assigned new hostel mates. I stood on the Westminster Bridge for about 45 minutes taking more pictures and enjoying the view. There's nothing like seeing the beautiful Houses of Parliament and Big Ben all lit up.
Need I say more?
In love with this city....
After taking like 200 pictures I went to dinner at a place just down the road from the Gielgud Theater. I had seen it the day before and thought it looked good. It wasn't. That's all you need to know.
After that, I realized that I had to get to bed so I could start day 3. And day 3 was my favorite day in London...
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