Being a tourist in London

Last week was pretty uneventful just a lot of nannying and hanging out in the nearby towns. And watching Audrey Hepburn movies. I was getting a bit lonely in the country so I decided to go into London Saturday. I was going to try again to meet up with my cousin Nadja but last minute she couldn't. I was already on my way so I thought I would go do some sightseeing.
I did not have a plan, but I had a tourist book and a detailed map book so I was set.
As I walked out of the tube station, I was immediately greeted by the familiar sight of Big Ben! That thing was massive. I loved how big it was and how excited all the tourists got when they took pictures. Saturday was also the Queen's unofficial birthday. It must be pretty cool to have two birthdays, I was jealous. There was a huge parade as well as a ton of planes that flew overhead. It was raining really hard as I was walking over there, so I waited until the roof of the Westminster Abbey and once the planes had flown by I decided that I would be a tourist and go inside.
The place was amazing! Walking inside and looking up at how many things covered the walls and ceiling was just incredible. The nave is 10 stories high which is the tallest in England. The chandeliers are 10 feet tall but its hard to tell because of the huge space they are in. Everywhere you look is another tomb or chapel or shrine to someone. The artwork and detail, not to mention the history, thinking about how many different people had walked inside this church to pay their respects and to appreciate the handicraft was a bit overwhelming.
The Abbey was founded in 960 AD as a Benedictine monastery. It is what they call a 'living church' which means that it is a place for Christian worship as well as the burial and memorial place for many people from the last one thousand years. The name, Westminster, means Church in the West (which is west of St. Paul's Cathedral).
Walking in, you pass by huge sculptures of people and like I said before, almost every inch of wall space is either a memorial stone plaque to someone who has died or a sculpture memorial. Upon first walking in is the North Transept, or the Statesmen's Aisle where many prime ministers are memorialized. It is lined with saints in stained glass and men in carved stone. The main alter is literally straight ahead and sits on a platform. Next is the North Ambulatory, and tombs of Edward I and Henry III, as well as the Shrine of Edward the Confessor who built the Westminster Abbey after God told him to visit St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but with the Norman's thinking conquest, it was too dangerous to leave England so he built this one instead and was finished just before he died. His tomb is one of the holiest parts of the church.
The tomb of Queen Elizabeth I and (Bloody) Mary I was next, both daughters of Henry VIII. The irony of this tomb is that they are buried together but at one point Mary locked Elizabeth up in the Tower of London. Elizabeth was a strong Protestant leader who had one of the greatest reigns in English history. They are buried together with a prayer for Christians of all kinds to live peacefully together.
The Chapel of King Henry VII was next and the ceiling was amazing. The Knights of Bath meet here. There is stained glass all around and really colorful banners and everything is very festive looking. The ceiling was actually made of carved stone that was sculpted on the floor in pieces and then put together like a puzzle into place. Wooden stalls line the sides where the knights sit. Behind the alter is the tomb of Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York.
The Coronation Chair was really amazing to see because it was first made in 1301 and has been used at every coronation since. The chair is painted gold and at the bottom of the legs are lions which are England's symbols. I really liked this chair!
The Poets' Corner was next and literally the walls and the floor are covered with markers commemorating around 120 writers, poets, actors, musicians and artists, some of whom are also buried here. Geoffrey Chaucer, who is considered the father of English literature (thank you Mr. Sturgeon..) is buried here and was the first artist to be buried here and that is how the Poets' Corner came to be. Some others include Lord Byron, Dylan Thomas, W.H. Auden, Lewis Carroll (Alice and Wonderland), T.S. Eliot, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, George Handel (he wrote the song "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth"), Charles Dickens, Samuel Johnson (wrote the first English dictionary), and a man named Thomas Parr who lived from 1483-1635 which is 152 years! Shakespeare is not buried here but there is a really amazing statue in him memory.
I sat for awhile by the Great Cloister which is a huge square of grass outside. It was an amazing calming feeling and I know that I will go back several times before I leave. As I was walking out, I lit a candle and said a prayer. Then I walked past the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, which is one ordinary WWI soldier buried in soil from France with a U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor, presented to England's WWI dead in 1921. Nearby were memorials to Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Martin Luther King Jr.
I left the Abbey and it was raining again and I didn't have a plan. I saw a sign pointing down the road for the Trafalgar Square. It was a bit of a walk but well worth it. I like walking better than buses because you get to see so much more and I think you experience it more. After walking around the fountains and the monumental column to Lord Nelson, it started pouring rain so I decided it was a good time to visit the National Gallery. I think that I probably could have spent days in this place will all the different art, but I only stayed for about an hour and looked at some of the big works. I saw da Vinci's "The Virgin of the Rocks", "Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist", Botticelli's "Venus and Mars", Michelangelo's "Entombment", Rembrandt's "Self-Portrait", and Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" just to name a few. The rooms were full of paintings and I had such a good time wandering around. There were so many pictures of naked people though, that I wondered if any women or men actually wore clothing or was it normal to have all your clothing falling off all the time? I don't know much about art, but I thought it was insane how many painting showed nude people. Aaanyways.. I was ready for another adventure so I thought I would head out.
I ended up walking along The Mall road which is a very wide road that was still set up from the Queen's parade down the street earlier. On one side of the street was St. James's Palace and the other side of the road is St. James's Park. At the end of the very very long street was Buckingham Palace. I thought I would try to say hey to the Queen and maybe wish her a happy unofficial birthday but apparently I'm not cool enough and the big men with the machine guns told me I couldn't bother her. That was a bit disappointing, and I told Lisa I would try to hook her up with the princes. Sorry girl.
After hanging out there for a bit, I decided to just kind of walk around without a purpose. As I was walking down a street that was fairly empty I heard someone walking behind me so naturally I glanced back and kept walking. But something caught my eye and I looked back again. There was a girl with the Chi Omega letters on her jacket walking behind me!!! After being alone all day, and not seeing anyone I knew for a long time, it was seriously amazing to randomly see a Chi O! She was from Oklahoma and on vacation with her family and had done some sightseeing by herself for a bit and was going back to meet up with them. We walked and talked for about a half an hour and then parted ways. You might think I'm silly for being so excited, but when you are by yourself in another country and see a girl you don't know but is your sorority sister, you get excited :)
Anyways, I kept walking and then got a call from Scott and Scottland so I went and met up with them over at a place called Sports (yes Sports, I miss Bloomington) on Regents Street. It was fun to see people that I actually knew! We talked and watched a bit of the Yankees/Mets game and I decided that I was going to stay in the city and just crash with one of the girls in their program.
A funny thing happened when I was in the bathroom, or excuse me, in the loo. There was a lady in their that handed you your towel to wipe your hands after you washed them. I smiled at her and said thank you when she handed me my towel. She asked if I was American and I said I was and she got so excited! We talked for a long time about America and how much she loved Americans. She was from Nigeria and moved to England with her husband and wants to go to America so badly. She doused me with perfume and I said goodbye. She was so nice and I really enjoyed talking to her, but I was in the bathroom for a long time and felt awkward when I walked out and met up with my friends because who knows what they were thinking haha.
We took the tube back to Nottinghill so that the boys could change into their soccer jerseys they bought and I left my tourist books and things in their room so I didn't look like a huge dork and we went over to Earle's Court where a bunch of girls in the program live in the basement flat, and one of the boys, Dan, lives above them, because they made baked ziti.
The night was fun and it was good to meet new people. Scottland called Sara K and I got to say hi!!!! Seriously so excited about that. Sunday was a very American day. After waking up, we went and got Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura Pet Detective and watched the movies in the common room in the basement flat and ate McDonalds, Burger King and Subway! Then Scott and Scottland and I took the tube back to Nottinghill so I could get my things and I said bye before heading back out to get on the tube to go home. I got back before dinner time and ate with my family and then talked a bit to Grant online and then also to my Dad to wish him a happy Father's Day when he got home from the race. I was exhausted and went to bed early.
Yesterday was horrible weather and poured and was pretty cold so I read a book and relaxed while the boys were at school. The weather cleared up just before I collected them so after doing homework, we played outside climbing trees and going on the bouncy tree and trying to catch bunnies. Theo cut his finger on the barbed wire he wasn't supposed to play on so we headed back up to the house which he was screaming because there was a tiny bit of blood. I let him sit on my shoulders and it was a hard workout to walk up the super steep hill to get home. Once we were back the boys stripped naked and decided it was time to go swimming the in little pool which I made tea (supper). They had ham and turkey with cheese, squash, and potato salad with shrimp and peppers.
Pernille and Andrew got home while they were finishing and we played a big game of cards and then did some puzzles. The boys got ready for bed while we ate and then watched 102 Dalmatians before bed. After they went to bed, I went downstairs and fell asleep early because I was so tired.
Today has been nice so far, but we are supposed to get some nasty weather tonight which is bad because Henry has a friend coming over after school for tea. I hope the weather is good so that we can play outside or else it will be a nightmare! Today I went to the Farnham Castle and walked around the Keep for a bit. I then sat in the Farnham park and read a book. A dog came up to me and I pet it while his owner also came over. The man and I talked for about 20 min about England the America and Farnham. More details of today another time though. I am worn out from writing and writing!
Happy Father's Day (a bit late) to all the dads, especially my dad who I get to see soon!!! A special hello to Adrianne, Sarah and Danny and Mom (who is hiking in the mountains)! Also to Jenn. Heres the blog super stalker! And Grant of course :)
Have a great day, and I will get better about writing on this!!