Weekend with Eszter

There is a lot to tell this weekend, but I will try to be relatively brief so as not to completely bore all (as in three or four) of you who read this.

Saturday was the only full day Eszter had in London so we decided to get up relatively early and make the most of it.
After breakfast and such we left my dorm around 9am for Westminster again. We had planned to meet up with some of my friends but they were not there when we left, and I found out later that some of them got up super early to go to Wimbledon, which I really can't blame them for at all. Upon getting to the Abbey we realized that Eszter needed to find an ATM to get a bit more cash and that we wouldn't have more than half an hour afterward to see it since we wanted to be at Buckingham Palace early to get a good spot to see the changing of the guard. So we found an ATM and wandered leisurely up to the palace, stopping at a few churches along the way. We got there around quarter to 11, and it was already crowded but we got a good spot right next to the fence. Unfortunately, it was also raining quite steadily by this time. At around 11, two guards emerged (in gray rain capes) from the palace and changed the signs that say when the next changing of the guard is from "Today" to "Tomorrow". We thought perhaps this meant it was cancelled due to the weather but everyone else seemed to be hanging around so we followed the crowd and stayed as well. We were rewarded with an extremely abbreviated and small version of the ceremony but not the entire thing.

Afterwards we headed to Westminster Abbey, and got in pretty quickly. The entire experience was incredible, from the time we walked through the doors until the time we left. It was well worth the seven pounds. The amount of history contained there is unfathomable to me, coming from America where most of our historical sites date from the 1600s. The building has been used for coronations since 1066, although the oldest parts we saw I believe dated from after 1100. There are more people buried there than I could possibly count, and they include the likes of Henry VII, Elizabeth I, Sir Issac Newton, and a surprisingly large number of writers/artists (although a lot are simply memorialized there and buried elsehwere). I think my favorite part was possibly the intact tiled floor in the Chapter House, built during the 1200s. It was absolutely gorgeous. The stained glass windows in that room were also interesting, although not nearly as old since most were rebuilt during the Victorian period and then again after they were destroyed by WWII. They used as much of the original Victorian glass as possible and now tell the story of the room's history. We were not allowed to take pictures in the Abbey but I'm sure you can find some online. Equally exciting was that the organ was playing and the boys' choir was singing when we left, which was wonderful to hear. There are free organ concerts this month, and I really hope to find someone to go with me!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat afterwards and planned the rest of our day. Then we walked all the way to the Tower of London, about an hour or so walk, stopping along the way to take pictures and enjoy the many sights, including St. Paul's Cathedral. Unfortunately, there was an ordination of deacons taking place that night so there was a line to get into that wrapped the whole way around the courtyard, so we didn't get to look at the inside of it. On the plus side, however, the bells were ringing at full blast and were wonderful to hear.

We met another girl, Cara, who is also a sister in Tau Beta Sigma, the band service sorority that Eszter and I are in, and walked to see the Tower of London and the tower bridge with Eszter. Then we searched for a place to eat, taking the tube first to Picadilly Circus and then walking up through Chinatown and Leicester Square, some of the busiest theatre districts. However, they are also quite touristy and since the Gay Pride parade was in town, the pubs were completely swarmed. We ended up headed back up to near where I live and eating at Wagamama, a noodle bar that is a chain in the city, and very tasty. By this time, it was quite late and I was exhausted, but after eating and drinking about five cups of (free) green tea, we felt much better and decided to head back to Cara's flat. Unfortunately, we decided to walk the half hour there and the weather consequently decided to start pouring, so we arrived quite wet. We relaxed there for awhile and met her Australian flatmate, and then went out to a place of their choosing. It was a bit louder than I wanted, after being out the entire day, but enjoyable to see some of London's nightlife nonetheless, in not a particularly touristy area. I also got to enjoy some good people watching since I was incredibly thirsty from all of the walking we did that day and was probably the only person drinking water in the entire establishment. Another plus was that we stayed out just late enough that the tube stopped running (it stops fairly early, at midnight) and had the adventure of taking the night bus home, which was really quite easy, especially thanks to the nice British lady who helped me figure out where to get off since it was raining and I couldn't really see out the windows very well. Needless to say, we slept very well that night after thoroughly enjoying the day.

OK it is getting late and I still have work to do for class so I am going to stop now and write about today tomorrow.

Briefly, in the news today:
1. The security alert for London (and probably all of Great Britain) has been raised to Critical, which is not surprising considering the events of the past few days. However, I have felt quite safe everywhere in the past few days due to huge amounts of increased security, but will still steer clear from ultra-touristy areas for awhile. I've already seen them anyway, and the quieter areas are more fun.

2. Today, Great Britain is officially smoke free in all public places. The entire country, not just states or cities like in the US. I find this incredibly impressive considering the amount of smoking I have witnessed here, and am very, very happy that I will no longer have to go out to a pub and worry about coming home and having my jacket still smell like an ashtray the next day.

3. Oh, also I booked a weekend tour of Wales with a friend of mine from UM who will be in London from late July until mid-August. This is not really "in the news" but I just thought of it and don' t know where else to put it.

Hope all is well at home, or wherever you may be.