My British Experience and Other Unintended Adventures
When I think of our great motherland, England, I picture royal celebrities, the best of classical literature, Doctor Who, telephone boxes, and words like "posh." Every since I discovered British literature I have had a deep desire to visit the home of my friends Austen, Dickens, and Rowling. This summer, I finally fulfilled that dream.
Day 1 in London: Lost
My first day in London began with a tour of Liverpool Street and a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral. Since we were on our way to dinner we didn't have very much time to look around, however, I did have time to catch a few pictures of some of the more interesting finds in Liverpool. In the basement of St. Paul's Cathedral were these two grave markers for a family who died in a fire, if I remember correctly the father was one of the cathedral's caretakers. The only real reason why I took the picture was because of the unique phrasing, if you look closely you can see "he fell asleep in Jesus."
In seminary I also sometimes "fall asleep in Jesus"
After dinning at a nearby restaurant (supposedly one of Charles Dicken's favorite pubs), we strolled down to the Millennium Bridge, or more famously dubbed "the Wibbly Wobbly." You may not recognize it from the pictures I took, but this is actually the same bridge featured in the 6th Harry Potter movie. Disclosure: I did not run into any Death Eaters; there was nothing there but a bunch of muggles. Apparently, the reason why the bridge got the nickname "the Wibbly Wobbly" was because when it was first opened to the public people began to notice that it "wobbled" back and forth at times. Thankfully, they fixed the problem before anyone got hurt. Here's some shots of the good ol' "Wibbly Wobbly."
Mom and Me on the Millennium Bridge
View from the Wibbly Wobbly
Looks like it's turning into one of those "lover's" bridges
Nothing to see here but a bunch of muggles....
If there had been more then just a bunch of muggles...
My friend, Brittany, showing off her Tae-kwon-do skills
...I'm getting a little carried away with photoshop
Here's the Harry Potter clip of the Millennium Bridge
This wasn't the end of my first day in London however. Here is where the REAL adventure begins. After everyone had had their fun the tour director began leading us back to the hotel. On the way to catch the "tube" (subway) my mother and I stopped to, in a way, smell the "roses." Here's the pictures we took:
Pretty roses!
Oh! Let's take a picture by those flower-things!
Happy Pose :D
Acting posh in London
Now the problem with stopping to "smell the roses" is that not everyone stops with you. With the blink of an eye the rest of the tour group had disappeared. All that was left were four unexperienced tourists: my flustered mother, my ninja friend Brittany, a high school teacher, and myself. None of us were quite prepared for what happened next. Brittany and I began to run after the rest of the group who we had seen turn into an alleyway. However, the teacher....shall we call her Mrs. Bunny for the purpose of this story? Mrs. Bunny decided to go her own way, forcing Brittany and I to turn around and follow her. We crossed two busy streets, spun around a couple of times, and finally decided that we were lost. Mrs. Bunny asked one of the locals where the metro station was, he asked, "Which metro station?" (Let me now take this time to inform you that London has one of the most extensive underground railway-systems in the world with hundreds of different stations located throughout the city). Mrs. Bunny did not know "which" metro station. She also couldn't recall the name of the street our hotel was located on. Thus begins the adventure of being lost in London.
Did I mention that Mrs. Bunny also wanted her picture taken?
Like pulling a random card out of a deck we decided to try our luck at the closest metro station. After consulting her "emergency contact information" Mrs. Bunny concluded that we needed to take the metro to the "Seven Sister's Hill" station. However, that's much easier said then done. For one thing, not every subway car goes to every stop on the map, you have to change cars a lot. As a girl whose never had to rely on any form of public transportation before, I was not much help to the team. To make matters worse ninja Brit had to use the Loo VERY badly (did I mention that there aren't a ton of public bathrooms in Europe? And even if you do happen to find one you most likely have to PAY to pee). After changing trains at least twice we threw in the towel and hailed a cabbie. Ninja Brit was still in need of a bathroom. Once the cabbie picked us up we rode back the hotel in shame (with a few silent prayers that ninja Brit's bladder would hold). Looking back on the experience I can truthfully say that I am so glad I had the opportunity to get lost in such a wonderful city. Granted, I wish that Mrs. Bunny hadn't been the one to get us lost and that her and my mother wouldn't have freaked out about it. Getting yourself lost in a city with such a thick culture and atmosphere isn't something you should pass up. During that hour of wandering around London "touring" became something else. I got to see people I probably wouldn't have seen if I had been on a guided tour; I got to figure out my own set of directions; and most importantly I had the opportunity to interact with the local people without a some harness keeping me at a "safe distance." While guided tours are nice, it's not the same as experiencing new worlds yourself. It takes the fun out of exploring when someone else is doing the exploring for you.
Disclosure: We made it safely to the hotel, no one was scolded for getting separated from the group, and more importantly, ninja Brit was finally able to use the potty.
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