Changing the Guard

Went to Changing the Guard yesterday.  It was so crowded but I managed to get a pretty good spot to see the ceremony!  I learned from a local that the flag flying at Buckingham Palace means that the Queen was currently staying there.

Here are some pictures and video of the ceremony:

The Horse Guards

The Band

The New Guard entering

The Old Guard 

The New Guard

The Standard - means the Queen is currently there

Video of the band playing "Bailamos" and "Livin' La Vida Loca"

Olympic Torch Relay Finale

So yesterday, I went to the Torch Relay Finale in Hyde Park with Sana and Matt.  The event marked the end of a 70 day tour of the UK and featured popular British musicians.  There were so many freebies; it was amazing.  The weather was gorgeous!  It was one of the three days of full sunshine in London and I actually got sunburned.  The event started at 2pm and went until 10:30pm.  I stayed for most of the event but we left a bit early to try and beat the crowds.

Rizzle Kicks

You Me At Six 

The Torch 

The Wanted 

Camden Town

Camden Town

We went to Camden Town on Wednesday to see what all the fuss was about.  It is a giant flea market that sells anything from leather goods to clothes to antiques.  I bought a dress for £15.  There is also a large international food market with food stalls that sell all kinds of cuisine!

Museum of London

Yesterday, we went to the Museum of London as a class field trip.  The museum takes you through the history of London from ancient times to medieval to Elizabethan to the modern era.  Here were some of my favorite artifacts and exhibits.

Picnic in Regents Park!

Monday we had some free time between class in the morning and a visit at the Royal Free Hospital in the afternoon.  It was the first day of true sunshine since my arrival and the temperatures were finally warm.  Instead of eating in the cafeteria, some of us decided to walk around Regents Park before stopping for a picnic lunch.  Thus, I fulfilled another item from my London Bucket List!

Lunch on my free picnic mat from Marks & Spencer

This was the fountain that we ate next to:

Edinburgh Pictures

Uploading all my pictures takes such a long time and the internet here can be quite slow at times.  Instead of picking a few pictures to post here I'm going to post the link to my Facebook album for those who don't have access.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3538650584380.2126702.1215861598&type=1&l=b7c200eb5a

 

Check the link in a few days again, since I will be posting more pictures from my weekend trip to Edinburgh.  So far, I have posted pictures from the first two days! Hope you all enjoy and thanks for following me on my travels.

Last day in Scotland

Today is my last day in Scotland. We are catching a train back to London this evening.

Despite a small bout of food poisoning yesterday morning, this weekend has been a lot of fun. We saw Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum, the National Gallery, St. Giles Church, St. Arthur's Seat, Holyrood Palace, and the Queen's Royal Yacht!

I will post pictures tomorrow when I return to London!!

Haggis Hostel

Well I've arrived safely in Edinburgh!  Our train came in today around 5:30pm local time to Edinburgh Waverly Station.  Just a short walk from the station we found our hostel for the first night, Haggis Hostel.  The hostel is on the third floor of a narrow building hidden down a back alley.  There are seven of us here so far and we are expecting three more in the morning.  We are in a room tonight with ten beds, all bunk beds, so its a bit like being at summer camp. 

After much searching tonight, we finally decided on a place to eat.  We found that many restuarants here are in ground level places or basements.  As we've experienced before, the service is a little slow and it seems like you have to prompt the servers for anything.  I think the culture here is more used to wining and dining, whereas in the States we like to eat and get out.  Well, I just popped on for some quick computer time! Off to bed!

Edinburgh

On the train right now for our weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. We left at 1pm and should arrive around 5pm!!

London's Oldest

Visited Hatchards yesterday.  This bookshop is London's oldest and opened in 1797.  The shop is pretty narrow on the inside but has like four or five stories.  There is even a basement.  The shop is just wall to wall books too!  I didn't spend too much time looking around because I was looking for a specific book.  But definitely a neat little shop to visit!

Madame Tussaud's

On Monday, I went to Madame Tussaud's after class.  It was a neat experience but it was jam-packed full of tourists, not all of which believe in deodorant.  However, much to my surprise the wax figures are extremely accessible to the visitors.  I thought they would be on display behind some form of barrier, like velvet ropes of small half walls.

Most figures are just in the open where visitors can walk right up and pose with the figure.  Unfortunately, this was a bit annoying as some people found the need to begin their own personal fashion shoot with the celebrity.  It was pretty difficult to get a picture of just the wax, no tourists.  You can even touch them, which surprised me.  I saw a few tourists adjusting the hair and bangs of a few wax figures.  It looked pretty creepy because the figures looked so real.  So it was almost as if a random person was just casually fixing Beyonce's bangs!

They had a wide variety of public figures from Hollywood celebrities to political figures to sports icons and even a section on famous criminals.

Some of my favorite/most popular/most realistic figures are below! Hope you enjoy as much I did.

Clooney

Morgan Freeman

Robert Pattinson & Taylor Lautner 

The Queen Mother 

Prince Harry, Prince Charles, & Camilla 

Prince William & Kate Middleton

Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Phillip 

Princess Diana 

William Shakespeare 

The Beatles! 

President Obama 

Winston Churchill 

Lunch Break

Right now I'm on my lunch break from lecture.  We usually get an hour to eat and socialize, but today we have a little extra time.  I usually spend mine charging my phone or catching up on Facebook, since my laptop won't work here at Regent's.

In any case, I'm really excited for this afternoon.  Straight from class, I am heading to Madame Tussaud's.  The attraction is about a five minute walk from Regent's College, not too far from the entrance to Regent's Park.  Although I've passed by the Madame Tussaud's in New York and pass the one here at least 10 times a week, I've never actually been to one.  I know the London venue has wax figures of the Royal Family (the closest I'll ever get to them), Robert Pattinson, Colin Firth, and even Hitler.  I'm excited to see everyone else that has been immortalized in the museum.

Sherlock Holmes & Abbey Road

For my 21st birthday, I had a relaxing day of minimal sightseeing.  I slept in late this morning; a nice luxury.  I met Matt at the Sherlock Holmes statue on Baker Street and then we went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221b Baker Street.  We saw Sherlock's bedroom, the famous study, Watson's room, and Mrs. Hudson's room.

Dr. Moriarty

After the Sherlock Holmes museum, we set off in search of Abbey Road and Abbey Road Studios.