London Calling

I’m currently speeding through the English countryside on a train bound for Paris, listening to The Shins, and blogging. I’m so hip it hurts sometimes.

I was sad to say goodbye to London, but I know I’ll be back again someday. In the meantime, let me tell you about my six days there.

Day One

Well it wasn’t really a whole day. We arrived in London in the afternoon after a two hour drive from Oxford. Side note: one big difference I noticed between British and American highways: no billboards. Anyway, we stayed at a bed and breakfast right by the South Kensington station. Another side note about the Underground system: London has the absolute best names for stations. Among my favorites: Waterloo, Picadilly Circus (doesn’t that just sound so fun?), and my personal favorite… Cockfosters (I was the only one who giggled at that). While we were waiting for my Dad to get in, my mom, my brother, and I decided to venture into Harrod’s. Sorry USA, London wins the most ridiculous department store ever award. We came in for one sole purpose, and that was to get Laduree macaroons. Luckily our mission was successful and we left (mostly) unscathed. 

Day Two

Today I decided to experience my first authentic British breakfast, which is eggs and beans on toast. I’m glad you have your delicacies England, but never again. I’ll stick to my PopTarts and coffee, thank you very much.
After breakfast, we took the Tube for the first time to the Tower of London. I have a soft spot for crazy medieval history, and oh boy did the Tower provide that. First of all, the Tower itself gives Christ Church a run for its money.

Tower of London

Beefeater tour guide

However, I couldn’t stop thinking about how all of it felt a little bit like a Disneyland ride, but that’s just because I’m an annoying American (but it totally did oh my god). The crown jewels were pretty and the armor was cool and all, but the best part of that entire experience was the Beefeater who gave us tour. Why are British people just so much funnier than everyone else? 

After we left the Tower we took one of those giant tourist boats that took us under the Tower Bridge and to Big Ben and the London Eye. I mean, I’ve seen pictures of Big Ben thousands of times before, but that doesn’t even compare to what it looks like in person. The same goes for the London Eye, even though ferris wheels scare me to death.

Big Ben... duh.

Day Three

This was the day of the YouTube gathering and because it was a YouTube gathering, I made a video about it so watch that

Day Four

We hopped back on the Tube, caught another one of the City Cruise boats, and this time we headed to Greenwich to go to the Market and see the Meridian. 

 We were greeted by more enormous royal gardens and building and such (because we were still in London, after all).

The meridian line

When it comes to tacky outdoor markets, the Greenwich Market ain’t got nothing on the French Market in New Orleans. That being said, it was a really nice market with booths selling, you know, decent things. Yeah okay, it was really really cool and I’ll admit that I absolutely love markets like that. I even got some decorations from my dorm next year :) Unfortunately it was pouring rain outside, even though the market was inside, we still managed to get soaked by the leaks in the roof.  

After the market we trekked up the giant hill that lead to the Maritime museum and the line dividing the East and the West. It was worth the burning calves, because that hike gave us this beautiful view of the entire city.

View of London from the Observatory in Greenwich

Day Five

Waking up a bit later, my mom and I decided to go shopping on Oxford St while my dad and my brother took a tour of Chelsea Stadium. I won’t go into detail about the shopping because I know those of the male gender could care less, but Oxford St is great for shopping – especially because almost every store was having a sale :D

That night we went to go to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the Odeon theater in Leciest Sqaure where the premiere was (how cool is that!). You see I thought America was bad about ads before movies, but oh my god England, the movie was supposed to start at 5:15… not 6:00. Anyway, the Odeon is a really nice theater and we had great seats on the balcony (they had a balcony!). If you want my opinion on the movie, read the post I made on Monday (7/18)

Day Six

Our last day in London came way too soon. We learned that there was a ticket lottery for “Much Ado About Nothing”, staring David Tennant and Catherine Tate who I know from Doctor Who, and we decided to enter on a whim. Well, my brother and I both won tickets!
On that note we headed over to the Doctor Who Experience, which I’ll admit is what I was looking forward to the most on this trip. Please allow me to nerd out for the next paragraph: OH MY GOD IT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER. The Doctor Who Experience had ACTUAL sets and costume pieces from the show including several Daleks, Tom Baker’s scarf, and the sets to the 10^th and 11^th Doctor’s TARDIS. 

Three generations of Daleks

The Experience started out with a walkthrough tour guided by none other than Matt Smith’s Doctor. It was obvious the tour was intended for children, so I was right at home. The tour combined a good story with a lot of great interaction, including helping to “fly” the 11^th Doctor’s TARDIS. You even got to walk through gardens where the Weeping Angels were hidden. Don’t worry, I didn’t blink. After the walking tour you were able to wander around and look at other props and costume pieces. The best part by far though was being able to walk inside David Tennant’s (and Christopher Eccleston’s) TARDIS. They did play David’s regeneration scene in the background for dramatic effect, but also to make dedicated fans weep uncontrollably (which I was close to doing). Okay, nerding over.

Tea at The Orangery

After the Doctor Who Experience we went to Kensington Palace to have an early tea at the Orangery. I had a Rosehip and Hibiscus tea because I felt like being daring, but it was actually very good. After tea we decided to stop by Buckingham Palace because we hadn’t made it over there yet. Fortunately/Unfortunately we weren’t able to go inside because the Queen was having a Garden Party. Fortunately we did get to look at all the fancy people with ridiculous hats enter the palace.

We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for “Much Ado About Nothing”. After much squeeing and a bit of hyper ventilating we arrived at the theater. The guy at the box office said the lottery seats were in the best in house, and oh boy was he right. We were THREE rows away from the stage. THREE. That is spitting distance for David, which I learned the hard way. Oh well, at least I can say David Tennant’s spit touched my face, that will put loads of fangirls to silence. Regardless of the fact that two of my favorite actors were in it, the show was fantastic. “Much Ado” isn’t one of my favorite Shakespeare shows, but this was nonstop entertaining. The actors had uncanny amounts of energy and there wasn’t a dull moment in the entire two and a half hour show. Also, David kept his accent, which made this Scots-fancying girl very very happy.

Well, we’ve just entered France. I haven’t looked up too much, but all I’ve seen so far is industrial sites. As excited as I am for going to yet another new country, I’m a little nervous about the language barrier. Nonetheless, I can’t wait to have my first nutella crepe and baguette. Maybe I’ll even get a beret! Oh my god, I am such a tourist.

Hogwarts is home

I was six years old when I was first introduced to Harry Potter. It was 1998 and the Sorcerer's Stone had only recently been released. It was with my mom in my bed that I read the first words to the book that quickly become an enormous part of my childhood. And it was sitting next to my mom in the Odeon Theater in Leicester Sqaure, thousands of miles from my six year old home, that I watched the final scenes of that same series come to a close.

Honestly, I was not expecting to feel like this at all. I thought maybe I would get a little tear-eyed at the opening logo, and it would be the worst at Fred's death (After warning: SPOILERS). Wrong. I totally lost it. My mom saw it, hugged me, and wouldn't let go for a solid 10 minutes as the credits rolled and the same theme music that brought so many memories along with it played over us. And I wouldn't have wanted it to happen any other way.

I don't mean it lightly when I say that Harry Potter was a huge part of my childhood. Harry Potter is the reason I was so enthusiastic about reading at a young age, and why that passion is still present in me today. It's the reason I met my best friend in the second grade, and why we're still best friends even though she lives on the other side of the country. Harry Potter has taught me so much about friendship, bravery, and the power of your imagination. So many of my best memories revolve around Harry Potter movie premieres, book releases, or even running around at recess shouting spells, sticks in hand.

I'll admit, I was pretty bummed when I found out I wasn't going to be at home when the final film was going to be released. I mean, I can't complain. I was in freaking London, but I had so many fantastic memories of waiting in line for the premieres with my friends, and I  couldn't help but think that I would never be able to do that again. Regardless of the fact that I was with my family, I couldn't help but feel a little alone. There were no die hard fans in sight, I seemed to be the only one sporting the slightest bit of Hogwarts gear, and there were only a few sniffles when the movie got quiet. When the film let out, it was pouring rain outside and naturally the Californian family forgot their umbrellas. However, we weren't the only ones. Standing by the window at the Odeon, I turned my head and smiled at a girl standing next to me who looked about my age and equally distraught. By chance (and some eavesdropping), we found out that she and her mom were also from California. This made me think of what JK Rowling said at the Deathly Hallows premiere, "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home." Thousands of miles from the bed I was first introduced to Harry Potter in, I found a sense of comfort from a girl who traveled the same exact distance and had just experienced the same rush of emotions that came from watching the finale of something that had been your childhood. It's like my mom always says, "No matter where you go, there you are."

I'm still here!

HI! First of all, I'm not dead (as you might have assumed). After having some extreme issues with a temperamental laptop and a UK plug converter, I am FINALLY able to blog! I arrived in London 2 days ago after spending three absolutely wonderful days in Oxford - so let's start with that.

Day One
After a 9 hour, nonstop flight (never again) from San Francisco we arrived in Oxford at about 8:30 am. The entire city of Oxford is absolutely beautiful. Every where you look, there is a castle or a church, each one more breathtaking than the next. We spent the first day mostly wandering around the streets of the city center, which is fortunately very easy to navigate. I ended up taking a lot of pictures just of the streets of Oxford because I couldn't believe how beautiful it was that modern shops and restaurants could coexist with the city's ancient castles and cathedrals.

Radcliffe Square

Day Two

After waking up at four am (thank you, jet lag) and watching a bit too much of BBC's morning television, my brother and I headed over to Christ Church: one Oxford's biggest colleges... and also where they filmed the Harry Potter movies. I decided against wearing my Ravenclaw robes and tie for the sake of not embarrassing my little brother, but that didn't stop me for pointing and gasping like a five year old girl at every sight that looked vaguely familiar. Fan-girling aside, Christ Church has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It's amazing to think a place with so much incredible history is still used primarily as a place of learning. Granted, it's no ordinary college - students are required to take their exams in legitimate dress robes. However, that's as close as it got to feeling like Hogwarts.

Well, except that Ravenclaw's table already seemed to be set at the Great Hall...

 

 After Christ Church, we went to the Botanic Gardens. Which were beautiful, but not interesting enough to blog about. However, I'm uploading those pictures on Flickr if would like to see them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54679313@N07/ 

Day Three

Bodleian Library courtyard

Our last day in Oxford and our third day in England provided the absolute worst day for jet lag. Leaving our hotel at 8 am, meant my brother and I arrived at the Natural History Museum an hour before it opened. To kill time we wandered around the Bodleian Library. Unfortunately you couldn't go in the actual library, so we mostly just walked around the courtyard, which was still pretty neat. 

But no where near as "neat" (I need to stop using that word) as the Natural History and Pitt River museum. Side note: The wonderful thing about Oxford is that almost all of the museums are admission free! (side note over) Set underground in a dark cellar, The Pitt River museum has artifacts from dozens of ancient cultures from all over the world. But unlike most museums, they group the artifacts by their use as opposed to the region they're from, allowing you to observe the evolution of mankind as inventors. What I found the most interesting is the placing of the equipment African tribes use to stretch women's earlobes next to the equipment you would see in just about every piercing shop. You find yourself thinking, "Oh god, how could people do such mutilating things to their bodies." and then "Oh wait, what we do is not much different." And of course before leaving Oxford, my brother and I stopped by moo-moo's in the Covered Market and oh my god I am so glad we did. I had quite literally one of the best milkshakes I've ever had.

Yeah, those are ALL of the flavors

London has been wonderful so far, and hopefully I'll be able to blog about it more consistently now that my computer is working!

T-Minus 2 days...

... until I leave the country for the first time in my enitre life. Some plans have changed since I first posted back in June: my mom, my brother, and I are now leaving for Oxford on the 10th, and are then meeting my dad in London on the 13th. The Oxford trip was actually pretty spontaneous; my mom had to do some work in Oxford at some point during the summer and decided to make it apart of our trip. Both my brother and I have never left the country, and while my mom is working, we'll be left to explore most of Oxford by ourselves. Now this would be pretty scary for any other 14 and 18 year old kid, but my brother and I have tagged along with my mom on several other trips like this one. We've explored most of Oahu, Hawaii as well as Disney World without parents, but this will be our first time doing it in another country.

So yeah, I'm a little nervous. Luckily we're being dumped in a country where we speak the same language, and Oxford isn't exactly the ghetto so we're safe walking around by ourselves. I'm looking forward to exploring Christ Church where the Harry Potter movies were filmed, dressed in my Hogwarts attire (c'mon, there's no way I would pass up an opportunity like that) and wandering around the Botanic Gardens of the University. In the meantime, I should probably study my dollar to pound conversions and brush up on my British culture (because I don't think Doctor Who and Harry Potter will quite cut it.) However, until then I need to finish cramming two weeks worth of clothes into a carry-on size suitcase... help me.