London!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got back from my first trip to London! It was amazing! I don't know how I'm going to describe 3 days worth of events in a blog journal...

We left Friday morning at 9 a.m. and traveled to London by bus or "coach" as they are referred to here. We stayed at the Royal National Hotel, just next to Russell Square for those of you familar w/ England. Friday we did a little sightseeing. We took the Underground (also know as "the tube"). It's London's underground subway, similar to the one we have in New York. We purchased all-day passes for £4.90 (that's about $10 US). We went to Picadilly Circus which is comparable to our Times Square, except w/ gorgeous old buildings with columns and great architecture. We walked to Buckingham Palace and took pictures. Friday evening we went around to a couple of bars/pubs (legal drinking age is 18 here). Our favorite stop was the Zoo Bar. We started to show our ID's and walk inside when 2 bouncers stopped us and said "It's 5 pounds to get in." We're like no thank you, we'll go somewhere free. Then he said "alright, ladies, come on in." So all 6 of us got in free! (Saved $60 US) Can you tell I'm obsessed (and disgusted with the exchange rate?!)

Saturday we got a fairly early start. We bought another all-day Underground pass. Lauren, Dani, and I went to see the Tower of London and Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament. We were so proud of ourselves getting around on the Underground without getting lost. At lunchtime we met up with Caitlin and Holly in Picadilly Square. We ate lunch at a Cheers (yes, imitated after the TV show). The food was great! The host there(Andrew) told us that they were having a DJ later that night and admission would be 10 pounds. He gave us his number and said to call if we wanted to stop by, he would meet us at the door get us in for free!

Caitlin, Holly, Dani, Lauren, and I did some major shopping between Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square (prounounced "Lester"). We went back to the hotel to rest after our shopping spree. Later that evening we went out on the town again... took our favorite form of transportation... the Tube! We went to Cheers but Andrew wasn't there yet to let us in. We decided to wander a bit and check out the other clubs. We found Walkabout, a club a few blocks down. We paid £6 to get in and spent the night dancing away with new British and Irish friends. We got about 3 hours of sleep last night, as we had to board the "coaches" at 9:30 this morning.

We went to Hampton Court Palace... a beautiful place just a bit outside of London. We took a tour of the Palace, ate lunch in a cafe, and did a little antique window shopping. By 6 this evening we were back at the manor. Here I am... exhausted, excited, and I still have homework to do. Hope you enjoyed the blog entry today! I can't wait to travel some more!