PKP London Trip

The PKP programme gives every student a free trip to London...I took that free trip last Saturday. Sorry about my lack of chronological order in these posts...I'm just so dreadfully behind that I get things mixed up sometimes. Anyways! 

After a brilliant but exhausting night at the Bop, I managed to get about four hours of sleep before I had to wake up again. We all met at the bus at 9:00, and headed for the great ciudad de Londres.

After our arrival,  Jenny, Rob, Jacqueline, and I all started our day in the city by walking to Parliament and Big Ben. 

Big Ben AND a red double-decker bus.
Double-win.

We stopped in a supermarket, purchased food, and ate lunch on a park bench next to the Thames river. Quite picturesque, if I do say so myself.

View from our park bench.
That's the London Eye in the background.

Then we went inside of Parliament for a tour. SO cool. One of the best tours I've ever been on. We got to see so many different things...galleries, voting chambers, where both the House of Commons and the House of Lords get to meet...so many things. British Parliament has many interesting little nuances and rules--like, if something is getting voted on, a bell is rung throughout parliament (AND many of the pubs surrounding Parliament) and if you are not in the voting chamber in person within eight minutes, your vote is not counted. Interesting, huh. 

touring parliament...
with our super cool visitor passes.

After Parliament, we decided to go to the British Museum. We didn't want to buy a metro pass, so we ended up doing a lot of walking. We did see lots of  London though! Theaters, old bookstores, ice cream shoppes, bakeries, etc. We stopped for a bit in Trafalgar Square (in front of the National Gallery) to take a picture by the lions. There was a gospel group grooving out on one side of the square. Lots of hallelujahs, swaying, and head-bopping. Fun stuff.

Next to the lions.
We should have climbed it, huh.
We tried. And failed.
blahhhh.
HOW does everybody else climb the thing?!?

We finally ended up at the British Museum and met up with Aaron. We didn't want to spend all day at the place, so we had to prioritize. Of course, we saw this:

The Rosetta Stone.
Three ancient languages.
One stone.
Baller.

We also saw the Neireid Monument, the Parthenon sculptures, and the Egyptian mummies, among other things. So cool. I'll have to return sometime.

After the British Museum, we commenced to walk once more. All the way to Covent Gardens! I was thinking Pygmalion the entire time...then I got there...and instead of flower-selling Eliza Doolittle's, there were lots of street performers and commercial shops. Oh well. Guess you lose some and you win some when it comes to progress. 

The important thing about Covent Gardens is that I tried two very impressive desserts.

1) Laduree: home of the best macaroons in the world. Apparently, macaroons are rubbish anywhere else. At least, that's what Jacqueline told me. And she should know. She's lived in France for quite some time. Apparently, these macaroons aren't quite as good as the ones in France, but they were still pretty darn good. Also pretty darn expensive. I guess that's how the French manage to stay so skinny. 

Jacqueline, me, and our delicious macaroons.

2) Ben's Cookies. Aaron told us we had to try Ben's Cookies. There was a humongous line, but if there's a line that long, you know something's got to be good. We waited. Most of us ordered a cookie and a milkshake. The milkshake was mediocre. It wasn't too thick and it wasn't that cold either. But the cookie. The cookie!! It was out of this world. Richest, best, most chocolate-y cookie I have ever had. Mhmm.

Jenny, me, and our milkshakes&cookies.
Cookies, ftw.

We split up at this point. Jenny and Aaron went to go see the London School of Economics. Jacqueline and I went shopping--and Rob tagged along and was a good sport about it. I didn't buy anything, but Jacqueline got a sweet pair of shoes. We walked all the way to Saint Paul's Cathedral, poked around the outside for a while (the inside was closed), and ate supper at Pizza Express. I wasn't too impressed with the place. The pizza was neither cheap nor exceptional.

After dinner, we crossed the Millenium Bridge (HARRY POTTER) to arrive at the Globe--Shakespeare's theater! We met up with a bigger group of PKP students here to see All's Well That Ends Well. The theater looks very similar to how I imagined it would look in Shakespeare's day. So legit. We were groundlings, so we got to stand for the entire play. It was a bit hard on the knees and feet...but totally worth it. I loved the play! It was brilliant. Very entertaining. I hadn't read the play beforehand, but I had no problem understanding everything that went on. 

1) Jacqueline and I thinking about the standing for three hours
part of being a groundling.
2) the stage of the globe. some of the groundlings were right next to
the stage and could lean against it. Lucky bums.

1) more of the Globe theater.
2) when intermission came, we were on the ground in two seconds flat.
relief for throbbing knees and feet. 

After the play, we boarded the bus and headed back for Cambridge. Good conversation was to be had by all in our little group. Fantastic day, overall.