Last Day in London/Home to Maastricht!

On Wednesday, we left London for Maastricht. However, before leaving, we had a few more activities to get in. First, we went to the Sherlock Holmes museum to take pictures of the outside, and ended up having a mini photo shoot with some Holmes-like accessories. I even convinced the "bobby" that was stationed there to let me wear his cape and hat!

After that, we went to the British Museum in order to see the Rosetta Stone. We were only able to spend about an hour there, but no worries- I still managed to hit the gift shop. :)

We ate lunch at this Thai restaurant, where I had some of the best curry I've ever eaten, and then headed back to the hotel to pick up our giant backpacks and make our way to King's Cross to catch the Eurostar. Once again, I was seated backwards going under the Chunnel, but I quickly fell asleep so it was no big deal. Our train got stuck on the tracks for who knows what reason, so we missed our connecting train and had to take another one, which put us back in Maastricht at about eleven. Unfortunately, almost all restaurants in Maastricht close by ten, so there were only two options for dinner- pizza at this place our guide didn't know how to get to, or McDonalds! So of course, we went to Mickey D's, which is quite different in the Netherlands than in the US. Options on the menu included some kind of sausage, a "Sneekburger" (which several people tried for the name alone), and the McCroqet, which I had a bite of and will probably never touch again. I just ordered a Big Mac, which tasted almost the same. One thing that is interesting about Europe is that you have to pay for the most ridiculous things, such as ketchup. In fact, it cost almost 75 US cents for a teeny tiny package of the stuff. I'm learning to like plain fries. Another thing, people in the Netherlands eat fries with EVERYTHING. There have been days when I have been served fries with two out of three meals. Luckily I walk about five miles a day so they're not having too much of an effect. Anyway, we got back to the hotel and passed out from sheer exhaustion. The end.

Free Day in London

On Tuesday, we had a free day to do whatever we wanted. First, a group of us went to see Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross station, to take some Harry Potter style pictures.

Then, Jennifer and I picked up tickets to see Avenue Q that same evening, and then went to the Tower of London. It was kind of expensive to get in (17 pounds-almost thirty dollars!) but well worth the cost. We walked around the gift shop for a bit and then went on a couple of really neat tours.

The first tour was of the White Tower, which is where the royal apartments were and also where this really neat chapel was. After that tour, we went on the yeoman's tour, which was led by this really awesome tour guide in this cool uniform, with whom I promptly decided to become besties. By that I mean I made Jennifer stand at the front of the group with me as I used ESP to communicate with this guard that we should take a picture together. He was hilarious and told really great stories about the Tower. In the end, I did indeed get not one, but two pictures with him (and a couple more of him...errrr). He also told me that he would catch me if I fell, which I thought was a good sign. I don't entirely remember the context of that statement but I can assure you that it was not as creepy as it sounds now.

Anyyyyywayyy after we went on that tour we saw the medieval palace part of the Tower and there were some re-creators there which was pretty cool to see, although not as interesting as my guard friend, of course.

the Tower Bridge

Once we left there, we went to Westminster Abbey for a tour, but it was closed already. Instead, we decided to attend their Evensong service at five. That was AMAZING. We sat in the choir stalls with all of the choir (older men and these little boys who sang the soprano and alto parts). We got to see an aspect of the abbey that I feel a lot of people, or tourists at least, don't really get to see.

After the Evensong service, Jennifer and I roamed around Chinatown and ate at the cheapest place we could find. Then we went to see Avenue Q, which was pretty hilarious but very very risque.

Stonehenge, Bath, and Les Mis

On Monday we went to Stonhenge and Bath. Stonehenge was super cold, but we got off our comfy tour bus to take pictures and hear some history from our tour guide. It was cold because Stonehenge is on a really flat area and there aren't any trees to block any wind, plus it was just plain cold and gloomy!

This is my roommate, Jenna, and I at Stonehenge

After going to Stonehenge, we drove on to Bath. Something interesting I learned while driving through the countryside is what constitutes a hamlet, village, and city. In order to be called a village, an area must contain a church, a green, and a pub, otherwise it is just called a hamlet. In order to be considered a city, like Bath, you must have all these things, as well as a cathedral or abbey.

In Bath, we took a tour of the Roman bathhouse that was excavated there. It was really neat! After that a group of us went to Sally Lunn's for lunch/tea. This bakery had been in Bath since the 1400s, and they are famous for the Sally Lunn bun, which is basically this really delicious and light bread filled with goodies. I got one that had brie and cranberry sauce in it. Yummmm. Next, we went to the Jane Austen center, which was not quite what I thought it would be but was still neat. I also took a picture of her house, a few doors down, and bought some souvenirs (of course). After leaving Bath, way too soon, in my opinion, we drove back to London and went to see Les Miserables, the musical. It was sooo amazing! I cried, four or so times, actually.

This is Jane Austen's door! (Now a business)

London Night One

We traveled to London on Sunday, taking a train to Liege and then another to Brussels and then taking the Eurostar to London. I was seated backwards (bad enough) and then I found out that the train goes under the channel for like 45 minutes and not above it as I had thought. That kind of stressed me out but we got there okay. We took the tube to our hotel (the Holiday Inn) and unpacked a bit.

That night, we went walking around London for a bit, just to see Big Ben at night and such. We ate dinner at this touristy pub, but it was really yummy, so that was okay. We sat down in this empty corner of the restaurant just because there were these really neat high-backed chairs that I wanted to sit in. At some point during our dinner, this couple came to sit near us at this tiny table in the corner and wrapped themselves up in a blanket and proceeded to make out the entire time. It was really awkward just because our table and their table were really secluded from the restaurant and it was kind of odd that they would choose to sit so near us if they wanted to be that...private! Anyway, Big Ben was really neat and we saw the London Eye as well, although we never went on it because it is so expensive! I also saw an advertisement in the tube for something about the Tudors so we had an impromptu photo shoot.

Later, we went out to this bar called Waxy O'Connor's with a bunch of people from our group, and it was super fun! It was really just a stand-around-and-talk style place, but of course us Americans turned it into a dance place.

One Week In!

If I actually posted what has happened this whole week, this would end up being a really long and boring post so I think I'll break it up some.
On Friday the 22nd, Danny and his dad picked me up at my apartment at 5:45 am and we began our exciting journey to Europe! We flew to Houston and then waited for our flight to Amsterdam. On the flight to Amsterdam, Danny and I sat together and luckily we were in a section that just had two seats, so I didn't have to sit in a middle seat like I was so afraid of! I took some Tylenol PM and passed out for about four or five hours, looking real cute in my eye mask and slipper socks. So anyway, we got to Amsterdam and then took a bus to Maastricht, about 2.5 hours away. We stopped at a restaurant on the way, where pretty much everyone bought soup and bread and water, since we couldn't read anything and that looked relatively safe. I also experienced having to pay for the bathroom for the first time (50 euro cents). Once we got to Maastricht we ate dinner and then basically passed out at like 9. Oh, also, my roommate is Jenna, a girl from my sorority, and she is basically pretty awesome!