London on the Line
Ring Ring! London Calling! Another weekend trip this past Thursday night through Sunday morning. This time to the capital of the United Kingdom. Four girls in the Dublin program, including myself, booked the cheapest flights we could find to London. What we didn’t really realize was that cheapest flights meant we wouldn’t be flying in or out of London-Heathrow. Instead we were landing in Southend and leaving from Luton; each of these about an hour and half outside of London city center. But it worked out fine and we did a whirlwind tour of the giant city!
We woke up Friday morning and had brunch at a small French Bistro and Pastry shop right near our Air B and B. Then we headed into the city straight to Westminster Abbey for a tour. The Abbey is extremely iconic and valued to England. It houses architectural art, buried monarchs and important British figures, and is the Church of choice for many royal coronations, weddings, and funerals. The Abbey is the resting place of 30 monarchs including the tudor sisters Mary I and Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Anne, Mary I and II, St. Edward the Confessor, and almost all of the King Henrys. Notable figures are also buried there such as Sir Isaac Newton, Handel, and Charles Dickens. The Abbey has hosted 16 royal weddings including the current Queen Elizabeth’s to Prince Phillip of Greece in 1947 and William and Kate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s ceremony in 2011. Traditionally, the Abbey is where coronations take place, so unless somewhere else was specifically requested, most monarchs have been crowned there. It was fascinating to learn about the history, architecture, and religion of the Abbey. There is no photography allowed inside, but pictures likely wouldn’t do the magnificent church justice.
Afterwards we embarked on our own walking tour of London to see Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and the Thames. Then we headed to the South Bank to eat dinner before seeing a play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The South Bank of London is very cool and pretty trendy. Right on the water, there are lots of outdoor restaurants surrounding a graffitied skate park under a bridge. People rode bikes and and walked by with street food, or sat down in the open air seating for cocktails on the water. We ate at Wohaca, a fantastic Mexican restaurant. The Globe was a short walk from the restaurant. Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is a reconstructed version less than 1,000 feet from the original structure. It is the only building in London allowed to have a thatched roof after the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Theatre is a beautiful round white and wood open-roof building with standing room and three levels of box seating. We bought our tickets to A Winter’s Tale in standing room for two reasons: prices and experience. It was the cheapest option and we are now able to say we saw Shakespeare like a true English commoner would have. The play was phenomenal. I personally love Shakespeare, as hard as it is to read, but I had never actually seen it performed. Watching Shakespeare plays is a whole new game. The actors were fantastic and the modern twist using costumes and props in the second act was hilarious. Initially we had tried to buy tickets for Hamlet but it was sold out. Now, I’m glad I was able to see a work I didn’t know in such a creative and entertaining way.
On Saturday, we headed out to Camden Town for the morning and early afternoon before the World Cup game at 3pm. Camden Market is a partially outdoor and indoor market with local and mainly artisan goods. It was a beautiful day and really interesting to browse all of the items, from handmade soap, to custom fairy lights, to vintage cameras. Another part of Camden Market is a square with street food stalls. There had to be over 50 stalls, each with colorful signs and some playing music. Inside each small stall, you could see people making food. From burgers, to mac and cheese, to curry, to BBQ, to Mexican, to fish and chips, to pizza – this market had everything and smelled like heaven. After walking past every stall to bask in the beauty and smells, I settled on a placed call Cachapas: Venezuelan corn pancakes with South American fillings. I had a pork belly filled corn pancake with coriander and spicy mayo – fried plantains on the side. We sat on a bench beneath a giant tree in the square and leisurely enjoyed our variety of food.
We headed back into the city center to a pub called Union Jack’s to watch England play Sweden in the World Cup quarter-finals. I was able to meet up with some of best friends from this past year at UNC who just arrived in London. It was so nice to have a few hours of catching up and talking about home and also our different experiences so far. I have yet to feel truly homesick, but seeing my good friends in the coolest European cities has definitely made me wish more friends and family could be here with me at times. Watching the World Cup game in England was incredible. While England is famous for soccer (football, sorry) with its Barclays Premier League, it has apparently been a while since the national team has performed this well in the World Cup. Even if England wasn’t seriously invested in the World Cup, winning in the quarter-finals is a big deal. The English people’s mantra of choice for this World Cup is “it’s coming home, it’s coming home…football’s coming home” in hopes that the team will pull off the big win and truly claim England as the home of the sport. After exciting goals, lots of chanting, and some people doing a lot of drinking, the game ended in an English victory and people took to the streets dancing and waving flags in celebration. It was all very festive and lots of fun…until one man jumped on a moving smart car’s hood and cracked the windshield. When the driver flew out of the car to chase the culprit down the street, we took it as our sign to head out of the area.
With a few hours left to see the city we took the tube over to Kensington Palace and Hyde Park. We walked down Palace Green and looked at all the breathtaking mansions of foreign ambassadors. We also saw the Princess Diana memorial gate and the Palace Gardens. Afterwards we simply took a break and sat in the shade watching people walk, run, sunbathe, and play in Hyde Park right next to the palace.
We spent the rest of the night at a restaurant and then a pub before heading to the airport for the night for our early morning flight. Restaurant Zizzi, a European chain, was delicious. I definitely ate like a queen while in England. After cocktails, dinner, and dessert to treat ourselves before a long night, we popped across the street to The Champion Pub to watch the PK Shoot Out ending of the Russia vs. Croatia game. It was an exciting night and a great end to our London adventure.