Golden 21st

I had a dream. To go to London for my golden 21st birthday. I say "golden" because I was born on the 21st of November. Let me explain: my brother was born on the 1st of February. His "golden" birthday was when he turned one. Too bad for him.

And why London? Four years ago, my family visited London and I fell in love. To be honest, it's why I came back to the UK. The Thames and the Tower, the Eye and Big Ben, this was and is my favourite city in the world.

So, I made it happen. I saw an advert in the University Travel Office for two nights in a 3 star hotel + rail to London for £90. It came in packages of two(two people in each room), so I enlisted one guy friend and two girls that were interested in going. We left early on Friday, taking the 5 hour long train ride from my local rail station. We were eager to get to London as soon as possible and so decided to take the 9:20, even though this train was fully booked. We ended up sitting in a crowded corridor(near the bathroom) for the majority of the trip, but it was worth it.

After arriving at the famous King's Cross, we bought our Tube passes and found our hotels(very well located, if I may say). We didn't stop long, though. That first picture was how London looked the first night. Big ben and the Eye were the first stops on our list( didn't actually go up in the eye(too expensive)). You may be wondering why it is so dark. Well, it is getting near winter and we are rather near the arctic, despite the deceptive weather. In Scotland, it is pitch black before 5 PM. That picture was probably around 6ish. But enough of that. Here's the team:

My friends Hella and Pia, Ross' friend Francis, Me, and Ross(in the underground on our way to Big Ben).

We then went to dinner at an Italian joint near Trafalgar Square. There was a cool Rainforest Protection exhibit in the square, with giant trees uprooted and on display. Like a tree graveyard. Quite creepy. We then meandered around the city for a while before heading back to Victoria. We relaxed in Ross and my room as we planned the big day.

After some breakfast, our first stop was Piccadilly Circus.

The hope was that we would be able to get our hands on some discount theatre tickets. Apparently, it was a busy weekend, so there weren't too many(and none in our price range). It's was alright though, because we had more to do than we could possibly fit into one day.

We then walked down some stairs and were at the mall. Just in time for the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Goofy, I know.

Next up was a picnic in Hyde Park. We had my new favourite meal of bagguets, brie cheese, and sliced chicken (wrong country, I know). Unfortunately, we do not have any pictures of the park. I was too busy enjoying it in person. It started raining, so we packed up and headed for the nearest coffee shop.

After our (much needed) afternoon coffee, we went to the British Museum. We obviously didn't give it justice, only really spending time in the Enlightenment section and the Ancient Egypt. However, we were on a tight schedule.

We stayed as long as we could, only leaving the museum when it closed. One more quick tube ride and we were at St. Paul's; at which point, it began to rain. Looking back at the striking dome, we crossed the Millennium bridge in awe of the scenery. The sublimity of the moment passed, though, when we figured out that the wet metal of the bridge was slick and perfect for sliding. I basically cross-country skied over the Thames. We then passed Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, came back across Tower Bridge, and arrived at the Tower. Next to the Tower is one of my favourite restaurants:

After my birthday dinner, we made our way back in the direction that we had come(more skiing). We had seen some cool taverns and pubs along the way and stopped in to end a very good day.

The next morning, we slept in a bit and attended a Sung Eucharist service at Westminster Abbey. I cannot decide which I liked better. Westminster or York. Either way, though, the building and the service were well worth the last-minute trip.

I would like to say that the return journey was smooth, but this was not the case. Everything had been going according to the plan: we had our tickets, were on time, and had even enough spare minutes to buy some Cornish Pasties for the road. However, as soon as our train arrived on the platform, we handed our tickets to the conductor who promptly and with certainty told us that our tickets were invalid. Furious and stressed about the prospect of missing this train, we rushed to the ticket office. The man there informed us that the tickets were valid only if we were going north of Edinburgh. We were definitely going north of Edinburgh. We rushed back to the platform and notified the conductor. He waved us through and paid us no mind, as if it had been our mistake.

A bit rustled, we sat down in some real seats and enjoyed a relaxing(though still long) trip back home.