Lauren in London: 06/27/10

Wow, lots of catching up to do!

Friday: On my day off, my friend Becky and I explored some of London's top sites! In the morning, we started with a tour of Westminster Abbey. It was gorgeous! I was surprised to see how many people are buried there - it's seriously more of a graveyard than a church. But the history is remarkable. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside the Abbey, but here's one outside it.

At Westminster Abbey

After Westminster, Becky and I headed to the City of London for lunch at a garden patio at a pub. Then we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral for an afternoon tour. Here it is!

St. Paul's Cathedral - I climbed to the top!

Once again, no pics inside. But do you see the very, very top of the dome?? After the tour, Becky and I split ways and I climbed to the top of St. Paul's for a stunning view of London. Lots and lots of steps (and very, very small spaces) but it was a great sight! Would have been better if I could have shared it with someone, though :(

So then I climbed back down the 5 bazillion steps and got on a bus to Leicester Square for another ticket hunt. The girls and I decided to go to either We Will Rock You or Chicago, so I got ticket pricing for both, wandered the area, and headed back home.

Upon getting home, we started talking about which show to go see and we decided on We Will Rock You. Katie wanted to go too, which was awesome! So we had a quick turnaround and headed down to the theatre to get tickets.

We RUSHED through the tube and down the streets to make it to the theatre on time, only to hear that tickets would be DOUBLE what they told me earlier. Boo. So instead we decided to go to Chicago. Katie and her friend Melissa split off at that point because they saw Chicago last week.

We got tickets for Chicago, paying for balcony seats but somehow scoring 3rd row!! It was awesome! I guess they must have had a cancellation or something, but we were very lucky to get such close seats.

Excited to see Chicago!

Yes, actually, thanks for asking. (An ad in the tube station)

So after the show, we were exhausted after a long work week and headed back to Nido, because we had an early morning ahead of us!

Saturday: Waking up early wasn't my favorite thing to do, but we were off early with a program-sponsored trip to Stonehenge and Bath.

Yep, it was the aliens.

Stonehenge is really cool. We all got audio guides and listened about the history of Stonehenge. Pretty fascinating! Although the whole mystery thing really bugged me - I just want to KNOW why they are there!! All the hype is just killing me.

After Stonehenge, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the city of Bath. Bath is gorgeous! What a beautiful European town. We ate lunch at a pub and explored the city. It reminded me a lot of small towns in Italy that I visited with the family.

After lunch, we got to go see the Roman Baths that give Bath its name and first purpose. A city built by the Romans, it was home to natural hot springs, around which this huge bath house was built. Very cool!

Bath is pretty.

Nargis and me on the bridge in Bath

Exploring the Roman Baths

Finishing the trip with an ice cream :) Katelyn and I with our friend Ann

Nargis and Me

We did lots of driving through the beautiful English countryside! Look closely.

All green and pretty...

...and then there's a castle in the distance. No big deal.

Sunday: So this morning I woke up and went on a spur-of-the-moment day trip to Oxford. It was an hour and a half bus ride from London - not bad at all. Another pretty town to explore! The best part was seeing some places where Harry Potter was filmed. Check it out!