UPDATE: Pictures from my first London trip are up:
Many more of London will come up when I go back there.
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And I'm not necessarily referring to the band. London may be one of the most internationally oriented cities ever. Bits of every culture from around the world are evident in it's 8 million citizens and various boroughs. Add to that the mixture of buildings and architecture from medieval times to just about 10 years ago and you have a city that makes no sense, but at the same time makes perfect sense.
Anyway, to recap my weekend there with the other UK-based U of I students:
Day 1 (Friday) - Took the train from Sheffield to London. Arrived at King's Cross/St. Pancras International Train Station. Truly a magnificent building, the station resembles a massive castle. From there, we (my friends Mike and Paul) walked about 30 minutes to our hotel located in Barbican, an area in the northeast part of the city. Once all the U of I kids showed up, checked into our rooms, and then went out for dinner to a rather nice Mediterranean place located in Covent Gardens. Now to get there, we took what may be the most famous subway system not in the United States: The London Underground. Now I've ridden on the El, the NY subway, and the Washington D.C. subway system. And still, London's is by far the most fun and easiest to use. It might be one of the most idiot-proof public transit systems ever.
Anyway, had a nice dinner, then went to see a show called Havana Rakatan, a Cuban dance show at the Peacock Theatre. After the show, we students were left to ourselves. Now of course because March 5th was Unofficial St. Patrick's day at U of I, we had to celebrate ourselves. Thus, the necessary imbibing occurred, after which we all decided to go to Fabric, one of the most renowned nightclubs in the world. All I can say about the club is this: if you are a fan of awesome dance music and otherwise really damn good electronic music of almost any genre, go there. But don't go with more than three other people. The club has 5 levels (!!!) and losing people with all the bouncers everywhere becomes all too easy.
Day 2 (Saturday): The day started with a bus tour of the city (needless to say, even a 10:30 AM start was a bit rough for those who had massive hangovers from the night before). We drove by almost every major landmark in the city, stopping at a few to take pictures. Afterwards, my friend Mike and I wandered around the city in search of the fabled Texas Embassy Grill. After a good 40 minute trek, we finally found the place and enjoyed some wonderful Tex-Mex cuisine. We finished the night with a pub quiz and dinner at the Olde Cock Tavern.
Day 3 (Sunday): The Tower of London. The fortress on the river Thames that houses the Crown Jewels. Basically, we stared at 778929839823 billion dollars worth of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and gold. Then, after a few pictures on Tower Bridge (the one everyone thinks is London Bridge), took the train back home to Sheffield.
After many miles of walking and a few hundred miles on trains, I'm tired and I've got lots of work to do.
But overall, an awesome weekend in London. A link to the pictures to follow soon.
first real side trip, hooray! yes, i realize you've gone other places, but they didn't count.
ReplyDeletedid you really stay at a hotel, not a hostel? fancy.
Yep, at a hotel. On U of I's tab (well, probably my own anyway since I had to pay all those fees just to come here)
ReplyDelete