England: London, Day 1

Cheerio, pip-pip, and all that! I think if I ever actually heard a British person say one of those phrases for real, I might just combust. Some emotion would cause it. I don't know which one. So, Friday night, having handed in all five of my final essays, I set off with Jess, Jaye, and Julie to Shannon Airport, where we met Julie's friend Angela, who was joining us on our sojourn to Merry Old England. The flight was generally uneventful, although we all got a row to ourselves, which was quite exciting, meaning we could all stretch out and take our leisure. After what seemed like the never-ending taxi, our plane finally got us to our gate, and a series of soothing British voices led us to where we could take the Heathrow Express train into Paddington Station. Angela had decided to come in the eleventh hour, so she had booked a different hostel, so we split up at Paddington and took separate Tubes to our respective hostels. As we got used to it over the weekend, I grew to like the Tube more and more - very convenient, generally clean enough, and excessively easy to use. We bought day passes Saturday and Sunday at 5 pounds 60 each, which is actually an excellent price, since a single ticket runs about 4 pounds.

Anyway, we Tubed to Brixton and walked from the station to our hostel (get ready for it...) the Hootananny. Have you finished laughing? Good. So yes, the description on the website said it was a family-run hostel, and we were a little worried because we were getting there a bit later than planned, so would they be asleep? Would they be annoyed? We could see lights in the distance... a thumping bass beat hit our ears (and feet)... and there it was! The hostel sits atop a connected and very lively bar, which was that night, I believe, holding some sort of ska event. The lead singer of the band had a mohawk at least a foot and a half high. We approached the hostel, where two legit bouncers confronted us, but they sent us in to the bar when I showed them our reservations. We were checked in by the friendly, young, be-dreadlocked staff at the bar, then led up a door behind the bar into the hostel proper, where the noise was considerably less. Jaye and I were in a room together with 6 other people, and Jess and Julie were in another with two others. We eventually got to know a few of them - the two boys in the bunkbeds opposite ours were from Denmark and had come to London to stay for two months, get jobs, and improve their English. Another boy was American and had attended Carnegie Mellon University (in Pittsburgh) for awhile. He had also recently been in Galway, so we gushed (that is, I gushed... he talked normally) about the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands for a bit one night.

The next morning after breakfast we headed to Notting Hill for the famous Portobello Market (secretly hoping to see Hugh Grant...), which was full of people! The area is really pretty, and I'd like to live there except I think I would hate having the market there every weekend just because there would be so many tourists and things. Still, it was really cool, with an antque section, a food section, lots of vintage clothes, and plenty of odd little things. It was sunny and beautiful out, so after the market we decided to go to Buckingham Palace. Between the Tube stop and the palace is Green Park, which is all in flower, so we came back to it later, but first we went to see Buckingham. Now, I'll be honest, it was really cool to see Buckingham, and it's impressive, but it was, visually, something of a letdown after seeing Versailles. Buckingham is definitely very British, while Versailles is DEFINITELY a product of opulent France. We didn't go in... actually, I never even though about it... I don't know if you can. The flag was up, so I think that means the queen was home, but I might be making that connection up. Julie really likes to climb on statues, so we hung out at the Victoria memorial in front of the palace for a bit before heading back into the park, where we took of our shoes and sprawled on the grass under the trees in and amongst the flowers. Bliss!

After that respite, we moved on up the street to where we could see some red-coated beaver-hatted guards (who looked about 13) carrying their rifles with Rambo knives attached as bayonets. We walked through St. James's Park, where ice cream was acquired, and through to Westminster and Big Ben. We took the opportunity to take photos inside the red phone boxes before walking to Trafalgar Square, on the way meeting another pubescent guard of the realm, this time astride a large horse outside of a museum, I think it was. Trafalgar was fun! We tried to climb the lions, but they were REALLY slippery, so we didn't quite make it... then we headed back to Westminster to go to Evensong, which was STUNNING. Usually you have to pay to get into Westminster, but not if you're going for a service (thank you, Brittany, for this fun fact!), so we thought this would be an excellent way to go. Unfortunately we were only just in time (we were let through like rockstars!) for the service, so we didn't get to linger through the church. We were chivvied along to seats farther in, sitting looking at a gorgeous stained glass window (which I photographed before seeing the "No Photography" sign). The singing was incredible... I love choir music, and they were, of course, excessively talented. The bass soloist gave me chills.

Afterwards we sat in the grass of the roundabout/minipark thing outside of Westminster to relax and decide our next move. We ended up strolling along the Thames for a bit past Westminster vaguely toward the London Eye (which we did NOT go on... 15 pounds to sit in a glass bubble for half an hour! Sure you get a view, but really...). We were hungry, and Indian food was required, but, sadly, "Delicious Indian Food" was not starred on my map (a failing, I feel). We decided to take the tube to King's Cross, take pictures at Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter geekiness for everyone!), and go from there. We found the platform, although they had actually moved it (the attraction, that is) because of some construction they were doing, and took the requisite photos, having a marvelous time and not caring a whit what others thought of a group of college girls pushing part of a trolley into a solid barrier. We left the station in search of food and immediately found an Indian restaurant, which had delicious food (and dessert!) and fun Bollywood playing on the television. We stopped off at a little store to get towels for me and Jaye, who hadn't packed any, and they were super tiny dishtowels, ultimately useless, but they did their best, I'm sure. We spent the night in the lounge of our hostel, chatting with a Canadian girl named Kate who was very fun and had spent a few months as an au pair in Italy. Sorry, more later.