Benvinguda a Barcelona: Just touched down in Londontown

London calling, I never felt so much alive!

So these past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and there’s no end in sight. A few weeks ago, I hopped onto a plane once again, this time destined for London. The trip was pretty rushed, but I still had the chance to be a good little tourist and see the sights. I met up with Alex (friend from way back when at SJA) and we headed out into the dreary London afternoon to explore. Alex goes to the University of Southampton only about two hours outside of London, so it was much to my surprise when I realized that he knew absolutely nothing about the city. I had (of course) made a detailed itinerary for the weekend so I could fit in as much as possible, but I had originally expected to have Alex as my tour guide; Alex decided his role was more of a general sidekick than an information-giver, as he has apparently not visited London the million times I would have expected in the six years he’s lived in England.

Top sights:

- Big Ben

- Houses of Parliament

- London Eye

- Westminster Abbey

- Trafalgar Square

- Attempt at seeing St. Paul’s Cathedral: Ok, so this one didn’t quite go as planned. Who would have thought that when one types ‘Saint Paul’s Cathedral London’ into Google maps, one will be faced with approximately ten possible locations to choose from. I chose the first on the list, figuring that would be my best bet of having the correct location. There is only one St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and I did not see it. I instead saw the Southwark Cathedral, which coincidently is actually older than St. Paul’s (circa AD 606) though notably no as famous. This would have been another situation in which Alex having some knowledge about his capital city might have been useful.

- Victoria & Albert Museum

- Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace: This was probably the most entertaining congregation of tourists I have yet seen in Europe—hundreds of people crowd around Buckingham Palace, but no one seems quite sure of where they’re supposed to be looking or what they’re looking for. Then, suddenly, the guard begins processing along the street, music, marching, and all, and the entire crowd perks up excitedly and shoves towards the fence, cameras aloft, as the guard marches inside, leaving every single person who isn’t a small child sitting on a parent’s shoulders, with no view at all. I luckily was able to guilt-trip a tall man into snapping a photo or two for my short-statured self.

- London Tower

- Jubilee Market

- London Bridge

I was also lucky enough to get an authentic British experience, when Alex and I, after sightseeing Friday and Saturday morning, headed out to Southampton to attend his baseball team’s awards function—which basically consisted of a British meal at a British pub followed by a British club, and then back to Alex’s house where I was greeted by approximately twenty boys, all apparently visitors of his other three housemates. Sleeping in the same house as twenty dirty (sorry Alex) boys is not the most pleasant of experiences.

I then got to round out the weekend by heading back to London Sunday morning and seeing Suz (!) for the afternoon before flying back to Barca.

Halloween weekend, we were treated to approximately a million visitors, making for a weekend jam-packed with sightseeing and catching up. Nicole, Patty, Colby, Amy, and Krisitn all came from various locations in Europe, and among the highlights were a visit to Parc Guell at sunset as well as a trip up to Montjuic to watch the Magic Fountain show held every Saturday night. We witnessed the most captivating light show I’ve ever seen set to cheesy movie soundtrack tunes. Perched on the steps at the foot of the Palau Nacional, armed with bread, cheese, wine, and good company, suffice it to say we felt too euro for words.