Hello all!
It feels like yesterday that I arrived in the Netherlands! Things have been moving pretty fast here in Europe- barely anytime for a break, but it's been so much fun that it's worth the lack of sleep and total exhaustion.
After we arrived in the Netherlands on Saturday, we had the evening to rest, which was hard to do, considering the seven-hour jet lag we were dealing with. Everyone seemed to have the hardest time staying asleep, which came as a surprise since we were so tired after our long flight. But it was so nice to unpack and get settled into our room.
We packed our backpacks and left for London early Sunday morning. We took a bus to the Maastricht train station, then took the train to Liege, Belgium- from Liege to Brussels, and from Brussels we took the Eurostar train to England. That was actually a pretty cool ride because we had to ride under the English channel for a bit!
We arrived in London Sunday afternoon and took the "tube" as they call it, (the subway system in London) to our hotel, The Hilton Metropole on Edgeware road in central London. Needless to say the hotel was extravagant and definitely the nicest thing we will stay in during our three months of travel.
After we dropped off our luggage, we immediately set off to explore the city! We ate dinner at a gourmet pizza restaurant on Baker street called "Pizza Express." They were everywhere in London and very good! After dinner we set off to see the London eye, Parliament, and Big Ben. It was SO exciting to see in person the famous landmarks that I have heard about and seen pictures of! Big Ben was definitely my favorite, though. I immediately thought of Disney's Peter Pan every time I saw it..haha!
After taking some touristy pictures at Big Ben, we went to Westminster abbey, and happened to make it just in time for their 6:00pm service! It costs 16
£ to tour Westminster, but the services are free! It was such an amazing experience to be able to attend church IN Westminster. The priest gave a message on Paul and the Unity of the Church. Incredible. I have never been in a more beautiful service in my life! (Sorry, Dad! Haha).
Later that night, we really didn't do much, just hopped on one of the famous double-decker buses and went sight-seeing. We spent most of our time walking around the Piccadilly Circus area, which is basically a small version of New York City's Times Square.
The next day- Monday, was my FAVORITE day in London! That morning we had breakfast in the Hilton and then left early for our half-day sight-seeing tour around the city! We saw everything from Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Westminster Abbey, and so much more. It was overwhelming! EVERY building in the city was the most beautiful building I have ever seen. The entire city is clean, aside from the smell of cigarette smoke nearly everywhere you go. My favorite place we saw and took pictures by was Buckingham palace. I have basically decided I need to move in as SOON as possible.
That afternoon was the most FUN ever. We had the traditional "high tea" at 5 o' clock. This is a pretty fashionable tradition for the wealthy folk in Britain. So we asked our concierge where the best place for high tea in the city was, and he recommended a fabulous, ritzy place called "Fortnum and Mason." So we dressed up and went in a group of seven girls. (For some reason, the boys didn't want to join??)
It was AMAZINGGG! I have never had such an extravagent tea party in ALL MY LIFE! They had EVERYTHING right. We had fine porcelain tea sets, exquisite pastries, mini sandwiches... the whole ordeal. There was a pianist playing the entire time, and the room was huge and Victorian in style. My
mother would have LOVED it. We all felt like princesses.... and we all paid a royal price, too. 40£ each! (Again, sorry Dad..) but it was WELL worth it. I DEFINITELY would go back to London JUST for high tea!
After tea we went and saw "Billy Elliot, the Musical." It was....interesting.. the most unique Broadway show I have seen. But the dancing was amazing and the songs were really cute!
After the musical, a few friends and I went to a local club called "Tiger Tiger." It was a bit sketchy, but it was college night and the long line to get in indicated that it was the happening spot for a Monday night. It sure was, too. It was CRAWLING with college students inside! There were three different dance floors all playing different music- mostly American music, I might add, haha. But the people inside were friendly and polite, which was quite a bit nicer than most of your average American clubs. Anyway, after we got our dance on, we went back to the hotel.
The next day we left early for Stonehenge and Bath! There isn't much to explain about Stonehenge, but I will say I kept thinking about Kerrville, since I have always seen the Stonehenge replica there. Bath was really unique, though. I didn't really even know such a place existed. First of all, the drive there was breath-taking. It reminded me of the Kiera Knightley movie, "Pride and Prejudice," because of all the rolling hills, green pastures and traditional houses. At Bath, we explored the old Roman baths (of course), which was cool because I felt like I was in Rome. It was amazing to see that they have preserved this site for nearly 2000 years. After the baths, it was raining so we stopped and had hot chocolate at this amazing little Italian shop, which made their hot chocolate with REAL Italian chocolate. It was to die for. Last but not least, I ventured off to see the Jane Austen museum, author of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense & Sensibility. I didn't know until I got to Bath that Jane Austen lived there around the year 1804 for 3 years with her family.
That night, we took the bus back to London and went out only for dinner. Once again, our concierge recommended a little British spot that served GREAT burgers (American, I know) and chips....(which are fries). It was a pretty decent price, too. After dinner, we all went back to the hotel and crashed after a long day.
Wednesday was our final day, and it was ours to explore and spend how we wished! We woke up early, and started to check off our bucket list. My favorite spot was at King's Kross station, where we took pictures at Platform 9 and 3/4, made famous by JK Rowling's Harry Potter.
Next we went to the Victoria and Albert museum. It's known as the world's greatest museum of art and design, which is pretty impressive. Then we went to London's famous department store, Herrods. It was sort of intimidating actually, with brand names like Versace and Prada everywhere you turn. And yes, it was HUGE! But we went to the bakery there and bought some bread and gourmet French cheese for a picnic-style lunch. That was pretty cool because it was nice not feeling like a tourist for a change.
After lunch, we went to Big Ben and a few other spots again, and then my roommate and I decided it was naptime around 6pm. That night, we went out for the last time, with a very large group of us Baylor students, and went dancing. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.
This morning, with much dismay, we bid farewell to London and took the train back to Maastricht. We grabbed dinner here in the city at a local cafe. It was really tasty, but it was really hard to order because EVERYTHING was in Dutch! I feel so handicapped here because I thought more people spoke English. I sort of hate feeling like a "stupid American" because I can't understand much and can't read the signs everywhere. I guess I need to work on my language skills here.
Tomorrow we have orientation at the University, and classes start on Monday! I miss you all in the U. S, and I will update you more as I go!
Last but not least.....
Here are some interesting things I learned about London/Europe:
1. London is the most expensive place I have ever been and the British Pound is worth soooo much more than the U.S. Dollar...so everything you buy is basically double the price for an American.
2. Smoking is VERY popular in Britain. Wayyy more British folk smoke!
3. French fries are called chips in England, not French fries.... and you have to eat them with a fork or you will get some really dirty looks.
4. You also NEVER eat pizza with your hands. You MUST cut it with a fork and knife.
5. A "bobby" is the term for a police officer. A "puff" is what you call a gay person...and this term really is used often
6. When riding down or up escalators, you stand on the right side. If you don't, you will probably not make friends, and might get shoved out of the way.
7. You must always find out if the tip is included in the restaurant you dine in.
8. Stonehenge is next to a highway... weird huh?
9. It's projected to rain on 200 of the 365 days every year.
10. The British people are actually really friendly. Unlike New York city, They don't mind helping you out if you're lost!
