Charlie drove me to the Shenfield train station this morning and helped me buy an Oyster card. Basically, you put money on it and it gets you around London and some other places (like the train from London to Shenfield) for cheaper and quicker (you tap it on a card reader instead of feeding a ticket through the machine each time). There were multiple trains leaving soon but one is faster than the other (it stops at less stations). That one was running 14 minutes late but would still be quicker than the other train going to the same place so I decided to wait for that one. I went to the right platform to wait and Charlie went to play rehearsal after texting Phil and Sophie what time to expect me at Liverpool St. Station (at the McDonalds because wifi and the station is rather large). I got a coke and some gum from the little convenience store on the platform and sat down to read the Golden Compass while I waited. The first train went by and I knew that wasn't the one I wanted. The next train showed up what I thought was 15 minutes later so I hopped on. Then I realized that my watch was 5 minutes fast and I should have waited for the next train. Oh well, they were going to the same station. Phil greeted me about halfway between one of the station exits and McDonalds because I was ten minutes later than they were expecting. Sophie was waiting for us by McDonalds in case we somehow missed each other. Many hugs later, we set off. Phil, as predicted by Charlie and me, was wearing his "Run UNC" shirt.
We decided to walk to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge first since Charlie's mom mentioned something about lots of poppies because World War 1. We passed multiple skyscrapers with weird names/nicknames like the Cheese Grater, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie (that one burned the jaguar so they're re-doing the windows! google it), the Gherkin (we passed this one first), and the BT tower (this was later on). Here's a link if you're curious. http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/01/07/260194440/londons-cheeky-skyscrapers
The Tower was super crowded because it's really touristy. We went there on the trip 5 years ago. We also attempted to iceskate there but underestimated the time it would take on the tube and ended up not skating after all. The poppies were still being set up and won't be completed until August 5th so I'll have another look at it when I go back into London on Tuesday or Wednesday. We also passed a monument titled "The Monument" according to Phil. Idk what's so special about it. Then we passed London Bridge (no it wasn't falling) and Southwark bridge which was very pretty. We saw Shakespeare's Globe from across the Thames but didn't go see it up close. Phil was outraged because it's a reconstruction and not in the right place cause it really burned down years ago. I haven't read much Shakespeare so I wasn't too troubled. Next up was Millennium Bridge (as seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and it's pretty neat. Then we walked on to St Paul's Cathedral (just the outside though) as we were on a mission to find lunch. We decided on a place called Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Sophie only had a milkshake, Phil is apparently vegetarian now, and the "skinny" fries were super weird. I forgot to take a photo. We then continued walking to see Kings College London (where Sophie and Phil went to school) and Somerset House which is in Westminster. Which is in London. I don't understand it exactly. Phil and Sophie tried to explain and I still don't understand. Trafalgar square was also in walking distance (though "walking distance" has been redefined by Phil). We sat around for a bit to see if Charlie wanted to join us. A guy did magic tricks (only one of which I haven't been able to figure out the trick) but it was alright. A group of French students came over to watch and one was wearing a Teemo hat!! I let him know I liked it. Phil butt-dialed Charlie and she said it was amusing to listen to us. She didn't end up coming so we had to figure out what was next. As we were leaving a guy saw Phil's shirt and asked him if he went to UNC. We said yeah, and the guy was all "cool, kind of, I went to NC State, but cool!" It's a small world?
To Baker Street and our first underground/public transport of the day besides the initial meeting up. We went to see Sherlock Holmes's house (though its not real, and Phil also has issues with this) then spent tons of time in Regent's Park with the birdies (the ducks were so cute). It was like being in another world. Where did the city go? We were still in London (district one as well, aka the dead center) but you couldn't see too many buildings or hear much of the traffic. After Regent's park we walked to Primrose Hill which was incredible. You could see the London skyline and all the skyscrapers we were so close to earlier in the day. Phil had mentioned a place where there were alcoholic milkshakes at this american diner so we looked up how to find it. Turns out it was in Camden which was fairly close so that was the next stop (district two, just barely). The milkshakes were incredible, the music was hilarious (I have videos), and Phil is great. After the diner we took the tube to Waterloo station and saw South Bank which is right by the Thames river, though the opposite side we were on earlier. We saw the London Eye and street performers and everything was bright and colorful. We also could see Parliament and Big Ben across the Thames. It was nearly 9pm by this time so we decided to head on back. We took the northern line together then Phil went on and Sophie and I got off to get onto the central line at Tottenham Court Road (which Phil and I think was also in Harry Potter, haven't confirmed yet) then on to Liverpool St. We had McDonalds (super slow) and got some snacks before I caught the train (the quick one this time) and Sophie texted Charlie so she could pick me up from the station in Shenfield.
Now: I'm writing this, applying lots of aloe lotion because I apparently got sunburnt. It was super windy so I felt cold all day but it was sunny. Photos are being uploaded to facebook and I'm writing another blog post as a background. Tomorrow is beach day!
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