Brad's England Journal- March 28th Entry 

Friday, March 28, 1997

I write this from my room in London, at Hughes Parry Hall, one of the dorms for the University of London, where we are staying. This trip has continued to be a busy one, and I can't believe that we have finished our second day in London, and we only have one full day left before Alex and Jeff return to the States. The view from my room is quite nice, and I look towards the south and can see the dome of St. Pauls Cathedral lit up against the sky line, with a full moon overhead. I tried to take some pictures, but I doubt they will turn out very well, since my camera does not have a very long exposure time.

Yesterday morning we left from Bath fairly early in the morning, in the hope of getting to London at a reasonable time. Although it was a little bit out of our way, we decided to swing by Stonehenge on the way to London, as it is one of those things that you just have to see. We also figured it wouldn't take to long to see it, as it can't take to long to see a bunch of stones (albeit very old stones). When we pulled in there were lots of signs indicating that there was a free audio tour of Stonehenge, and the surrounding area, which seemed like a nice change from having to pay for everything. Just as we were getting out of the car, though, my contact lens fell out, and I ran to the bathroom to put it back in while the others went to check out the details of the tour. By the time I met back up with them they had found out that the "free" audio tour was just a ruse-- it was free if you paid the 5 pound admission fee, which none of us were willing to do. Instead, we were forced to cross the road and stare at the monument from behind a fence (see photo at left). Overall, we wouldn't have seen much more even if we had gone in, since the actual stones are roped off and you can't get Where to next?near them anyway.

After our stop at Stonehenge we headed on in towards Heathrow, where we were going to return the car. Unfortunately we were distracted by signs for Legoland, and decided to go see what that was about. I can remember reading about it in World magazine when I was a kid, and remembered thinking it must be really cool. We were all expecting a sort of museum with lots of huge sculptures made out of millions of Legos. Instead, when we got there it was a Lego themed amusement park, and the admission was around 20 pounds, which wasn't worth it since we wanted to get to London anyway. We took a few photos with some Lego sculptures near the gate (including a cute one of a little boy and girl rushing to the bathroom at right), and then were back on track for Heathrow.

We made it to Heathrow this time, checked the car in and took the Tube into the city. Getting from the final station to Hughes Parry Hall (HPH) where we are staying was a little bit of a chore, since we had to lug all our bags, and I chose a somewhat inefficient route to get there, but we made it there and got checked into our rooms. We all have singles here, so we don't have to worry about disturbing anybody else.

Carrie and I Near St. Jame's Park
Carrie and I with Big Ben in the Background
Carrie and I in front of Westminster Abbey
Jeff and Carrie with one of the Trafalgar Square Lions

Touring Central London

After this, we headed into the central London area to see the main sights: Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament, etc.. Unfortunately when we got off at Leicester Square, Alex went to transfer to another train, while we went up to the street. Carrie, Jeff and I waited for a while, but then gave up and went around on our own. We started at Trafalgar Square, then walked down towards Parliament, detouring through St. James Park to see Buckingham Palace. We then wound our way back around past Westminster Abbey, before catching the Tube back to HPH. When we got back Alex was waiting and we found out how he had gotten lost. Fortunately he had gone and seen most of the same things on his own.

Then, Carrie and I ate here, since as students our dinner was included, while Alex and Jeff went out to a "fancy" dinner, since they have jobs (we later found out they just went to a cheap local restaurant). After dinner we all went and saw "The English Patient" which was showing at a a nearby theater. I think everybody thought the movie was good, although it certainly wasn't an action film.

Alex and I with the Tower of London in the Background
Carrie and I by one of the Towers
Jeff and I with a Cannon

The Tower of London

This morning we went and saw the Tower of London, which I had been looking forward to since when Rebecca and I came on New Years Day it was closed. It was very interesting, and the Yeoman Warder who gave the tour was very entertaining. It was also amazing to see the Crown Jewels. There were so many large gemstones that it was difficult to believe that it wasn't all just costume jewelry. Jeff and I were a little disappointed though, since my guidebook had said that the chapel was the home to the headless skeletons of several of the people executed by Henry the VIIIth. We had both read this to mean that they had the skeletons hanging up on the walls, but what it really meant was that they were just buried there, which was not nearly as exciting.
Group Portrait
Alex Feeds a Squirrel
Another Group Portrait

The Flower Walk in Kensington Gardens

After the Tower we had lunch at the Tower McDonald's, located in the Tower of London Cellars right next to the tower. I guess if you are McDonald's you can rent space anywhere! Then we went and walked around in Kensington Gardens, which is actually more of a park. We stopped at Kensington Palace, home of the Princess of Wales, for a quick photo.  The best part, however, was the Flower Walk, which was a long straight path planted with lots of flowers on both sides, although most of them weren't in the peak of bloom. There were a lot of friendly squirrels on the path, and they would climb right up the fences and take food out of your hand.
By the Serpentine
Carrie and I with a Statue
In Front of Kensington Palace

Around Kensington Gardens

Jeff and Alex then went to the Natural History Museum, but Carrie wanted to do some shopping so I went with her. We walked through Knightsbridge, which is a big shopping district which includes Harrod's, perhaps the most famous department store in the world. We tried to go into Harrod's, but Carrie and I both had backpacks, and we were supposed to go in through a special entrance where we could check the bags. We kept walking, but the store is so huge that there are about a million entrances and we eventually decided it was not worth finding the right one just to go in the store. Carrie mainly wanted to find a place to buy some souvenirs and postcards, and we didn't really find anything there, so we went back to HPH, and found a store that sold some stuff right near there.
Carrie's Picture
My Attempt
Jeff's Try

Our Attempts at Photographing the Moon over St. Paul's

Carrie and I ate in again, and Jeff and Alex are supposed to be off to a "real" fancy meal tonight. I am not sure if they are back yet, but I before I go to sleep I will go and see if they want to take a picture of the moon over St. Paul's, since it really is spectacular and this is our last night here.