E&E

Emily and Elizabeth, my roommates from Drake, came to visit last week!!! It was SO much fun! They left way too soon and I already miss them. We did a lot of fun stuff though and it was sort of like a second spring break :)

They arrived on Sunday morning and Katy and I picked them up from the airport. They got in fine and everything so it was pretty smooth! After bringing the back to our room--they were going to stay with us until Wednesday, when they'd go to their hostel--we headed out to a Harry Potter tour! It was pretty cool because we got to see places that inspired the books.

The entrance to the Ministry of Magic--dial 6-2-4-4-2 to get in :)

This pub has an entrance to the alleyway on the right side... sound like anything from Harry Potter?? (HINT: The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley)

The inspiration for Diagon Alley

Monday morning Emily, Elizabeth, Katy, and I went to the Dutch Pancake House for breakfast--yummmmm! I got banana and chocolate on mine. Good choice. Anyway, Katy and I were stuck in class all day so they went off on their own and we went to class and ate in the dining hall for dinner. Exciting.

Tuesday, I had class only in the morning, so Emily and Elizabeth went to the V&A Museum until 1 and then I met them for lunch. We met Katy for cupcakes after her afternoon class and then we headed to Hyde Park to show E&E around! I LOVE it there so it was definitely fun.

Kensington Palace

Elizabeth and I

Emily, Elizabeth, and I in front of one of the ponds

For dinner, Katy ate in the dining hall but I just couldn't handle another school meal so I went to Tequila Tex Mex with E&E. It was soooo good!! I'll definitely be back there again.

Wednesday, Katy and I decided to skip our classes :) We went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace which was super cool! We met this old man named Albert who explained the whole ceremony to us, which was nice because we had no clue what was going on. He made sure we could see everything so we got some good pictures.

Buckingham Palace--it was PACKED!

The band--they played "La Vida Loca" and "With A Little Help From My Friends" and some other random songs--it was really funny!

The band from a better angle

Elizabeth and I in front of the Palace

Afterwards, Katy headed to the Remember Me premiere with Emily Boyd (Rob Pattinson starred in the movie so they got to meet him). E&E and I met up with Emily's friend, Pam, who was also spending spring break in London. We went to Regents Park and had lunch which was fun and really pretty!! We had to check into the hostel that day so the three of us headed back to Katy's and my room to get their stuff and then we hopped on the Tube. We arrived at Edgeware Road and were on the lookout for The Green Man. Finally we found it--in the form of a pub! We were immensely confused for about 10 minutes until we ventured inside the pub and found that the hostel was above and check-in was at the pub bar. It was quite the adventure! We laughed pretty hard about the whole situation. After settling in there, we got on the Tube again and went to Leicester Square, where Katy and Emily were. The premiere hadn't started yet, but it was so crowded that E&E and I decided to just wander around because we didn't really care about seeing Rob enough to stand around and wait in massive crowds. We grabbed dinner quick and headed back to meet Katy's and my friend, Alex, for drinks at the pubs nearby (it was St. Patrick's Day, after all). We came back around 11 (pubs close at 11) and pretty much just went to bed.

Thursday we woke up and headed out to the Tower of London. Katy had class so she didn't come, but I went. I'd been there with my Grandma and Dad 6 years ago and loved it so I was super excited to go again. I just love British history and I love learning about royalty and things like that so the Tower is one of my favorite places to go. Plus, the tour guides are hilarious.

Emily and I in front of the Tower

A gift to Queen Anne Boleyn... too bad it was finished after she was executed. Nice.

The White Tower--we made the mistake of venturing inside without knowing what we were getting into. We decided that the one thing we didn't really care about seeing (well, didn't want to see at all) was the armory... so naturally we went inside the White Tower, where the armor is kept. We couldn't escape without going all the way through!

A random guard change (we think)

Elizabeth, Emily, and I in front of the Tower Bridge

After the Tower, we went back to the room, picked up Katy, and headed to Gloucester Arms for dinner. We all got carded when we went in, which I guess is probably good, but then the next time we went up to order (food, not even drinks) we got carded again! And then Eliz got carded a THIRD time. By the same woman. Overkill, don't you think? Anyway, we all ordered fish and chips, and Katy had to wait about a half hour longer than the three of us! They just apparently forgot about her! It was not good. THEN we ordered 3 chocolate fudge cake slices (E&E shared but Katy and, knowing how amazing it is, had our own) and after paying for them, they informed us that there were only 2 slices left, and we can't get our money back after paying. Great. So we got 2 slices of cake and some brownie thing. Katy and I split one piece of cake and the brownie and had half of each. ALSO the cake comes with vanilla ice cream (I know it's only vanilla because I asked for chocolate once and they wouldn't give it to me) but this time it came with strawberry, which I can't stand even the smell of. So I kept that super far away from my cake and semi-enjoyed dessert. Katy left after dessert and E&E and I stayed until about 10:30. They were being pretty rude to us though so we left and just hung out in the room for a little bit. It was a rather bad experience (plus, we've had previous bad experiences there) so I'm not planning on going back. Builder's Arms is close too, so that's going to have to be my new regular pub. Oh well.

The next morning, Friday, we went to Porobello Market in Notting Hill! I was on the lookout for Hugh Grant and the travel bookshop and the blue door but no luck. Maybe next time. The market was super cute!! I loved it! I'm definitely taking my family there when they come! :)

Love the colors

A view of the market

After the market, we ate lunch in a cute little cafe and headed to the British Museum. We didn't stay long... it wasn't that cool. I mean, it was very informative and had lots of artifacts from cultures all over the world... but we just weren't that into it. I'd rather go to the V&A Museum and be surrounded by things instead of stare at them through a glass box. We ate in Covent Garden after the museum, at Pizza Express. After that we went back to the room for a little bit and then went to Alice in Wonderland with Emily and Bess. It was really good and now I really want to read the book! I'm determined to find it in the library somewhere. Anyway, they left after that and I'm so sad!! I already can't wait to see them this summer!

:)

Jackie