London Calling

I've been hanging out in London the past few days and, well, I effing LOVE it here! You know I love Asia in its way (otherwise the past 3 years would have been completely miserable) but I've gotta say it's pretty wonderful being back in the western world, especially Europe. I visited London for a week when I was 15 and fell in love with European culture, and then studied for a year in Heidelberg, Germany when I was 20. I absolutely loved my year abroad and I think it did wonders for my sense of self and all that jazz. So returning to Europe with 2 great friends (one of whom is a born and bred, real life Brit!) has been a lot of fun. We're staying at a hostel in Russel Square, which is in central London, really close to a tube stop, and a great springboard for galavanting around the city.

After an overnight flight from Bangkok via Mumbai (the airport from hell btw), the very first thing we did after touching down in London town was go shopping. Yaaaayyy shopping!! Now this might sound a little strange...why must we shop right away, you say? Is it really that big a priority? Well, yes it is! After nearly three months spent backpacking around southeast Asia in the same few tank tops and shorts, we all felt really out of place (and cold!) in a normal city where people don't walk around in Aladdin pants. We all needed some new jeans, a few tops, and a sweater for the non-100+ degree, humid as hell Asian weather, so shopping we went. I didn't go overboard at all with the shopping mission....nope, not at all. Of course I needed that all of those tops and 4 pairs of jeans. London is cool, even in August! Besides, only the buzz I get from buying clothes could counter the effects of jet lag. Right? Right.

We started sightseeing the next day and got quite a few good pics. We headed to Buckingham Palace first and coincidentally caught a special changing of the guard ceremony that included a performance by the Coldstream Guards, those chaps in the ginormous black, bearskin hats. There were about a billion people all crammed together trying to take pictures, but I managed to get a video of some of the march.



Here are some more photos from around the Palace, and general touristy things...


so many people!


mounted guard


marching out


Us in front of Buckingham Palace. This is where William and Kate had their famous kiss.


climbing statues


Cassie and Jayne by the Victoria Memorial fountain


My new long hair is a pain in the ass, but I do enjoy it.


RED PHONE BOX!


Oh, London :)


Westminster Abbey


St. Pancras Station - When Harry Potter scenes set at King's Cross Station were filmed, they actually used this station for the outside view because it's much more attractive. Only the indoor scenes are really filmed at King's Cross Station. We'll be going there tomorrow and I'm DEFINITELY getting pics at platform 9 and 3/4.


St. Paul's Cathedral


Tower Bridge on the River Thames


Big Ben


Trafalgar Square


Love you, London!
Tomorrow we're taking the train to Newcastle, Jayne's hometown. I'm pretty damn excited to see what geordies are all about. From what I've heard, a night out in Newcastle is an experience to remember, or not as the case may be. I'll check in again soon! ♥

More London pics here.