Veronica Baker

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Travels: Days 4 & 5, London

On Monday I went to Tower Hill and spent hours wandering around. I went to the old execution grounds, and then to the Tower Hill Memorial. Then I walked across Tower Bridge, which apparently lots of people think is London Bridge. Afterwards I bought a ticket for the Tower of London and went on a little tour of the castle. The guide told us lots of infamous stories: two princes were in the castle when their father (the king) was killed. They were placed under the care of their uncle until the oldest was old enough to become king. The uncle soon murdered them, leaving him as king. Another story involved the removal of floorboards to find over 1000 bodies, only 33 of which were ever identified.

After the Tower of London, I walked around some more, seeing the Great Fire of London Monument and HMS Belfast. Back in Trafalgar Square, where Nelson's Tower was getting set up for the Olympic Countdown. I went to the National Gallery then, which was insanely impressive. I could have spent days lost in there really. Then it was onto Covent Garden where I had a coffee and watched some street performers. I ended up, somehow, in Harrods, and couldn't help but shop a little bit.

That night we went to the Royal Albert Hall, where we broke a Guinness World Record for the largest number of people playing the kazoo at once!

Tower Hill, the old execution grounds

Tower of London

Tower Bridge

White Tower, inside the Tower of London

Tower of London

Great Fire of London Monument

Nelson's Tower, getting set up for the Olympic Countdown

The National Gallery

Covent Garden

Royal Albert Hall

Tuesday was the most peaceful and relaxing day! I spent several hours lost in the London Zoo - a day can't get much better! In the aquarium, there was a little girl who chattered on, naming all of the fish to her father, and when she came to the tank that held "Dory and Nemo", she couldn't even speak, she just kept saying "wow... hi Nemo" in the softest whisper. Adorable!

There were lots of babies too! A little baby monkey, and a baby gorilla! The mom was in the middle of teaching him to hang onto ropes and such. All he wanted to go was play with a head of lettuce. He would keep reaching for it and she was swat his hand away, and eventually she just knocked it out of his reach, haha.

And then... the giraffes. I've never seen giraffes before, I was completely mesmerized. To the point that a man had to ask me to leave because they were closing... whoops!

Seahorse!

I stillll get goosebumps whenever I look at this picture!

The baby is just so adorable!

Travels: Day 3, London

On Sunday, March 13, Steph and I went to Trafalgar Square, and walked past the horse guards, down Parliament Street, to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. The buildings were so intricately detailed, they were beautiful! Nearby was Westminster Abbey, also very pretty. We had lunch at a little pub and then Steph headed to southern England to visit a friend, and I was on my own to be as touristy as I wanted! First stop: Buckingham Palace. I took a few pictures there and wandered into St. James' Park. So many bright colours! The trees were all blossoming and the flowers were in full bloom.

I'm so cool

Houses of Parliament

Big Ben!

Westminster Abbey

Queen Victoria Memorial

Buckingham Palace

St. James' Park

Black Swan :)

This fellow was really excited that there was a line of people waiting to take pictures with him...

After that I walked through Whitehall Place, which had a really small but gorgeous garden, and across a bridge over Thames. Then it was time to go on the London Eye! I got lucky enough to be in a capsule with about 20 high school students - kind of annoying, but still such a fun half hour.

After that I took a million trains just to walk across a certain road... Abbey Road! Pretty easy to spot - traffic backed waaay up so people can walk across the zebra crossing & take pictures. I read somewhere that thousands of people do every day, which I completely believe based on the number of people there on the rainy day that I was. Of course I had to sign my name on the wall in front of Abbey Road Studios (which apparently gets re-painted every month or two).

After that I went to Piccadilly Circus, which had lots of construction underway, but which was still really neat - lots of old architecture mixed with digital screens and advertisements. I passed a McDonalds and had to go in and get nuggets - it's weird what you miss when you can't have it! Then I wandered into Soho, and got a cupcake at this little shop called Cox Cupcakes. Then I walked through Chinatown and headed home!

Whitehall Place

The London Eye overlooking the River Thames

Big Ben

View of London from the London Eye

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Abbey Road Zebra Crossing!

Signing the wall in front of Abbey Road Studios

Piccadilly Circus

Travels: Days 1 & 2, London

On March 11, my friend Steph and I set off for the UK. We got up before the sun rose, which, believe it or not, is getting difficult to do now! The days are getting much longer, which is very welcome. we began our journey with some samples at the duty-free liquor store at about 7:30 - perfect, haha.

We stayed with Steph's friends in Camden Town, which is a cute little spot near the centre of London - really convenient (and free!). When we got to London, we went to a little pub for some lunch and cider, yum. That night we went to a pub called the Hawley Arms, which is apparently Amy Winehouse's pub of choice in London - sadly, she wasn't there haha. After that we went to We Will Rock You - so wonderful! It was a great night for sure.

Camden High Street, full of markets & street vendors

Me, two of Steph's friends, and Steph

We Will Rock You

On Saturday, the weather was absolutely beautiful! It was probably around 12° and sunny, so I was in heaven when compared to Iceland! (and Nova Scotia). We walked along Oxford street, which is pretty much a shopper's paradise. We ran a couple of little errands (including getting me a SIM card for my phone - I spent around $20 in 11 days texting a total of maybe 4 people, yet in Iceland I've spent only around $10 in 3 months... London sucks haha). Then it was onwards to Primark. This is the largest store ever, and also the cheapest. I got a skirt for £5! it was too crazy for me though, women literally shoving each other out of the way to get to clothes.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Ducks!!

Okay I know I'm slightly obsessed with the ducks here. They're just absolutely the most adorable creatures ever. That, and Iceland doens't really have a lot of wildlife - so that just adds to their charm! On March 8, Kris and I each bough huge bags of bread and had a great afternoon making new friends. By the end of the meal, lots of them would even let us pat them!

There were several very impatient ones that would nibble at my legs and knees as soon as they were done swallowing one piece, anxious for the next! It took what felt like no time at all to get through two full bags of bread. There were also a couple of close calls - while trying to get the bread, some of the ducks would slip off the ledge, and their flapping wings would hit us!

Towards the end of the adventure, another guy showed up with hard, crusty rolls. One would grab a roll and run with it - as fast as he could, while being chased by all his friends! It just snowed last night, so their little feet and tails make tracks all over the ice.