London, Week 4

Knowing that I only have just under a week left is pretty sad but my time in London really has been amazing. And this week has been no exception! In fact, it was one of my busiest weeks overall and a ton of fun!

Monday was the last of my visits to the museums right around Imperial’s campus--the Natural History Museum. This was definitely one of my favorite museums overall, and they had a lot of cool exhibits about so much, from evolution to volcanoes to minerals and gems to so much more.

A blue whale skeleton in the Natural History Museum

Tuesday we had the USAC trip to a cruise on the river Thames and then a trip on the London Eye after class. The cruise was a nice way to see all the bits of London by the river.

A view of Tower Bridge from the Thames around sunset

The London Eye was slightly terrifying in thought to me, as someone who kind of hates ferris wheels but it ended up being really great. I think the whole very much enclosed, stable, and air-conditioned traits of it all just made it seem like a room or small building and less like a container hundreds of feet into the air.

A panorama of London from the London Eye

Wednesday was my second West End show, and one I also went alone to on a whim. I saw the Book of Mormon after hearing some great things from people who had already seen it and remembering friends from home who had liked it. Definitely funny but not entirely my sense of humor. I’m still really glad I went, though!

The Prince of Wales Theatre

I also got to see the London M&M’s World and Lego store in Leicester Square since they were super close to the theatre. They have some great Lego sculptures inside and it made me want to get into doing Legos a bit more, although the price tags also kind of stopped me from buying anything. They sure to be more expensive than when I was a kid…

Big Ben's tower made of Lego

Thursday I went to see Wicked! Fun fact: Wicked was the only West End show I had planned on seeing before I actually arrived in London but by the end of my trip I’ll have seen four! It was amazing, possibly my favorite show so far. I’ve been hearing good things about Wicked for years and I’m so glad I finally got a chance to see it.

The Apollo Victoria Theatre

Friday was a really interesting day! First stop was the Tower of London, which was definitely one of those ‘must-see’ stops on a visit to London. I’m definitely one of those people who thought the Crown Jewels were probably the best part. They were just co cool to see, especially to find out the history behind them (and even what is in them, like the Koh-I-Noor diamond). It was also interesting to compare them back to seeing Scotland’s Crown Jewels in Edinburgh Castle, even though that collection is far less extensive.

The building where they keep the Crown Jewels

I also had the chance to go see the Tate Modern, which is much different from its sister Tate Britain we’ve spent so much time in for my art class, at least except for branding. I got to see one of Monet’s water lilies paintings, and I realized I hadn’t known quite how big they were, which seems like it’s been a common thing for a lot of the famous art I’ve seen. It’s a pretty extensive museum and I really enjoyed getting to see so much of its collection.

One of Monet's water lilies painting

Yesterday was our USAC trip to Hampton Court Palace, whose most famous resident is arguable Henry VIII. The first thing we did, however, was a maze just outside the palace which is the first maze I think I’ve done that involved me walking through it. My friends and I even managed to be the first in the center (although we were also among the first in so that maybe helped). Then, after a quick ice cream break, we went to explore the palace itself. It’s very much a historical palace as opposed to a working palace like Buckingham or Windsor, since no one has really used it to live in for well over a hundred years. So they focused on a lot of exhibits about some of the inhabitants, like the aforementioned Henry VII, as well as William and Mary, and the early Georgian era.

Hampton Court Palace from the main entrance

Today was a more relaxed day, although I did head to the Wimbledon Tennis Store since my mom is a big tennis fan. I had to walk a bit but the weather finally cooled down and even rained a bit so it was honestly a really nice walk, and I enjoyed the huge change from the heat of the past month or so. And tonight some friends and I headed to a place one of us had heard about known for having fairly inexpensive steaks. For eleven pounds, I was definitely not disappointed so if you’re in the area and want some steak, be sure to check out one of Flat Iron’s locations.

Flat Iron's Menu