London, England

Abby and I took an extra day off of class and went to London, England, for three days. It was a short trip, but we were really busy running around and seeing everything. London is a huge city; and though it has some good public transportation options, it stills takes a little while to get around.

We had the luck to stay with a friend of Abby's while we were there. Katie, who lives with her boyfriend in Darenth (an hour east of London), came and picked us up at Gatwick airport even! Which was fantastic! Thanks again Katie and Wayne for being so nice to us!

We were able to take the train from Darenth to the center of London, and on the first night Katie gave us a tour, including a walk along the Thames River (which the British call the 'Tems', I learned). There are many monuments along the river, and so we caught our first sight of them the very first night. I remember that the weather was really cold and windy, which was exactly what we were in store for the next two days also.

She also took us by Buckingham Palace, a residence of the Queen of England. We didn't see the changing of the guards though... we were too late in the day.

Fortunately, though, we were able to get a picture with a London guard. This guy was stationed outside of the royal stables, which were in the area of Buckingham Palace and parliament. It's true: they're not supposed to move. Though I did see him nod at someone who asked to take a picture.
Finally... a picture with the big guy. One of my inherit goals as a Ben is now accomplished. Now that I've taken a picture with 'Big Ben' I can focus on other Ben goals: invent something and contribute to the US Constitution, and host a gameshow with Jimmie Kimmel rarely losing to the competition--not to mention doing Visine eyedrops commercials.


Here above is Westminster Abbey. Abby and I didn´t arrive in time to visit the church during visiting hours, and so we went to a service instead! We heard brilliant music from several local choirs. It wasn´t a regular mass, and they played a lot of special music, which was good for me. I couldn´t take pictures of the inside, however, because I felt bad with so many people there and so many ushers keeping watch. The security for this church was much more than what I´ve seen in the numerous Spanish churches I´ve visited. They wanted to make sure that the service was uninterrupted I think by tourists and the like.
I have to tell you though that the Abbey was probably the most beautiful gothic style church I have ever been in. The chapels and the corridors were absolutely pristine. It´s size wasn´t so astounding as the pilars and all of the marble statues situated throughout the corridors were.
Here's another shot of parliament (Big Ben is the bell in the tower) and the London Eye in the background. The London Eye is a giant ferris wheel directly next to the Thames River. The tower was much more impressive than I thought it would be. The color that shines off it at night is very illuminating, and it really shows off the exquisite design of the structure. The most impressive part for me was its detail and its condition. Most everything in London was very well conditioned.

Here´s me with the Thames River and St. Paul´s Cathedral in the background. St. Paul´s is a definite landmark along the river, along with the dozen or so bridges that stretch across, making London´s centre accesible from all areas of the vast city.
Here above is Shakespeare´s Globe Theatre! It was one of the most interesting things Ab and I saw in London. It was a reproduction of the original theatre, made in nearly the same location. The project was started by an American back in 1950 or so, when he discovered that London had nothing to commemorate the great writer or his famous theatre house. He started raising money with no help from the State, and the production wasn´t finished until 1997! Unfortunately we learned that he died before it was even finished. I think he would be proud of what it is today though.

We had a tour of the place, which was constructed in the manner that the original (from 1600 would have been constructed). They used goat hair to paint, big tall wooden beams for support, and installed a thatch roof. The original thatch roof was the reason why the Globe Theatre actually burned down during Shakespeare´s life (thereafter they rebuilt it), and of course today in London it would have been against safety standards. So they installed a modern sprinkler system to go on top of the thatch roof.

The theatre still has the traditional set up for those going to see the plays. Though the stage is covered, there is an open area (with an open roof), and this is where the people paying the lowest amount to see the show would stand (sometimes for as long as three hours!) to watch. The seats (there were three decks of them) were covered by roof, of course, and they were for customers paying a little bit more. Strangely enough, the royal seats in the theatre were actually behind the actors on stage in a center location. I guess this is because they wanted everyone to see them.