A few weeks ago Rob came to visit London which was much needed!
Friday:
I went to London Heathrow Airport on Friday morning to meet Rob as he arrived, from which we took a shuttle to Stansted Airport to catch out flight to.... Barcelona!! It was a very long day, especially for Rob who had of course been on a red-eye from New York the night before, but finally we arrived in Barcelona around 11pm and got to our hostel which was beautiful! There was an outdoor patio area with brightly colored chairs and a hammock. When we got to our room we fell fast asleep!!
Saturday:
As we only really had one day in Barcelona we had to make the most of it so we got up early and headed to the center of town to have breakfast at a place my friend recommended called Milk. It was delicious but rather American... not that I'm complaining: I love pancakes! Then we walked around through old narrow streets filled with graffiti murals and Catalonian and Spanish flags until we reached the Barcelona Cathedral. It is a beautiful, high-reaching gothic cathedral with tall spires and scary gargoyles. We then caught a bus for the hop-on-hop-off tour, which we figured would be the perfect way to see as much of the city as we could in such a short period of time. We rode by tons of street art and statues, by Barcelona's beautiful beaches, and the infamous Sagrada Familia. One of my biggest regrets of the trip is not getting off to go inside the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished cathedral. But, alas, the lines were insane and we were on a time crunch. We "hopped-off" at the foot of a mountain, atop of which was a sort of mini-amusement park. We took a tram about halfway up the hill to admire the views of the city, but did not make it all the way up to the top. We hopped back onto the bus and rode until the Casa Batllo, a museum of a house designed by Gaudi that looks like it belongs in Whoville. From here we got lunch at a restaurant called Tappa Tappa, which served delicious tappas. The croquets were my favorite, as usual. Then we walked to the Placa Catalunya, a large plaza full of fountains and classical statues. There we hopped back on the bus and rode it to Montjuic Castle, which was used as a bunker in various wars. We took a gondola lift to the top of the high mountain where the castle is, and walked around the grounds, admiring the beautiful views. Then we got back on the bus and rode past various soccer (futbol) and olympic arenas until we completed the circle back to Placa Catalunya. For dinner we headed back to the beach, to a restaurant called Restaurant Salamanca, where we had the most delicious paella known to man. Rob and I shared seafood paella, and I thought him how to eat the clambs and de-shell the shrimp. It was quite messy and amusing. After dinner we walked along the beach and sat in the sand for at least an hour just watching the waves. Then we headed back to the hostel and fell fast asleep.
Sunday:
We woke up early to catch our flight back to London. Once arriving in London (after waiting in an awfully long line for passport control!) we checked into out hotel and took a much needed nap! For dinner we went to a pub and got steak and ale and chicken and mushroom pies. Yum!
Monday:
Monday Morning Rob and I went to Yumchaa - my favorite cafe - to have some tea and do work before my class that afternoon. After Yumchaa we had lunch by the park near the academic center and I went to class. After class we walked down to the London Eye, which we rode right as the sun was setting. The views of London from the eye are truly spectacular. After the giant ferris wheel's half hour roatation, Rob and I had dinner by the Thames at Giraffe, then walked over the Hungerford Bridge (which looks like it has sails on it) to Trafalgar Square to catch a bus up to a bar called Be At One, where we were meeting friends for my roommate Kate's birthday. We stayed there for a while, it was very fun and the bartenders were extremely nice and the happy hour deal was great. In honor of St. Patricks Day, most of us got drinks with Baileys.. :)
Tuesday:
Because I don't have class on Tuesdays we needed to take advantage of having the whole day free. We got up early and headed to Kensington Palaee. The palace-turned-museum was definitely worth the trip! We learned all about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Queen Anne, and Princess Dianna. I especially enjoyed the fashion display :). Then we walked around Kensington Gardens and through Hyde Park, past the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial (you could really tell we were in the "Victoria" part of town) to the Wellington Arch and to Buckingham Palace. From Buckingham we walked through St. Jame's Park, which was BEAUTIFUL, with flowered trees and a lake with the Eye in the background. Then we continued walking to Trafalgar Square from which we took the bus back to our hotel. For dinner we went to my dorm and had home made chicken nuggets by my friends Ashley and Julia which were delish!!
Wednesday:
For breakfast on Wednesday Rob and I went to Speedy's cafe, which is featured in BBC's Sherlock and is also just a very yummy and affordable diner. Then we walked over to Baker Street, where Holmes lives in the books, and where there is a Sherlock Holmes Museum! We did not do the tour of the museum but played in the gift shop for a while before walking towards classes. After class we had Indian food for dinner...again, delish
Thursday:
Class all day :/. But after class Rob and I had a date night in and I made pasta with sausage and sauted spinach. Then after dinner we went with friends to the Cider Tap: a pub with all cider, and then O'Neil's pub.
Friday:
We started out the day in Greenwich, walking around the grounds and admiring the beautiful Painted Hall of The Royal Naval Academy. It was fun to see where they had filmed Thor: The Dark World's battle scene too :). Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and climbed the many stairs up to the Whispering Gallery (the inside of the dome), and the next two levels up to viewpoints on the outside of the dome. While this was tiring and the admissions price was kind of steep, the view made it all worth it. If I wasn't already completely out of breath from the climb, the view would have taken my breath away. After St. Paul's, Rob and I went to a place called Bea's of Bloomsbury for afternoon tea. We had an assortment of brownies, homemade marshmellows, cupcakes, small sandwiches, and of course, scones. It was all so miniature and scruptious! After tea we walked towards London Bridge, crossed the bridge, and walked east towards Tower Bridge for some photo-ops. Then we backtracked and went west again to Borough Market (one of my favorite places in London!), through some small alleys, and past Shakespeare's Globe and the Tate Modern to Millenium Bridge. We crossed Millenium Bridge back to St. Paul's Cathedral (it's so beautiful, it never gets old!) and went to an adjacent mall with a rooftop-patio that has a wonderful (free) view of the church's dome and the surrounding skyline. After that it started to drizzle, but we realized that Rob never got to see Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster (Parlaiment) up close, so we took a bus there briefly before heading home. For dinner we went to an Ethiopian restaurant which had slow service but amazing food. For dessert we had fondu back at the dorm.
Saturday:
For Rob's last half-day in London we had a fancy lunch at Sushi Samba which is in a tall glass building with wonderful views of the London cityscape. The food was superb but the portions were small and the prices were... not so small. So we just got a couple small plates to share. We then headed to the airport to bid our sad adieus... :(
Some Pics:
In St. Jame's Park
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