Great Scot!

An important lesson that has been solidified for me here in London is the idea that many times, the best moments in life are those that are unexpected. Often, I have a plan for what I want to see and do during a day here (as well as back home), but the coolest part of my day ends up being the part that I stumble upon on the way to doing the thing that I planned. Case in point: yesterday, my friend and I planned to base our day around a trip to the Tower of London, then to the Globe Theater, then to the Covent Garden area. We did all those things, and they were really neat, but the best part of our day were the surprises.

First, on my walk from my dorm to the Tower, I planned to wander through the financial district of London in order to see the Royal Stock Exchange and the famous Lloyd's of London (this might not seem like what a 22 year old girl wants to do with her time, but I'm an economics major, so I think it's way exciting). I didn't realize how close other amazing buildings were to these landmarks, notably the Gherkin building, the site of an old synagogue (though not the original building), and the Leadenhall Market.

The Royal Stock Exchange



Lloyd's of London



The Gherkin Building



Synagogue!



The Leadenhall Market



Then, after meeting at the Tower Hill tube station, we happened upon this amazing Indian food restaurant near the Tower of London. It was far enough way to not be a tourist trap, making it quiet and filled only with businessmen from the nearby financial district. I had Lamb Kurma, and it was the best Indian food I've ever eaten. After lunch, we went to the Tower of London and then walked across the Tower Bridge, downs the Thames Path, and to the Globe Theater.

Being super huge tourists



The Jewel Tower (where the Crown Jewels are kept, but they won't allow pictures inside)



The White Tower (where a lot of prisoners were held and tortured)



George VIII's armor



The Globe (this is an early 1900's reproduction of what they think the Globe looked like, since the original was damaged by fire)



Finally, on our walk from the Globe to Covent Garden, we passed St. Paul's Cathedral. It's normally quite expensive to go inside, but we were passing just before their evening service. As a result, entry was free and we got to sit in on a short reading of a portion of Psalms and hear the choir sing. In terms of big churches--at least as far as the ones I've seen--St. Paul's wins. It is enormous and much brighter and more colorful than Notre Dam, Sainte Chapelle, or the Westminster Abbey. It literally takes your breath away for a moment.





The surprises continued today. My friend went to Bath with her family, but a couple of friends from LSE had no class because of midterms tomorrow, so I hung out with them. We headed to Whitehall Street, where a bunch of government buildings are located, and which is connected to Downing Street, home to the Prime Minister.

I was really excited to see 10 Downing Street, but as it turns out, visitors can barely see the building from the gates blocking Downing Street. Instead, I was really pleasantly surprised to find out that the Horse Guard just next door was about to perform the changing of the guard. Seeing this changing of the guard over the one at Buckingham Palace presented two major advantages. First, it is much less publicized and therefore less crowded. We had a front row view. Second, horses.

Outside the Horse Guard



The guards preparing to leave



The guards preparing to replace them



The old guards leaving



The new guards coming in



My day continued to be awesome with a trip to the Royal Mews. The Mews are the Buckingham Palace stables, and house not just many horses and much equipment, but display all the major carriages used by the Monarchy too. The biggest and coolest carriage is the Gold State Carriage. It's so large that the staff of the Mews has to dismantle walls over the course of two or three days to get it out of the Coach House. Why didn't they build the coach a bigger room with a bigger door? Not sure... silly British.

The arena of the Royal Mews



The Glass Carriage... both Diana and Queen Elizabeth rode in it to their weddings



The Gold State Coach



The Harness Room



Me with one of the Palace's famous Cleveland Bays



After visiting the Mews, we toured the State Rooms of the Buckingham Palace. As cool as these rooms were, the Palace was also overrun with tourists, and therefore made me feel panicky and drained by the end of the tour.

Being a super huge tourist AGAIN, outside the Palace



The backyard of the Palace, better known as the Buckingham Palace Gardens



The backside of the Palace



Tomorrow is my last full day in London. I plan to spend a good amount of time packing, but I plan to wander around my neighborhood a bit too, and finish the day off with dinner, drinks, and friends. Hopefully, I'll stumble upon something unexpected and wonderful.