Semana Santa in London and Edinburgh!

I am definitely going to have to break up this entry because I have done so much in the past week that I cannot possibly fit it all in one entry. So Saturday I returned from my spring break trip to London and Edinburgh. I had a great time-met up with some old friends, made some new friends, and saw some really cool things.

Last Saturday, I woke up at 6 am, took the train from Córdoba to Málaga, then took a train from the train station to the airport, and then flew to London, where I met up with my friend Courtney from Mount Holyoke, who is studying abroad in Finland this semester! We stayed at Palmer's Lodge, which is a relatively nice hostel, though it was somewhat out of the city. Fortunately, there was a metro station really close by, so we were able to navigate our way around the city very easily. After we checked into the hostel the first day, we met up with Lynne, Claire, and Dan in Leicester Square for dinner and a show. Unfortunately, since it was a Saturday night, all the places we tried to go for dinner were full, so we ended up running around for an hour and finally grabbing a quick bite at Victoria Station before heading to the theater. We saw Wicked-I had already seen it, but it is one of my favorite shows, so I was only too happy to see it again. They did a really good job with it too.

The next day, we went to the Westminster area of the city to see Big Ben, the houses of Parliament, and the outside of Westminster Abbey. We didn't go in Westminster Abbey this day because it was Sunday, so it was mostly closed to tourists. We walked around this general area for a while, and then we went to the Cabinet War Rooms, the underground bunker where Winston Churchill and his government planned their strategy during World War II. Afterward, we did some more walking and met up with Lynne, Claire and Dan for lunch-we got to go to a real pub this time. It was called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, and it was an authentic, delicious English pub. We had to wait an hour for a table, so while we waited, we walked up to Saint Paul's Cathedral. Since it was Sunday, it was also technically closed, but if you say that you're going in to pray, then you can go in and see certain parts of the church. So that was a nice little visit. After lunch, we walked to the Tower of London, but by that time it was 4:30, and the tower closes at 5:30, and they recommend at least 3 hours to see the whole thing, so we decided not to go. Instead, we went to Harrods! Somehow, I left without buying a single thing except for a Diet Coke! I was very proud of myself. Then we went to Covent Garden, which is the Fanueil Hall of London. We sat outside and enjoyed a glass of wine while listening to a group of street performers playing various string instruments. We didn't eat dinner that night because we were still so full from lunch, so we just walked around some more-we saw the Royal Opera House and Trafalgar Square, and then we went back to the hostel.

On Monday, we had a plan. We went straight to the Tower of London first thing in the morning, spent the required 3 hours there doing the beefeater tour, seeing the Crown Jewels, and just walking the grounds of the Tower. Then we went to lunch at this little sandwich places that Rick Steves recommended-and it was delicious! Always trust Rick Steves-though apparently there was one restaurant in Rome that he recommended that people don't like at all! Anyway, after lunch, we went to the reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Unfortunately, since it is an open air theater, they only have plays from April-October, so we couldn't see a show there. We did do the tour, however, which was pretty cool. Then we went to the Imperial War Museum for a little while, and then we went to dinner at this pub called The Lord Moon of the Mall pub. It was also Rick Steves recommended, and it was absolutely delicious! Good cheap food and cheap beer.

Okay, I think that's enough for one entry. Stay tuned for the next one!