Day One (Friday): Melissa, Teresa, Kristina, and I met by the security office at 4:45 am and then walked down together to the train station where our train left at 5:15am. It was a direct train to London but it made quite a few stops on the way there at other stations. I
t was a three hour long train ride so we made it to London Euston Station around 8:30 am. Our next destination was to go to our hostel where we would be staying that weekend. It wasn't very far from the station, about 4 blocks away. We got to check into our hostel and put our backpacks away. The hostel wasn't the cleanest place there but it was still very nice. It is mainly for students visiting a major city, like us. You walked into the place and there was a reception area, through the door there was a huge room that was a living room/kitchen, then downstairs to the basement where our room was at. In the basement there were sho
wers for girls and guys but in separate parts of the basement, and several different places where the rooms were. The place was HUGE!! We got into our room and it looked like a train with all of the bunk beds and the curtains that you pull across to give you privacy. The room we were in slept about 12 people and was coed. We actually met some students who were from Chicago! It was a lot of fun. After putting our luggage away we went out to explore London. We thought we were going to just find the stuff we wanted to see on our own 
but actually we got on the Big Bus tour company that took us around the tourist places of London. The picture above is Trafalgar Square where we got to take some pretty sweet pictures with the lions around Nelson's Column. We eventuallywent to the Tower of London where we rode across the Tower Bridge. That place was pretty sweet. I got to see all of the towers, the crown jewels, and the place where Anne Bolyen was executed. I was so excited. There were a ton of jewels! The safe that we got to walk through had a moving platform that took you around the jewels and the doors to the safe were about 2,000 kilograms each. After
exploring the Tower of London, we got some lunch at Subway (where they had my favorite, bacon and chicken ranch (I was so happy that they ha
d ranch dressing)). Next was a quick ride on the bus to Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament. I was so excited to see Big Ben. That was one of the things that I have always wanted to see for myself. And we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The sun had been out the entire day and it was pretty warm. We went around those places and then we walked on over to Buckingham Palace. There were a lot of people there. I was expecting the palace to be a little more decorative. What I really did like about the palace though were the gates. They were huge and there was gold outlining the tops of the gate. What was really fun was at the end of one side of the gate some of the doors were ope
n and the security guards were standing there in the middle. And one of them let us take a picture with him!!!! He was really nice and told us he would love to take a picture with such pretty girls. He also mentioned after that we told him we were studying in Wales he never goes there cause how it is so mountainous. After Buckingham Palace, we rode on the bus for about an hour or more thinking that it would pull around to Trafalgar Square and we could walk back to our hostel from there. Well we were most definately wrong about that. The bus stopped by Madame Tussauds wax museum and was stopping for the night. We wer
e quite a ways away from our hostel and it was very cold at the time. So we wandered for a bit and found Oxford Street, a main street with a lot of big shops, and kept on that street. We were starving so we stopped at Garfunkels to eat. After eating our supper we decided to order dessert as well. I got a chocolate sundae, and I must say it was absolutely delicious! It had vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, a brownie, and covered in whipped cream. I was already full from dinner but some how I made room for dessert. I would definately get this again, it was soooooo good. After we were most definately full from dinner and all warmed up, we headed out again and made it back to our hostel not long after that. We took showers and then got all situated for bed. It was a very busy but fun day.
t was a three hour long train ride so we made it to London Euston Station around 8:30 am. Our next destination was to go to our hostel where we would be staying that weekend. It wasn't very far from the station, about 4 blocks away. We got to check into our hostel and put our backpacks away. The hostel wasn't the cleanest place there but it was still very nice. It is mainly for students visiting a major city, like us. You walked into the place and there was a reception area, through the door there was a huge room that was a living room/kitchen, then downstairs to the basement where our room was at. In the basement there were sho
wers for girls and guys but in separate parts of the basement, and several different places where the rooms were. The place was HUGE!! We got into our room and it looked like a train with all of the bunk beds and the curtains that you pull across to give you privacy. The room we were in slept about 12 people and was coed. We actually met some students who were from Chicago! It was a lot of fun. After putting our luggage away we went out to explore London. We thought we were going to just find the stuff we wanted to see on our own 
but actually we got on the Big Bus tour company that took us around the tourist places of London. The picture above is Trafalgar Square where we got to take some pretty sweet pictures with the lions around Nelson's Column. We eventuallywent to the Tower of London where we rode across the Tower Bridge. That place was pretty sweet. I got to see all of the towers, the crown jewels, and the place where Anne Bolyen was executed. I was so excited. There were a ton of jewels! The safe that we got to walk through had a moving platform that took you around the jewels and the doors to the safe were about 2,000 kilograms each. After
exploring the Tower of London, we got some lunch at Subway (where they had my favorite, bacon and chicken ranch (I was so happy that they ha
d ranch dressing)). Next was a quick ride on the bus to Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament. I was so excited to see Big Ben. That was one of the things that I have always wanted to see for myself. And we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The sun had been out the entire day and it was pretty warm. We went around those places and then we walked on over to Buckingham Palace. There were a lot of people there. I was expecting the palace to be a little more decorative. What I really did like about the palace though were the gates. They were huge and there was gold outlining the tops of the gate. What was really fun was at the end of one side of the gate some of the doors were ope
n and the security guards were standing there in the middle. And one of them let us take a picture with him!!!! He was really nice and told us he would love to take a picture with such pretty girls. He also mentioned after that we told him we were studying in Wales he never goes there cause how it is so mountainous. After Buckingham Palace, we rode on the bus for about an hour or more thinking that it would pull around to Trafalgar Square and we could walk back to our hostel from there. Well we were most definately wrong about that. The bus stopped by Madame Tussauds wax museum and was stopping for the night. We wer
e quite a ways away from our hostel and it was very cold at the time. So we wandered for a bit and found Oxford Street, a main street with a lot of big shops, and kept on that street. We were starving so we stopped at Garfunkels to eat. After eating our supper we decided to order dessert as well. I got a chocolate sundae, and I must say it was absolutely delicious! It had vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, a brownie, and covered in whipped cream. I was already full from dinner but some how I made room for dessert. I would definately get this again, it was soooooo good. After we were most definately full from dinner and all warmed up, we headed out again and made it back to our hostel not long after that. We took showers and then got all situated for bed. It was a very busy but fun day. Day Two (Saturday): We woke up fairly early and had breakfast from the hostel. Then we headed out to Leicester Square to buy tickets to see a Broadway musical! We were originally going to see Le Mis but the tickets were too expensive. So we got tickets to
go see Wicked!!!!!!! I was so excited. We then got a day pass for the tube and went to Camden Town. It is a huge shopping area on a section of London. We came here to shop for our dress clothes that we would be wearing to the musical that night. I found a dress, some black tights, and some black boots. We had some lunch and then we took the tube to King's Cross Station. We
went through the station and found platform 9 3/4!! (It's from the Harry Potter books for those of you who don't know). They have a trolley that is halfway in the wall to look like I'm going through the wall to the Hogwarts Express. After that we headed to the British Museum to take a quick p
eek around the museum before we got ready to go see Wicked. I got to see the Rosetta Stone and a lot of mummies! After that we went back to our hostel and got ready. We took the tube down to the Victoria Theater and had a quick dinner at Garfunkels again. Then we were off to the theater! I was so excited for the musical. It was at the Civic Center recently but I never went and saw it. We got to the theater and took our seats. Our seats were farther in the back but I could still see the stage fairly well. The musical was just absolutely amazing!!!! I loved it so much! I am so excited that I got to go see it!!!! It was a good way to end the night.
go see Wicked!!!!!!! I was so excited. We then got a day pass for the tube and went to Camden Town. It is a huge shopping area on a section of London. We came here to shop for our dress clothes that we would be wearing to the musical that night. I found a dress, some black tights, and some black boots. We had some lunch and then we took the tube to King's Cross Station. We
went through the station and found platform 9 3/4!! (It's from the Harry Potter books for those of you who don't know). They have a trolley that is halfway in the wall to look like I'm going through the wall to the Hogwarts Express. After that we headed to the British Museum to take a quick p
eek around the museum before we got ready to go see Wicked. I got to see the Rosetta Stone and a lot of mummies! After that we went back to our hostel and got ready. We took the tube down to the Victoria Theater and had a quick dinner at Garfunkels again. Then we were off to the theater! I was so excited for the musical. It was at the Civic Center recently but I never went and saw it. We got to the theater and took our seats. Our seats were farther in the back but I could still see the stage fairly well. The musical was just absolutely amazing!!!! I loved it so much! I am so excited that I got to go see it!!!! It was a good way to end the night. Day Three (Sunday): We woke up early that morning once again but this time to check out of our hoste
l. Once we checked out we were able to store our backpacks there and pick them up when we were ready to go home. We started out by getting another tube day pass and rode it to Abbey Road!! I really wanted to go to Abbey Road this weekend but it was only if we had enough time and we did! So we got there and took some pictures of me, Teresa, and Kristina walking across the street while Mel took the picture. I also got to get a picture where the studio used to be. After visiting Abbey Road we took the tube to St. James Park that is by Buckingham Palace. We got to watch part of the changing of the guard but we didn't see all of it because there was so many people and none of us had any desire to watch the entire thing. We did however get to see the band that was made up of about 12 guards with the furry black hats on their heads. They were actually really good and they played the songs Hey Jude, Daydream Believer, and several others. We were getting pretty cold at the time so we headed to Trafalgar Square and that is where we split up. Mel went to the Imperial War Museum and Teresa, Kristina, and I 
went to the Natural History Museum. When we arrived, the line was sooooo long that we decided to go to the Science Museum. We actually found another entrance to the Natural History Museum and there was no line! So we went on in and explored for a bit. We didn't have much time there but of what I saw, it was awesome! I loved it! We mainly went through the section that explained the geography of the earth and we also saw the ecology section. It was a huge museum and I wish I had more time to spend in it. It was definately my kind a place, being the scie
nce nerd that I am. After the museum, we had a quick lunch and then we met Mel at a store called Herrods. It is this HUGE store that is about 6 floors and 6,000 people work there. You could just live there because they have about everything. There is a toy area, a pet shop, a food market, clothing, jewlery, perfume, shoes, instruments, and more. Bascially it's a massive Wal-Mart but to the extreme. We explored the store a little bit and then took the tube to see Picadilly Circus. Picadilly Circus is pretty much Times Square in New York but its in London. We were ready to go home so we took a few pictures of the place and then got right back on the tube and headed back to the hostel to get our backpacks and then to Euston Station. We had a few hours before our train left so we hung out in the food court. Once we saw what platform our train would be leaving from, we headed on over, boarded the train and was on our way back to Bangor. The train stopped at Chester where we then took an hour long bus ride to Ryle station and from there we took a train to Bangor. It was good to be back. I had the most fantastic time this weekend. London is just amazing!
l. Once we checked out we were able to store our backpacks there and pick them up when we were ready to go home. We started out by getting another tube day pass and rode it to Abbey Road!! I really wanted to go to Abbey Road this weekend but it was only if we had enough time and we did! So we got there and took some pictures of me, Teresa, and Kristina walking across the street while Mel took the picture. I also got to get a picture where the studio used to be. After visiting Abbey Road we took the tube to St. James Park that is by Buckingham Palace. We got to watch part of the changing of the guard but we didn't see all of it because there was so many people and none of us had any desire to watch the entire thing. We did however get to see the band that was made up of about 12 guards with the furry black hats on their heads. They were actually really good and they played the songs Hey Jude, Daydream Believer, and several others. We were getting pretty cold at the time so we headed to Trafalgar Square and that is where we split up. Mel went to the Imperial War Museum and Teresa, Kristina, and I 
went to the Natural History Museum. When we arrived, the line was sooooo long that we decided to go to the Science Museum. We actually found another entrance to the Natural History Museum and there was no line! So we went on in and explored for a bit. We didn't have much time there but of what I saw, it was awesome! I loved it! We mainly went through the section that explained the geography of the earth and we also saw the ecology section. It was a huge museum and I wish I had more time to spend in it. It was definately my kind a place, being the scie
nce nerd that I am. After the museum, we had a quick lunch and then we met Mel at a store called Herrods. It is this HUGE store that is about 6 floors and 6,000 people work there. You could just live there because they have about everything. There is a toy area, a pet shop, a food market, clothing, jewlery, perfume, shoes, instruments, and more. Bascially it's a massive Wal-Mart but to the extreme. We explored the store a little bit and then took the tube to see Picadilly Circus. Picadilly Circus is pretty much Times Square in New York but its in London. We were ready to go home so we took a few pictures of the place and then got right back on the tube and headed back to the hostel to get our backpacks and then to Euston Station. We had a few hours before our train left so we hung out in the food court. Once we saw what platform our train would be leaving from, we headed on over, boarded the train and was on our way back to Bangor. The train stopped at Chester where we then took an hour long bus ride to Ryle station and from there we took a train to Bangor. It was good to be back. I had the most fantastic time this weekend. London is just amazing!
I'm glad you're back to updating this ;)Also after reading this entry,and my roommates who lives there I'm super excited to visit london :)
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